Certification evidence
DO-160 category selection audit evidence review for DO-160G
This review is for equipment suppliers, avionics suppliers, OEMs responsible for DO-160 category selection audit. It is triggered by qualification planning or evidence review. EE checks declared category string section by section, installation zone/power/exposure that should drive each, rationale for any benign category chosen, plus the governing plan or application, against DO-160G. Discrepancies include missing source records, mismatched configuration, unsupported assumptions, or benign temperature or vibration category on a harsh installation. Output includes DO-160 category selection audit exception register, Claim to evidence map, Reviewer question list.
When this review is needed
- The team is preparing for qualification planning or evidence review.
- Supplier records and applicant records must be reconciled.
- Program leads need to know which findings could block the next gate.
- A proposed means of compliance depends on evidence reuse, analysis, or rationale.
The problem
Reviewers need to reconstruct the path from final claim to source data. For DO-160 category selection audit, weak files usually show benign temperature or vibration category on a harsh installation, then reveal revision drift or unclosed assumptions.
What gets reviewed
- Review declared category string section by section against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Compare installation zone/power/exposure that should drive each against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Trace rationale for any benign category chosen against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Challenge alignment with the TSO/standard invoking DO-160. against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
What gets validated
- Pass check: declared category string section by section must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
- Configuration check: installation zone/power/exposure that should drive each must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
- Trace check: rationale for any benign category chosen must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
- Rationale check: alignment with the TSO/standard invoking DO-160. must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
Evidence normally required
- Controlled declared category string section by section
- Released installation zone/power/exposure that should drive each
- Signed rationale for any benign category chosen
- Current alignment with the TSO/standard invoking DO-160.
- Archived plan revision
- Supplier trace matrix
Common discrepancies
- Gap: benign temperature or vibration category on a harsh installation.
- Mismatch: power category for the wrong bus.
- Unsupported claim: category string copied from a different product.
What is at stake
An unresolved gap can become a finding, a deferred submittal, or a narrower claim. Missing support for power category for the wrong bus often affects several records at once.
Move from findings to resolution
Identify gaps against the means of compliance.
How the work runs
Frame 160 Category
Confirm the exact event, affected file set, buyer role, and decision standard before any declared category string section by section is treated as sufficient.
Trace Audit Review
Walk the named evidence from index entry to source artifact and mark where the trail supports, conflicts with, or fails to answer the page-specific question.
Sort 160g Certification
Group exceptions by closure route: document retrieval, data correction, engineering disposition, authority response, or contractual decision.
Package Categories Real
Deliver the exception list, evidence map, and owner sequence in a form that can move directly into remediation, submittal cleanup, or transaction negotiation.
What the buyer receives
- DO-160 category selection audit exception register
- Claim to evidence map
- Reviewer question list
- Closure action plan
Who uses the output
- qualification engineer assign closure actions from the exception register.
- certification liaison use the map to locate source evidence.
- systems engineer decide what can proceed and what must wait.
How the work fits into the transaction or program
Do the DO-160 environmental categories declared for the equipment (the category string) actually match the installation zone, power source, and exposure, because a plausible-looking category string is the single most common way qualification evidence proves the wrong environment. The evidence set centers on the declared category string section by section, the installation zone/power/exposure that should drive each, the rationale for any benign category chosen, and the alignment with the TSO/standard invoking. The likely weak points are a benign temperature or vibration category on a harsh installation, a power category for the wrong bus, and a category string copied from a different product; Distinct from the round-1 section-specific support pages (which go deep on one section): this audits the whole category string against the installation. The output gives the qualification engineer a cleanup register for DO-160 category selection audit before qualification planning or evidence review.
Start with a single asset
Confirm requirements trace through verification.
Regulatory limits
This review is not an approval activity. Final findings, acceptance, installation approval, and airworthiness decisions remain with the responsible applicant, authorized representatives, and authorities.
What this review does not cover
- Authority negotiations as decision maker
- Compliance finding approval
- Test execution or article build
- Operator airworthiness release
Specific to this review
- Configuration identity matters because evidence from another baseline may prove a different article, load, or installation.
- A useful trail names the source record, revision, owner, and closure decision for each claim.
- The exception list separates document-control cleanup from gaps that need engineering substantiation.
- The finding pattern for this page is specific: benign temperature or vibration category on a harsh installation changes the strength of the certification argument.
- The scope uses the 160 Category Selection Audit question as the control point, so the review stays tied to Qualification planning or evidence review and the buyer decision behind it.
- The evidence starts with Declared category string section by section and follows Review Evidence 160g Certification references until every exception has a source location and a reason code.
- The finding logic separates missing paperwork, conflicting status, stale revision data, and unsupported disposition because each class closes through a different owner.
- The timing matters for qualification engineer: the output is useful only if the unresolved items are visible before acceptance, submittal, handback, or negotiation pressure fixes the sequence.
- The boundary control keeps Environmental Categories Real Installation questions in the records or certification lane and sends technical acceptance issues to the authorized people who own them.
- The handoff value comes from DO-160 category selection audit exception register; it gives the next reviewer a precise map instead of another broad request for a better file.
Sources
RTCA. Environmental qualification test categories and procedures referenced by TSO and equipment qualification.
SAE International. Safety assessment methods (FHA, PSSA, SSA, FTA, FMEA) supporting development assurance level assignment.
Frequently asked questions
What makes this evidence review different from a general file audit?
The scope is tied to 160 category selection audit and to the decision named in the request. A general audit can list weak records; this pass ranks the gaps by whether they block qualification planning or evidence review or can be closed later without changing the decision.
What evidence has to be available before this work starts?
The starting point is declared category string section by section, the current status source, and any index or matrix that tells reviewers where the supporting artifact should live. Missing inputs are logged as findings rather than filled with assumptions.
Who decides whether an open item is acceptable?
The review explains what the evidence supports and gives qualification engineer a closure path. Acceptance remains with the buyer, operator, authority, delegated engineer, or authorized person responsible for the underlying airworthiness or certification decision.
Relevant glossary terms
Related pages
Where this fits
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