Connecting hardware having a Full Production Line Qualification will be re-tested every 12 months. Re-testing will include an inspection visit to the production site with selection of products from the final stock of the producer for the re-testing at 3P. This means that the performance of both the production line, quality assurance and product will be continuously monitored by 3P. Certificates are issued in the form of "Compliance Statement".

A 3P full production line qualification will be valid and listing maintained as long as the maintenance of qualification programme is active. The "Compliance Statement" will be updated every year after passing of the annual maintenance of qualification testing.

Connecting hardware having a Capability Approval certification has passed the same complete range of testing as the connecting hardware having a full production line approval. However, no inspection and approval of production line and quality assurance is carried out by 3P. Consequently a 3P certification is an assurance that the supplier has the capability to supply a product that complies with all performance requirements of the category in question, but 3P cannot conclude if the production line and quality assurance will be fine for a constant high quality production. Certificates are issued in the form of "Attestation of Conformity".

Attestations of Conformity are only considered valid for one year due to the growing risk of changes in performance with time. The link to the Attestation of Conformity will be removed from the survey after one year. The performance may stay high for a much longer period, but this cannot be demonstrated by 3P as no follow up investigations are part of capability approval certification programme. The user should always seek confirmation from the supplier that the performance of his connecting hardware is still unchanged compared with the certified one. Attestations of Conformity will be removed from the 3P Homepage after three years.