Open-Hardware.org doesn't certify anything. This guide describes a program run by someone else: the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA), a US nonprofit. The official site is certification.oshwa.org, and if anything here differs from what OSHWA publishes, OSHWA's pages win. We've written it because the program is useful and because people often misunderstand what the logo promises.
What the program is
OSHWA certification lets the creator of a hardware project state, in a binding way, that the project meets the community's Open Source Hardware Definition. In return the project gets a unique identifier, a listing in a public directory, and the right to use the OSHWA certification logo on the product, its packaging and its marketing.
The program went live in October 2016 at that year's Open Hardware Summit, after a public comment period on the requirements in 2015. A second version of the certification site arrived in 2018 with more guidance on licensing. Registration is free.
Three details trip people up. First, OSHWA certifies projects, not companies or people. A company with ten open products and one closed product can certify the ten; there's no such thing as a certified company. Second, every version is registered separately. Third, certification is self-reported. OSHWA reviews applications, but it doesn't test devices in a lab or audit every file.
Why it exists
"Open source" printed on a box can mean almost anything. Some products labeled that way publish a PDF schematic and nothing else; some publish the files under a non-commercial license. A shared logo backed by a definition helps buyers and contributors tell a fully open project from a partly open one. It also gives OSHWA a legal handle: the logo is a certification mark, and misusing it breaks an agreement, which a vague marketing claim does not.
What you need before you apply
The requirements boil down to having already done the work described in our publishing guide.
Your documentation has to be public and complete. You submit links to everything relevant: design files in their editable formats, the bill of materials, software, and instructions. The requirements describe the hardware, the software that runs on it, and the documentation as separate things, and each needs to be covered by an open license.
Everything under your control has to be open. Parts you designed, code you wrote and rights you hold must be released under terms compatible with the definition. If you hold patents on the design, they have to be licensed in a compatible way too.
Third-party parts are allowed. You don't have to open-source a microcontroller you bought from a chip maker. You do have to identify proprietary components as such, and those parts need datasheets that are freely accessible and shareable. A part that requires a nondisclosure agreement to get its documentation is a problem.
Licenses matter more than any other detail. A hardware license such as CERN-OHL v2 or Solderpad, a software license approved by the Open Source Initiative, and a documentation license such as CC BY-SA or CC BY all fit. Licenses with non-commercial or no-derivatives clauses don't, because they fail the definition. The license chooser can help you pick.
The application, step by step
The process takes place on OSHWA's site and is short if your repository is in order:
- Create an account and start a new application for the project.
- Describe the project and the version you're certifying.
- Link to the documentation and give the licenses for hardware, software and documentation.
- Answer questions about third-party components and anything not covered.
- Agree to the certification mark license agreement and submit.
OSHWA reviews the submission. If everything checks out, the project gets its UID and appears in the directory. You can apply before a product launches: OSHWA can grant provisional certification from links to the documentation you plan to publish, and the certification becomes formal once the public files match what you submitted.
What the UID and logo mean
Each certified project receives a UID made of a two-letter country code and a six-digit serial number, for example US000001. OSHWA allows the short form too, so US000001 can appear as US1. The UID goes next to the logo, which lets anyone look the project up in the public directory and find its documentation.
The logo has its own usage guidelines covering size, placement and how it may appear in marketing. Read them before you print packaging.
Obligations after certification
Certification isn't a one-time badge. A few ongoing rules apply:
- Each new version of a product needs its own registration. OSHWA encourages new registrations over replacing old documentation, so people with an older unit can still find its files.
- Certification runs for a year at a time. OSHWA sends a renewal request, and you reaffirm that the project still complies.
- You can stop using the logo at any time, but a project can't be deleted from the registry once it's listed.
- The documentation has to stay available. OSHWA has revoked at least one certification because a project's files went offline.
The agreement includes a staged enforcement process for misuse, which ranges from informal correction to listing a project as noncompliant and, at the far end, fines and termination. People acting in good faith can usually fix problems by correcting the documentation or removing the logo.
What certification doesn't do
It isn't a safety or regulatory certification. An OSHWA logo says nothing about electrical safety, radio emissions or product standards. FCC, CE and UL marks are separate processes run by other bodies, and an open design doesn't exempt a product from them.
It isn't a quality guarantee. OSHWA checks that the project is open, not that the circuit works well.
It doesn't choose your license or protect you legally. The license you picked governs what others may do with your design. Certification only confirms that the license and the documentation meet the definition.
It isn't required. A project that meets the definition is open-source hardware with or without the logo. Many excellent projects never apply.
Is it worth doing?
For a hobby project shared with friends, probably not. For a product sold to the public, or a research project that wants to show funders and other labs that its designs are reusable, it's cheap credibility: the cost is an hour or two, and the logo answers a question buyers would otherwise have to research. The application is also a good forcing function. Working through it often reveals a missing license file or an undocumented part before a customer finds it.
If you're curious how the idea of certifying open hardware began, our short history of open hardware covers the earlier attempts that came before OSHWA's program.