The five AD compliance states, explained

Once an AD is tracked on your aircraft, TachMinder classifies the state of its records into exactly one of five states. The design principle behind all five is simple: the app never over-claims compliance. It reports what the records show — nothing more. If the paperwork proves compliance, the app says so. If it doesn't, the app says that instead, plainly.

1. Complied

A one-time AD with a compliance record on file. The work was done, the record says so, and there is no further clock to run. This is the quiet, settled state most one-time ADs end up in.

2. Complied (recurring)

A recurring AD with a compliance record on file — complied with as of the last action, but with a clock still running toward the next one. This state carries a live due-status — overdue, due soon, or current — computed from the real next-due values recorded on the compliance record, never from estimates. If the record says the next inspection is due at a given tach time or date, that's the number the countdown runs on.

3. No record

This is the loud one. The AD appears applicable to your aircraft based on TachMinder's matching, but there is no compliance record on file at all. Note the careful framing: the app says the AD appears applicable and asks you to verify — it does not assert that the AD definitively applies, because matching finds candidates, not conclusions. There are two ways out of this state: record the compliance history (the work may well have been done and simply never made it into the record), or have the AD adjudicated not applicable by someone with the authority to make that call.

4. Adjudicated not applicable

Someone with authority determined the AD doesn't apply to this aircraft — wrong serial-number range, affected part not installed, whatever the reason — and the record carries a full signoff supporting that determination: the signer's signature, certificate number, and kind of certificate — the same triple 14 CFR §43.9(a)(4) requires on a maintenance record entry. This is a meaningfully stronger state than "no record," because the applicability question has been answered on the record by someone qualified to answer it, not merely left open.

5. Unverifiable

An honest under-claim. A record exists, but it can't be fully proven — a partial signoff, say, or a legacy record that lacks complete details. Rather than round up to "complied" on the strength of a record that wouldn't stand on its own, TachMinder labels it unverifiable so you know exactly where the gap is and can close it — often by locating the original logbook entry or having the history re-established properly.

Why the honest states matter

It might seem harsh for an app to tell you your AD status is unverifiable when there's a record sitting right there. But the record follows the aircraft. When you sell, when a pre-buy inspection happens, when an IA sits down at annual time, the question is never "does the owner believe this AD was complied with?" — it's "do the records show it?" An unverifiable AD status is a squawk on your paperwork, and paperwork squawks are far cheaper to fix now, while the trail is warm, than years later at the worst possible moment.

A tracking tool that rounds up tells you what you want to hear. TachMinder would rather tell you what the records actually show, so the surprises happen on your screen instead of at a pre-buy.

For how ADs get matched and tracked in the first place, see How AD tracking works in TachMinder. For who can sign what on these records, see Who signs what: owners, mechanics, and your records.