These are the most important excerpts from The parachuting rule book, which is approved by The ministry of maritime affairs, transport and communications/department of civil aviation, and is in use since 1989.
For foreigners, though, on most DZs only a rig in working condition, reserve packjob within the last 90 days, valid licence and a waiver are required.
The translation might be somewhat rough because I'm not that familiar with legislative terminology.

 

Article 1:

This Rule book regulates the conditions for manufacture, maintenance and use of parachutes used for jumping out of airplanes, and education, examination, licencing and authorization for various other parachuting/skydiving duties and activities.

 

Article 3:

Parachutes can be used only by parachutists/skydivers with a valid licence.
As an exception to the sec. 1 of this article, parachutes can be used by non-licenced persons in case of an emergency, student skydivers and tandem passengers.

 

Article 12:

Pull force on the ripcord must not be less than 20 N or exceed 160 N. The ripcord assembly must withstand a force of 1.5 kN for a minimum of 3 seconds without deforming.

 

Article 13:

Automatic activation devices (AADs) can be of aneroid or time-activation type. An AAD has to meet the following requirements:

• minimum acceleration limit of 20 g in all directions;
• operating temperature range between -60° C and +60° C, and humidity range between 0 % and 100%;
• activation force must not be less than 50 N or more than 100 N; stroke must be at least 65 mm; initial activation force must be at least 270 N; the pull force must not decrease for more than 3.33 N/mm;
• time-activation AADs must have the operating range between 2 and 10 secs, with an accuracy of 10 % of the set value. Aneroid type AADs must have an operating range between 500 m and 4000 m MSL, with the accuracy as per following table:

 

Set activation altitude, in meters	Actual activation altitude, in meters
500	500 - 750
1000	950 - 1300
2000	1900 - 2350
3000	2850 - 3400
4000	3800 - 4450

 

Article 14:

Depending on their intended use, canopies must not exceed the following specifications:

Canopy type	Deployment time	Deployment distance	Vertical speed	Horizontal speed
student	5 sec	150 m	5 m/s	8 m/s
sport and tandem	5 sec	150 m	6 m/s	no limits
student reserve	2.5 sec	90 m	7 m/s	4 m/s
sport reserve	3.5 sec	100 m	7 m/s	no limits
tandem reserve	5 sec	150 m	6 m/s	no limits
emergency escape	2.5 sec	90 m	7.5 m/s	4 m/s

 

Article 15:

If the vertical speed at opening is 240 km/h or more, the parachute must be equipped with a special retarding device.

 

Article 16:

A canopy with glide ratio of 1:1 or greater must be equipped with a steering device.

 

Article 31:

Parachutes are divided into following categories: student, sport, reserve, military, tandem and emergency.

 

Article 32:

Parachute jumps can be performed if the following conditions are met (emergency and special-purpose jumps excluded):

• cloud ceiling must be at least 200 m higher than the exit altitude;
• exit point above the clouds is allowed only if visual and radio contact between airplane and LZ/DZ exists;
• max. allowed wind speed at landing area: 3 m/s for students with 5 jumps or less; 5 m/s for students with more than 5 jumps and for night jumps; 6 m/s for demo jumps; 7 m/s for licensed skydivers; 9 m/s for licensed skydivers who use ram-air canopies;
• for intentional water jumps the water temperature must be above 19° C, otherwise a scuba diving suit has to be used.

 

Article 34:

Reserve canopy is to be used if the main fails to deploy properly, or as a part of the training program or exam.

 

Article 35:

AAD must be used by students or skydivers without a licence, for exam jumps, or by any other skydiver if the person/official in charge requests so.

 

Article 36:

Allowed number of jumps within 24 hours:

• for first jump students - 1;
• for students - 3;
• licensed skydivers - 6;
• when training for competition - 12.

 

Article 37:

Landing area dimension limits:

• for students with 10 jumps or less - 600 m × 400 m (with no obstacles of any kind in vicinity);
• for students with more than 10 jumps - 600 m × 200 m;
• for licensed skydivers - 100 m × 50 m;
• for licensed skydivers with at least 20 demo jumps on a 100 m × 50 m area - no limits.

 

Article 38:

If there's an open body of water within 200 m of the landing area, a rescue boat must be provided.

 

Article 39:

If intentional water jumps are made, a minimum of 3 rescue boats must be provided; intentional water jumps can be made only by persons who know how to swim.

 

Article 40:

A current and appropriately rated jumpmaster or instructor must be in charge of any skydiving activity. He or she is responsible for organizing, planning and safe jumping of all participating skydivers, and student skydivers in particular.

 

Article 41:

The person-in-charge is responsible for the following:

• organizing any skydiving activity in accordance with this Rule book;
• plan according to the §43/sections 1 through 4 of this Rule book;
• check the licenses of the participating skydivers to establish if they are current and appropriately rated for the intended jump;
• check the jump plane crew qualifications/ratings;
• give a pre-jump briefing;
• to be present at the DZ/LZ, or if himself jumping, appoint a qualified person to stand in for him;
• brief the jump plane crew;
• forbid boarding the plane to skydivers who violate the BSRs.

 

Article 42:

Minimum opening altitude for student skydivers is 750 m AGL, and for licenced skydivers 500 m AGL.

 

Article 43:

Before the start of jumping, the person-in-charge has to attend to the following:

1. notify the local ATC;
2. check the licences of all the participants;
3. check the participants' equipment;
4. check the meteorological conditions;
5. check the packjobs and AADs;
6. give a pre-jump briefing.

 

Article 45:

The owner and/or user of the parachute is responsible for maintaining the parachute in working condition.

 

Article 46:

A parachute is maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's documentation and this Rule book. The main canopy has to be repacked less than 30 days before the jump. The reserve canopy and emergency escape parachute have to be repacked every 90 days. While a parachute is not in use, it has to be properly stored and repacked every 90 days. Student canopies are packed by student themselves, under instructor's supervision. Emergency escape parachute has to be (re)packed and sealed by a skydiving instructor.

 

Article 57:

A licence can be issued to a person who has successfully completed the basic training course, has a minimum of 50 jumps of which at least 20 jumps with a 10+ sec delay and at least 5 jumps with a 30+ sec delay, and has passed the required exam.

 

Article 58:

A skydive jump can be made by a person who:

• has passed a "C" level aviation medical exam;
• has successful completed ground school, and passed written, oral and practical tests;
• is registered as a student skydiver in one of the clubs (which has to be a member of the national aeroclub);
• has a notarized parental or guardian consent, if he or she is between 16 and 18 years of age.

 

Article 62:

To get a licence, a skydiver must pass an exam, consisting of written, oral and practical parts. The written and oral tests are divided into following categories:

• basics of a skydiving jump;
• jump technique;
• maintenance and nomenclature of the parachute and other skydiving equipment;
• basics of meteorology;
• emergency procedures;
• aeronautical regulations.

Practical part of the test consists of a single jump (usually from 1500 m AGL), during which the candidate must demonstrate the ability to plan the jump, spot, perform half a style set, open at a safe altitude and land in a circle of a 50 m diameter.

 

Article 63:

The licence expires 2 years after the date of issue. To renew it, the candidate must pass a "C" level aviation medical exam, file a renewal form together with a copy of a logbook signed by a skydiving instructor confirming that the candidate has made at least 20 jumps within past 2 years and pay the renewal fee.

 

Article 65:

A skydiver may become an instructor if he or she meets the following requirements:

• has a jumpmaster rating;
• has a minimum of 500 jumps;
• has at least 2 intentional water jumps;
• has at least 2 jumps with a 60+ sec delay;
• has at least 3 night jumps;
• has at least 20 demo jumps;
• make 3 successive accuracy jumps with a total score less than 1.5 m;
• do a style set in 12 seconds or less;
• has docked as the last one on a FS 4-way, or make a successful FS 3-way on the exam jump;
• has made a CRW 4-way formation, or make a CRW 2-way formation on the exam jump;

Official competition results are recognized as fulfilling the above requirements.

 

Article 66:

Written and oral part of the instructor exam consist of the following categories:

• basics of a skydiving jump;
• maintenance and nomenclature of the parachute and other skydiving equipment;
• emergency procedures;
• basics of meteorology;
• aeronautical regulations;
• basics of aviation psychology and physiology;
• methods of instruction;
• basic safety requirements;
• testing procedures of non-prototype canopies;
• first aid.

The practical part of the exam consists of the following categories:

• maintenance and nomenclature of the parachute and other skydiving equipment;
• methods of instruction;
• exam jumps.

As one of the exam jump, the candidate has to perform an intentional cutaway.

 

Article 67:

An instructor is authorized to instruct first jump students in both theoretical and practical skydiving skills, administer tests to the licence candidates, test equipment after maintenance or repair and perform other skydiving-related duties.

 

Article 71:

A skydiver may become a jumpmaster if he or she meets the following requirements:

• has a licence for at least 3 years;
• has a minimum of 300 jumps;
• has passed the required exam.

 

Article 72:

Written and oral parts of the jumpmaster exam consist of the following categories:

• basic safety requirements;
• aeronautical regulations;
• basics of meteorology;
• first aid.

The practical part of the exam consists of demonstrating the ability to be in charge of a skydiving event. Before taking the practical part of the exam, the candidate must submit evidence that he or she has acted as trainee for a period of 15 days at 3 different DZs under the supervision of 3 different skydiving instructors, who confirm it with their signatures.

 

Article 81:

Oral part of any exam is taken after successfully passing the written part. The written part is considered successful if the candidate scores 80 %, except for the emergency procedures category, which has to be scored 100 %. If the candidate fails in two or more categories, he or she can retake the exam after a period of one month. If the candidate fails again, he or she must retake the entire exam again.

 

 

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