Certification evidence
DO-254 SOI-1 hardware planning evidence review for DO-254
This review is for avionics suppliers, equipment suppliers, Certification teams responsible for DO-254 SOI-1 hardware planning. It is triggered by hardware SOI-1 audit scheduled. EE checks hardware design plan, validation, verification plans, plus the governing plan or application, against DO-254. Discrepancies include missing source records, mismatched configuration, unsupported assumptions, or PHAC design assurance levels inconsistent with the PSSA allocation. Output includes DO-254 SOI-1 hardware planning exception register, Claim to evidence map, Reviewer question list.
When this review is needed
- A new article, software load, or installation is moving into certification review.
- Quality control needs a repeatable list of ready and open records.
- Internal teams need a supplier request list tied to evidence gaps.
- The buyer wants a defensible package before committing the claim.
The problem
Certification risk sits in the gap between the claimed basis and the records in the folder. With DO-254 SOI-1 hardware planning, PHAC design assurance levels inconsistent with the PSSA allocation can stay hidden until the exact source record is requested.
What gets reviewed
- Review hardware design plan against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Compare validation against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Trace verification plans against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Challenge configuration management against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Reconcile process assurance plans against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
- Confirm hardware standards against the configuration, installation, or claim under review.
What gets validated
- Pass check: hardware design plan must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
- Configuration check: validation must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
- Trace check: verification plans must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
- Rationale check: configuration management must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
- Closure check: process assurance plans must match the released configuration and the claimed means of compliance.
Evidence normally required
- Controlled hardware design plan
- Released validation
- Signed verification plans
- Current configuration management
- Archived process assurance plans
- Supplier hardware standards
Common discrepancies
What is at stake
A weak package can convert a planned review into a long question log. If devices classified simple with no service experience or analysis backing it, the program may need new evidence before the claim can proceed.
Move from findings to resolution
Identify gaps against the means of compliance.
How the work runs
Frame 254 Soi
Confirm the exact event, affected file set, buyer role, and decision standard before any hardware design plan is treated as sufficient.
Trace Planning 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 Evidence Certification
Group exceptions by closure route: document retrieval, data correction, engineering disposition, authority response, or contractual decision.
Package Plan Set
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
Who uses the output
- hardware lead assign closure actions from the exception register.
- certification liaison use the map to locate source evidence.
- DER decide what can proceed and what must wait.
How the work fits into the transaction or program
Will the hardware plan set hold up at the first hardware stage-of-involvement review. The evidence set centers on PHAC, hardware design plan, validation and verification plans, configuration management and process assurance plans, hardware standards, and the simple versus complex classification for each device. The likely weak points are PHAC design assurance levels inconsistent with the PSSA allocation, devices classified simple with no service experience or analysis backing it, and verification strategy that does not scale to the claimed DAL. The output gives the hardware lead a cleanup register for DO-254 SOI-1 hardware planning before hardware SOI-1 audit.
Start with a single asset
Confirm requirements trace through verification.
Regulatory limits
The output supports applicant decision making and authority discussions. It does not replace required approvals, designee findings, conformity activity, or airworthiness determinations.
What this review does not cover
- Final certification decision
- Airworthiness determination
- Hardware or software redesign
- Production quality 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: PHAC design assurance levels inconsistent with the PSSA allocation changes the strength of the certification argument.
- The scope uses the 254 Soi Hardware Planning question as the control point, so the review stays tied to Hardware SOI-1 audit scheduled and the buyer decision behind it.
- The evidence starts with Hardware design plan and follows Review Prep Evidence 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 hardware lead: 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 PHAC Plan Set Checked 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-254 SOI-1 hardware planning exception register; it gives the next reviewer a precise map instead of another broad request for a better file.
Sources
RTCA. Design assurance objectives and lifecycle data for airborne electronic hardware (FPGA/ASIC/PLD).
Federal Aviation Administration. FAA type certification process, certification basis establishment, and compliance findings.
Frequently asked questions
What makes this evidence review different from a general file audit?
The scope is tied to 254 soi hardware planning and to the decision named in the request. A general audit can list weak records; this pass ranks the gaps by whether they block hardware soi-1 audit scheduled or can be closed later without changing the decision.
What evidence has to be available before this work starts?
The starting point is hardware design plan, 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 hardware lead 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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