Definition
A person formally appointed by an agency — typically the FAA — to act on its behalf in carrying out specific official duties such as inspections, certifications, examinations, or approvals. The DAR is not an agency employee but is authorized to perform delegated functions within defined limits.
Plain English
Someone the FAA has officially picked to do certain jobs for them, like inspecting aircraft or signing off on paperwork, even though they don't actually work for the FAA.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA acronym lists, certification discussions, aircraft paperwork, and references to people who act with official agency authority.
Derivation
Designated comes from the Latin designare, meaning 'to mark out' or 'point out.' Agency refers to the government body (the FAA). Representative comes from Latin repraesentare, 'to present again' — someone who acts in place of another. Together: a person marked out to act on the agency's behalf.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots and aircraft owners often interact with DARs rather than FAA staff directly — for example, when getting an experimental airworthiness certificate or import paperwork handled. Knowing a DAR has real FAA-delegated authority avoids confusion about whether their signature counts.
Intuition Check
Do not read “designated” as simply “chosen” or “available.” In this context, it means formally authorized by the agency for specific duties.
Example Sentence 1
The owner contacted a local DAR to issue the special airworthiness certificate for his newly built experimental aircraft.
Example Sentence 2
All airworthiness documents were reviewed and signed by the DAR prior to export.