Program Description

The Technology Evaluation Branch is responsible for administering the requirements, pursuant to 42 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 84 (42 CFR Part 84) for the congressionally mandated certification program for respiratory protective devices.  The technology evaluation branch respirator certification program consists of three interconnected functions: the record keeping function, the pre-approval testing and quality assurance function, and the post-approval testing including quality assurance audits, Long Term Field Evaluation and the Certified Product Investigation Process. 

The respirator certification function is a high production operation with a congressionally-directed target of less than 90 days processing time for individual approval actions.  The Technology Evaluation Branch processes approximately 600 approval actions per year.  The failure rate in new approval applications is approximately 20%.  Pre-approval testing is performed on a minimal sample of production devices assuring their compliance with the minimum approval requirements of 42 CFR 84.   In keeping with the requirements of the standard, NPPTL evaluates only complete respirator systems, and no component approvals are issued.

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