Do I need FCC certification for a prototype or a small batch?

Allowed before authorization

Build and test it

You may operate an unauthorized device to evaluate its performance and whether customers accept it, during development, design or pre-production, as long as the units are taken back or disabled afterwards. Units used outside your own premises carry the FCC notice¹.

Show it

At a trade show or in an ad, with a conspicuous notice that the device has not been authorized and cannot be sold or leased until it is².

Take orders

Conditional sales are allowed, with set disclosures. Delivery is not: a device on the self-declaration route (SDoC) may not be handed to anyone, end users included, before authorization, and a certified device may not reach end users²³.

Import samples

Up to 4,000 units for testing, evaluation or product development, not offered for sale⁴.

Not a loophole

"Five or fewer"

The home-built exemption covers up to five devices built for personal use, not marketed and not from a kit⁵. Units a company builds for you do not qualify.

Selling 10 units

Selling is marketing, and marketing needs authorization first². There is no small-batch exemption.

Which approval your device needs

Wi-Fi or Bluetooth

A device that transmits on purpose is an intentional radiator and needs certification by a Telecommunication Certification Body⁶.

Any microcontroller

Digital electronics clocked above 9 kHz, such as an ESP32 or STM32 board, are unintentional radiators: Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) or certification⁷. The party responsible for an SDoC must be in the United States⁸.

A pre-certified radio module

The module's own FCC ID covers the radio, and the product's label can read "Contains FCC ID" with that number⁹. The product still needs Part 15 Subpart B for its digital circuits, and must stay within the module's grant conditions, such as its antenna and distance from the body; changing those needs a permissive change or a new FCC ID¹⁰.

What testing costs

Robots: the 2026 rule

What changed

New models of foreign-produced "advanced robotic devices" are on the FCC's Covered List and cannot receive any FCC authorization, SDoC included, so they cannot be imported, marketed or sold in the US unless the Department of War grants a conditional approval¹².

What counts

A mobile ground robot that moves on commands or sensor data, weighs over 4.4 lb with its ground or docking station, and has an environment sensor, a network link of at least 200 kbps (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi count) and software that controls its movement or remote command. Underwater vehicles, rail vehicles, connected cars and fixed robot arms are outside this definition; drones have their own Covered List entry¹².

"Foreign-produced"

Anything that is not manufactured in the US with more than 65% domestic component cost (75% from 2029), whoever owns the factory¹².

Still allowed

Importing small batches solely for product development or testing, not marketed or sold; sales to the US government; robots under 4.4 lb or without those components¹².

For a robot built with us

Units imported for your own development or testing, and not resold, fall under that exception. If you plan to sell a robot that meets the definition in the US, settle the conditional approval or US manufacturing route before you commit to a batch.

The EU (CE)

Display

Radio equipment that does not yet comply may be shown at trade fairs and demonstrations with a visible sign that it cannot be sold or put into service until it complies¹³.

Pre-production units

Units transferred for testing or validation while still in manufacture are not "placed on the market" under the Commission's guidance¹⁴.

Plan it early

1. Say in your first message whether the product will be sold, and where.
2. Choose a pre-certified radio module and keep its antenna and grant conditions, unless you have a reason not to.
3. Budget the test lab next to development, not after it.
4. Label every unit you hand out before authorization, and get it back afterwards.

Sources

1. 47 CFR § 2.805(a) and (d), eCFR, accessed 2026-10-19
2. 47 CFR § 2.803(a), (b) and (d)(2) (numbered (c)(2) before 2026-10-13), eCFR, up to date as of 2026-10-16
3. FCC, allowing earlier equipment marketing and importation opportunities, 86 FR 52088, 2021-09-20
4. 47 CFR § 2.1204(a)(3), eCFR
5. 47 CFR § 15.23, eCFR
6. 47 CFR § 15.201(b), eCFR
7. 47 CFR § 15.3(k) and (z) and § 15.101(a), eCFR
8. 47 CFR § 2.1077(a)(3), eCFR
9. 47 CFR § 15.212(a)(1)(vi), eCFR
10. FCC, KDB 996369 D04 Module Integration Guide v02, 2020-10-13 (guidance, not a rule)
11. Compliance Testing LLC, how much does FCC certification cost, 2025
12. FCC, FAQs on the Covered List update for foreign-produced advanced robotic devices and power inverters, accessed 2026-10-19
13. Directive 2014/53/EU, Radio Equipment Directive, Article 9(2)
14. European Commission, Blue Guide 2022, section 2.3