The FCC is an independent agency of the United States, established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.
In order to obtain market approval for a device with radio technologies in the USA, each manufacturer must obtain FCC certification for the respective device. Certification in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) primarily means approval of devices with radio technologies in the USA. In order to make the certification process more efficient for manufacturers in and outside the USA, the FCC has designated Telecommunication Certification Bodies (TCBs) that have the authority to apply for and grant certification as part of the FCC approval process.
In November 2017, an updated FCC Authorization Program was presented, which was in a transition period until November 2, 2018. During this transition period both programs were valid.
A new authorization program for FCC certification for the US market has been in effect since November 2018.
Has to be assigned by an accredited and recognized FCC Laboratory
Self declaration process – No FCC lab is required. The responsible party must be located in the US. A FCC Logo in FCC 15.19 is no longer mandatory.
A list of product groups for which the less complex sDoC procedure can be used can be found in FCC Rule Part 15.101. For all other product groups, the FCC certification procedure with an accredited and recognized FCC laboratory is mandatory.
We are accredited and recognized as an official laboratory by the FCC and are therefore able to perform all relevant regulatory tests necessary to start the FCC approval process. In addition to the necessary tests, our TCBs also enable us to offer you the certification process and thus a complete FCC approval from a single source.
Our accredited laboratories in North America and Europe have several approved TCBs and we offer testing and approval services according to all FCC standards. These include, among others:
An FCC certification can also be seen as the basis for approval in many countries around the world, as the associated test scope covers a wide range of local requirements. These include Mexico, Chile and Argentina. Contrary to popular belief, an FCC certification for the US market is not equivalent to a market approval in Canada. For the Canadian market, approval from the Canadian authority ISED (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) is required.
For unlicensed devices such as Bluetooth or WLAN products, radio keys, etc. the following must be submitted:
For licensed devices, such as mobile phones, the following additional features are needed:
The application, including documents in English, must be submitted by the TCB to the FCC.
The basis for a market approval in Canada is the so-called ISED certification. The responsible authority for radio licensing in Canada is called Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). The technical requirements for a market approval of products with radio technologies are in most cases identical to those in the USA and the tasks of the FCB for Canada are similar to those of the TCB.
No. In KDB 996369 D04, FCC has made it very clear that additional measurements must be performed on the host product (e.g. radiated emissions, EIRP, etc.).
In the case of a full-modular approval, the module must be integrated in consultation with the module integrator, the 15B part must be considered and additional measurements for the radio part must be considered. Afterwards an SDoC procedure can be applied by the host integrator.
When integrating a module with “limited modular” approval, the host integrator can only perform two procedures himself 1) Change in ID for modular approval + C2PC of the module or 2) seek a new FCC ID of the host product. If the host manufacturer cannot comply, or is not given clear directions to address the limitations, he must have the module approved the product via C1PC or C2PC. This is a major difference to integration with the Full Modular, since the integrator cannot simply make a C1PC himself.
This procedure involves integrating a certified module without having to perform a separate approval for the host product. As mentioned above, you have to do some spot check measurements. As mentioned earlier, spot check testing is required pursuant to KDB 996369 D04.
In general, all transmitters + scanning receivers must be certified. The products that fall under SDoC are listed in §15.101. In many cases both procedures apply.
Certification:
sDoC:
sDoC and Certification:
This does not play a role for the FCC approval.
You do not have to do anything if you are in transit or have products that roam e.g. containers on a ship.
If you want to sell your device in the USA with a roaming SIM, you have to get the acceptance of the US network operators.
An FCC approval is only valid for USA. Mexico has its own requirements. USA and Mexico signed a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) in 2016. As of now the standards which are available for designation can be seen here:
There is no indication if FCC measurements for GPS are recognized in Mexico. In USA, GPS receiver measurements are not required for FCC, because they are exempt from complying with the technical provisions of part 15B but are subject to §15.5.
