Narrative:

On the morning of this event; I was finishing up a lesson with my CFI as I'm working toward my commercial rating. We were doing a variety of landings; so far touch and go; on runway 36. Then we decided to do a stop and go.the landing was fine until I went to apply brakes. My left brake failed and I veered hard to the right. I did not have the ability to correct and steer back to the left. I believe if I tried to steer really hard back the other way I may have lost control or hit a taxi light.my right wheel (main) went off the runway as well as nose wheel and onto the grass. The grass area was a flat surface and we didn't hit anything. I informed the tower that I had a braking issue and requested permission to taxi back. The tower gave me permission to taxi back to the ramp.I had to proceed ahead and further onto the grass to turn around to the right and get lined up on the centerline of the runway. There were no other aircraft involved. No injuries and no damage to the club aircraft that I was flying.I did not notice a braking issue prior to departure. I did check the brakes while taxing prior to departure. I initially did not think there was as issue as far as needing to report this because nothing 'bad' happened as a result and the tower did not ask me to contact them. I was informed by the airport manager that because it is still considered to be part of the landing that it qualifies as part of the flight; and therefore it is a reportable event. He told me not to worry about it because the FAA is shut down anyway but for future reference I should notify him. The airport manager had been misinformed from another source unknown to me; that this event occurred at night after the tower was closed; which is not correct information (which my have been why he was contacting the club about it to begin with). I did squawk the brake failure right away on the flight club website which sends a notification to the maintenance team. The head maintenance officer was called and an email was sent out to the entire club. I also notified the next person on the schedule. The plane was sent to the garage on field for follow-up maintenance.another club CFI informed me that this isn't an issue since the tower didn't feel it was an issue. I wasn't sure what to do in this case because it partially left the runway because of brake failure; and then fully left the runway surface to turn around to get back into position to taxi.the reason I'm filing this report is because I'm not clear as to who at the airport has authority over reporting this type of event and whether or not it is necessary. I was under the impression that the tower had jurisdiction. However; after speaking to the airport manager; felt that I may be reported or need to report this.due to time constraints; I felt compelled to file this report. I am traveling currently. I know I will need to review the far's to determine what types of things I need to report. I will follow up with some research.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C-182RG left brake failed on landing so the aircraft veered sharply right and departed the runway with no damage to the aircraft or airport equipment. The aircraft was then taxied to the hangar.

Narrative: On the morning of this event; I was finishing up a lesson with my CFI as I'm working toward my Commercial Rating. We were doing a variety of landings; so far touch and go; on Runway 36. Then we decided to do a stop and go.The landing was fine until I went to apply brakes. My left brake failed and I veered hard to the right. I did not have the ability to correct and steer back to the left. I believe if I tried to steer really hard back the other way I may have lost control or hit a taxi light.My right wheel (main) went off the runway as well as nose wheel and onto the grass. The grass area was a flat surface and we didn't hit anything. I informed the Tower that I had a braking issue and requested permission to taxi back. The Tower gave me permission to taxi back to the ramp.I had to proceed ahead and further onto the grass to turn around to the right and get lined up on the centerline of the runway. There were no other aircraft involved. No injuries and no damage to the club aircraft that I was flying.I did not notice a braking issue prior to departure. I did check the brakes while taxing prior to departure. I initially did not think there was as issue as far as needing to report this because nothing 'bad' happened as a result and the Tower did not ask me to contact them. I was informed by the Airport Manager that because it is still considered to be part of the landing that it qualifies as part of the flight; and therefore it is a reportable event. He told me not to worry about it because the FAA is shut down anyway but for future reference I should notify him. The Airport Manager had been misinformed from another source unknown to me; that this event occurred at night after the Tower was closed; which is not correct information (which my have been why he was contacting the club about it to begin with). I did squawk the brake failure right away on the flight club website which sends a notification to the Maintenance Team. The Head Maintenance Officer was called and an email was sent out to the entire club. I also notified the next person on the schedule. The plane was sent to the garage on field for follow-up maintenance.Another club CFI informed me that this isn't an issue since the Tower didn't feel it was an issue. I wasn't sure what to do in this case because it partially left the runway because of brake failure; and then fully left the runway surface to turn around to get back into position to taxi.The reason I'm filing this report is because I'm not clear as to who at the airport has authority over reporting this type of event and whether or not it is necessary. I was under the impression that the Tower had jurisdiction. However; after speaking to the Airport Manager; felt that I may be reported or need to report this.Due to time constraints; I felt compelled to file this report. I am traveling currently. I know I will need to review the FAR's to determine what types of things I need to report. I will follow up with some research.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.