Certification of devices with 3rd party modules

[ArtG89]

We have a prototype with nrf52832. Now we are going to prepare it for sale in Europe and USA. We are faced with the issue of certification.

As I understand we need:

1. BLE SIG qualification

2. CE certificate

3. FCC certificate 

a) Do we need all of them?

After reading forums I saw 3rd party modules and chose these: 

Minew  MS50SFB2 

Raytac MDBT42Q-512KV2

Raytac MDBT42-512KV2   

As I understand procedure of certification with these modules much more simpler.

We will begin with Europe.

b) Can we do BLE SIG qualification without tests with these modules? As I understand only fee 2500$ (8000$) is needed.

c) In infocenter there is ETSI EN 300 328 standard for CE and for example MDBT42 don't have it on page 37. What standards we need to fit for CE?

d) Is there any 3rd party module with all pins that we can qualify without tests and do only EMI tests for CE?

[ketiljo]

a) Yes, you need all of them.

b) Yes, you list all these modules at Bluetooth SIG. There will be a listing fee pr. product

c) EN 300 328 is the normal and most commonly used standard for radios operating in the 2.4 GHz band. EN 401 489 is the EMC standard, the general radio test (300 328) is missing from the "CE test report" page, you should ask Raytac if they have done this. EMC/EMI must be tested on the complete finished product in any case. 

d) Most of the modules you find in the list at https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/3rd-Party/3rd-party-modules are pre-approved.

[Lyon Liu]

Raytac's all modules have Bluetooth qualification done, and regulations pre-certified such FCC, CE(RED), IC........etc.

Suggest asking Raytac straight away for more information, they often help customers dealing with this issue.