At Mudge Fasteners, requests for material certs are common and we’re almost always able to provide the certification our customers need in a timely fashion. If a product or project you’re working on needs material certs for the fasteners used, we’re here to help.

Typically, when a cert is requested, a customer is in need of a certified Material Test Report (MTR) that contains the information required by the Fastener Quality Act. It’s important to note that the Fastener Quality Act only requires lot-level certs for heat treated and grade marked fasteners, which only covers a portion of fasteners on the market.

Material certs should always be requested at the time the order is placed, and depending on the cert and the manufacturer, the cost to supply these certs will vary. The most certs requested most often for fasteners are:

Certificate of Conformance/Compliance (CofC): This cert is a simple statement that the referenced fastener meets all customer and/or industry specifications. The CofC is not required to report any actual dimensions or other physical properties.
Material Test Report (MTR): Also known as a test report, inspection report or chem-phys report, this cert lists the physical properties of the fasteners without needing to report dimensions.
Plating Cert: A cert that lists the type and thickness of plating used on the fastener, as well as the color of the chromate used.
Initial Sample Inspection Report (ISIR): An ISIR is usually only used the first time a particular fastener is supplied to a customer, and it provides the physical properties as well as dimensions of the fastener in question. This cert may require lab testing, but once complete does not restrict the ability to have the part fabricated by different manufacturers, so long as they all meet the criteria laid out in this document.
Production Part Approval Process (PPAP): Commonly used in the automotive industry, the PPAP is considered the most stringent cert type available. There are five levels of PPAPs available, and they all must demonstrate that the machinery used to make the fasteners are able to meet specification requirements. Some industries are beginning to use PPAPs in lieu of ISIRs.
DFARS Compliance: The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS) and the Berry Amendment require that parts meeting this certification meet the criteria for "Preference for domestic specialty metals". These may be required if you’re working on defense projects and products.
R.E.A.C.H. Compliance: This cert demonstrates that materials used in the production process do not exist in an amount higher than the recommended quantities. It relates to a regulation of the EU designed to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals.
RoHS Compliance: RoHS compliant fasteners have chemicals like lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl (PBDE) within the range of allowable levels.

If you need material certs for your fasteners, we can get you what you need. Contact Mudge Fasteners at (800) 634-0406 to learn more.

How to Get and Use Material Certs