Peter,
There are three different approval processes used for digital devices under the FCC Rules. Verification, Certification and Declaration of Conformity. Which one you use depends on the product. See FCC Rules 15.101a for a table showing what process applies to what type of product. Verification is a simple process where you use any lab that you, the manufacturer, are convinced meets the requirements in Part 2 of the FCC Rules. Basically, is the lab equipped to perform the tests or not. Once you have data showing compliance you put the required label on the product, put the required text in the user documentation and sell the product. Verification is used for class A devices (devices not marketed to the public for use in the home – think servers and mainframes) and some limited class B devices (not PCs or their peripherals). Certification is more complicated. You must use an FCC Listed laboratory. To be Listed the lab submits paper to the FCC showing details of the test facility demonstrating that they are equipped to do the testing. Nothing said about quality of processes or people, just the facility. Once you have a test report from the Listed lab, you submit an application to a 3rd party who processes the paperwork for the FCC. Costs you time and money. Once approval is granted you label the product, put the required text in the user documentation and sell the product. Certification may be used for class B devices and is required for intentional radiators (like the WiFi unit in my laptop). Declaration of Conformity is the simplest for the manufacturer and the most complicated for the lab. You have your product tested in an accredited lab located in a country acceptable to the FCC. The lab must be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 by A2LA or NIST NVLAP in the US or the accrediting body in the country in which it is located. Once you have data showing compliance, you label the product, put the necessary text in the user documentation and ship, much like Verification. Different label, of course. No submittal, wait or fees as are required for Certification. DoC is used for class B devices, such as personal computers and their peripheral devices. So, to answer your latest question, it depends. Is your lab accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and is it located in a country acceptable to the FCC? If so, data from it may be used for the DoC process. If not, it cannot. Is your lab FCC Listed? If so, the report may be used for the Certification process. If not, it cannot. Finally, does your lab meet the requirements in Part 2 of the FCC Rules? If so, the data may be used for Verification. If not, well I think you get the idea. From your original message it sounds like your lab is FCC Listed. In that case, it is good for Verification or Certification, but not Declaration of Conformity. I hope this helps. A bit more long winded that some of the other replies, but this isn’t a simple question suitable for a one sentence answer. And, no, I don’t work for a lab and I’m not trying to drum up business for our in-house labs. Best of luck to you. Ghery S. Pettit EMC Regulatory Compliance Manager Corporate Product Regulations and Standards Intel Corporation Caveat – the opinions expressed in this message are my own and not necessarily those of my employer. Any errors will be blamed on ‘evil spirits’ between my keyboard and the internet. J From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 12:50 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: FCC site registration Thanks guys for the info, but I guess my question is that what benefit this site registration gives me if I can not test our product in our newly registered site? I am bit confused between self delcration and DoC. Are they different? and bottom line, can I use my own test data toclaim compliance? From: [email protected] To: Larry Stillings <[email protected]> Cc: 'Grasso, Charles' <[email protected]>; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Sent: Fri, Oct 9, 2009 12:20 pm Subject: RE: FCC site registration Plus accreditors that are part of the ILAC (?) MRA. Barry C. Quinlan Certification Manager Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services Tel: +1 (978) 698 6155 Mobile: + 1 (978) 340 2547 Fax: +1 (978) 486 8828 Email: [email protected] Web: www.cps.bureauveritas.com <http://www.cps.bureauveritas.com/> Address: Littleton Distribution Center, One Distribution Center Circle#1, Littleton, MA 01460, USA [email protected] wrote on 10/09/2009 03:08:14 PM: > I believe their are three accreditation bodies now for testing > laboratories, NVLAP, A2LA & ACLASS, that can be used for the DoC Process > > Larry Stillings > Compliance Worldwide, Inc. > > From: Grasso, Charles [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 2:58 PM > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Subject: RE: FCC site registration > The DoC process requires the use of an accredited (NVLAP) lab. > > Best Regards > Charles Grasso > Compliance Engineer > Echostar Communications > (w) 303-706-5467 > (c) 303-204-2974 > (t) [email protected] > (e) [email protected] > (e2) [email protected] > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 12:54 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: FCC site registration > > Hello Group, > > Can someone let me know what does "Declaration of Conformity" means > in terms of FCC? We make simple ITE products without any radio. We > go to a 3rd party lab, get our product tested and get a report and > based on that we put the FCC mark on our product. Most of our > products are Class A stuff any way. > > We now want to do this testing in-house using our own facility which > was registered by FCC recently. The letter from FCC states that the > site is not authorized to perform testing under DOC process. What > does this means? Cannot we test our own product using our own lab > and self declare? > > Thanks > Peter > - > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society > emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to < > [email protected]> > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at > http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc > Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. > Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ > Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html > List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Scott Douglas <[email protected]> > Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> > For policy questions, send mail to: > Jim Bacher <[email protected]> > David Heald <[email protected]> > - > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society > emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to < > [email protected]> > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at > http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc > Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. > Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ > Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html > List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Scott Douglas <[email protected]> > Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> > For policy questions, send mail to: > Jim Bacher <[email protected]> > David Heald <[email protected]> > - > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society > emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to < > [email protected]> > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at > http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc > Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. > Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ > Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html > List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Scott Douglas <[email protected]> > Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> > For policy questions, send mail to: > Jim Bacher <[email protected]> > David Heald <[email protected]> - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]> - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]> - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]>
