FCC Certification

The FCC is an independent United States government agency. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.

Each manufacturer requires an FCC certification for its wireless device, to obtain regulatory approval for the device in the United States. Market approval, as required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), primarily means an approval of wireless technology devices in the United States. To make the certification process more efficient for manufacturers in and outside the USA, the FCC has appointed Telecommunications Certifications Bodies (TCBs) who have the authority to review and grant an application for certification on behalf of the FCC.

In November 2017, an updated FCC authorization program was introduced, which was in a transition period until November 2, 2018. Both procedures were valid during this transitional period.

After the transition period ended on November 2, 2018, only the new authorization program applies for digital devices, wireless and telecommunications products on the US market.

In concrete terms, this means that the FCC will no longer recognise procedures initiated under the old program. Equipment approved prior to November 2, 2018 using the former DoC or verification procedures is grandfathered. Therefore, it is not necessary to re-test or apply the SDoC procedure.

If any changes are made to equipment previously approved using either DoC or verification after November 2, 2018, then the procedures for SDoC apply for the modified equipment. FCC rule part 15.101 contains a list of product types classified under the SDoC procedure. Generally, it is always possible to apply the certification procedure as an alternative to the SDoC procedure.

An FCC certification is still permanently valid and does not expire. This means that a completely unchanged product does not have to be re-certified. In the case of minor changes to the device or the device configuration, a re-certification based on the original FCC certification may also be necessary.

Our services

We are accredited and recognized by the FCC as an official laboratory, and we are thus able to perform all relevant regulatory tests necessary to start the approval process. In addition to the required tests, we can also offer you the handling of the certification process through our TCBs and thus a complete FCC approval from a single source.

Our accredited laboratories in North America and Europe have several approved TCBs and we provide testing and approval services in accordance with all FCC standards. These include, among others:

• FCC PART 22, 24 & 27 for GSM/WCDMA/LTE devices
• FCC PART 15.247 for Bluetooth/WLAN 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz)
• FCC PART 15.407 for WLAN 802.11 a/n/ac (5 GHz)
• FCC part 15.245 (902-928 MHz band, ISM bands)
• FCC PART 15.225 for RFID (13.56 MHz)
• FCC PART 25 for Satellite communications devices
• FCC PART 90 for Private land mobile devices
• FCC PART 95 for Personal radio devices
• HAC testing according to FCC regulations
• DFS testing for devices operating within the 5.25-5.35 GHz and 5.47-5.725 GHz frequencies. FCC PART 15 subpart E.
• SAR testing according to FCC rules

An FCC certification can also be considered as the basis for approval in many countries around the world, as the associated test scope covers a large number of local requirements. These include, among others, Mexico, Chile or Argentina. Contrary to popular belief, an FCC certification for the US market is not synonymous with regulatory approval in Canada. For the Canadian market a certification of the authority ISED (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) is necessary.