Does Matter replace radio certification (RED, FCC)?

No. Matter is an application layer over IPv6 that runs on Wi-Fi, Thread or Ethernet. The radio still has to meet RED in the EU (including the Article 3(3)(d)(e)(f) cybersecurity requirements applicable since August 1, 2025) and FCC Part 15 in the US. The CSA also asks for the network transport to be certified by its own standards body (Wi-Fi Alliance, Thread Group) before the Matter device is certified.

What happens if a device fails device attestation?

The Matter Core Specification leaves the decision to the commissioner: it MAY continue or terminate commissioning, depending on its own policy, and SHOULD warn the user that the device is not fully trusted. Whether a given ecosystem app lets the user override is that ecosystem's policy, not a rule of the spec.

What are the DAC and the Certification Declaration?

The Device Attestation Certificate is an X.509 certificate with a private key unique to each device, carrying the VID and PID, issued by a PAI that chains to a PAA approved in the DCL. The Certification Declaration (CD) is a CMS-signed file the CSA creates after certification and the manufacturer includes in the firmware. The commissioner checks both.

How many CSA membership tiers are there and what do they cost?

Four. On the CSA membership page read on October 7, 2026: Promoter 112,500 USD per year plus a one-time initiation fee, Participant 21,500 USD, Adopter 7,500 USD and Associate 0 USD. Fees are flat per tier. Associates can only certify white-label products through the Certification Transfer Program, at 2,500 USD per product plus 500 USD per product per year.

Does a new Matter version force recertification?

No. The CSA states that issued certifications remain valid for the lifetime of the product. A new software version that you want certified goes through General Recertification at an Authorized Test Lab, or, for Participant and Promoter members trained in the tools, through the FastTrack Recertification program introduced in November 2024.

Reading is public, writing is restricted to authorised roles. The vendor account of a VID writes device models and software versions, test houses write test results and the CSA certification centre writes the compliance status. The ledger also distributes the approved PAA roots and revocation distribution points. It runs on Cosmos SDK and CometBFT.

Can any lab run the Matter test plan?

No. Initial certification is validated by a CSA Authorized Test Lab listed on the CSA testing providers page. Self-testing without a lab is only allowed for recertification under FastTrack, and the test logs must be kept for five years.

Can an OTA update keep the certification?

An already certified software version stays certified. A new software version is recorded in the DCL, and commissioners are told to check that the reported SoftwareVersion is certified there. Security fixes, bug fixes and spec or SDK updates fit FastTrack; other changes to Matter functionality need General Recertification with ATL testing.

Matter certification (CSA): process, DAC and DCL

Hugues Orgitello updated 7 Oct 2026 12 min read

Matter is three things at once: an application-layer protocol over IPv6, an attestation scheme built on a dedicated PKI, and a private certification program run by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA, formerly the Zigbee Alliance, renamed on May 11, 2021 when Project CHIP became Matter). It is not a radio regime and it replaces none. This page is written from the Matter 1.4 Core Specification, the CSA PKI Certificate Policy and the CSA certification, membership and newsroom pages, read on October 7, 2026. It gives the four membership tiers with their published fees, the release history from 1.0 to 1.6, what a commissioner actually checks (DAC chain, Certification Declaration, DCL), the recertification paths, and the claims about Matter that those texts contradict.

What Matter is, and what it is not

The Core Specification describes Matter as "an interoperable application layer solution for smart home devices over the Internet Protocol". Section 2.3 names three link layers: Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Thread. Messages go over UDP with the Matter Message Reliability Protocol, or over TCP (full TCP support was added in Matter 1.5).

Layer	Matter	Wi-Fi	Thread	Ethernet	BLE
Application	Clusters and device types (On/Off, Level Control, Door Lock and so on)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Transport	UDP with MRP, or TCP	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Network	IPv6, DNS-SD for discovery	IPv6	6LoWPAN/IPv6	IPv6	n/a (commissioning only)
Link/PHY	n/a (underlying)	IEEE 802.11	IEEE 802.15.4	IEEE 802.3	Bluetooth LE

Matter does not define a radio. Commissioning can use BLE, Wi-Fi Public Action Frames (Wi-Fi USD commissioning was made available in Matter 1.4.2), DNS-SD on an existing IP network (which every commissioner must support) and, since Matter 1.6, a full NFC commissioning exchange. Whatever radios the product carries remain subject to RED in the EU and FCC Part 15 in the US.

Place in the certification stack

For a Matter-over-Wi-Fi product sold in the EU and the US:

Regime	Scope	Required when
CE marking, RED	Safety, EMC, spectrum (Article 3(1) and 3(2)), cybersecurity (Article 3(3)(d)(e)(f), applicable since August 1, 2025, EN 18031-1/-2/-3 cited with restrictions by Decision (EU) 2025/138)	Placed on the EU market
Cyber Resilience Act	Product with digital elements	Reporting obligations from September 11, 2026, full application December 11, 2027
FCC Part 15	Intentional radiator	Placed on the US market
Wi-Fi Alliance or Thread Group	Network transport certification	The CSA requires it before Matter certification
Bluetooth SIG	BLE qualification	BLE used for commissioning
CSA Matter	Protocol conformance, Certification Declaration, DCL record	Matter certification and CSA certified product logo

The CSA certification page is explicit on the transport: "you will need to obtain certification for your network transport from the relevant standards organization before you certify your Matter device with the Alliance". See RED procedure, FCC scope, Wi-Fi Alliance certification, Thread Group certification, Bluetooth SIG qualification and the Cyber Resilience Act.

Matter releases, 1.0 to 1.6

Dates are the CSA announcement dates.

Version	Announced	What changed that matters for certification
1.0	October 4, 2022	Specification, SDK and test harness released; certification program opens with eight authorized test labs
1.1	May 18, 2023	Better support for intermittently connected (battery) devices, test automation
1.2	October 23, 2023	Nine new device types
1.3	May 8, 2024	Energy reporting, water and energy management, EV chargers, major appliances
1.4	November 7, 2024	Solar, batteries, heat pumps, water heaters, home network infrastructure (core spec dated November 4, 2024)
1.4.1	May 7, 2025	First "minor release": Enhanced Setup Flow (terms and conditions), multi-device QR code, onboarding info in NFC tags made certifiable
1.4.2	August 11, 2025	Wi-Fi-only commissioning (Wi-Fi USD), Vendor ID verification, revocation lists for device attestation certificates, access restriction lists, updated test plans
1.5	November 20, 2025	Cameras (WebRTC), closures, energy tariffs, soil sensors, full TCP transport
1.5.1	March 31, 2026	Camera multi-stream, HEIC snapshots, chime and intercom refinements
1.6	June 17, 2026	NFC commissioning, Joint Fabric, thermostat suggestions, partitioned revocation lists
1.6.1	Listed on the CSA specification download page	Release date not confirmed here

There has been no "major" version since 1.0. Every release so far is a 1.x, and the CSA itself calls 1.4.1 the first "minor release".

CSA membership: four tiers, flat published fees

Membership is required to certify. The CSA membership page, read on October 7, 2026, lists four levels with flat annual fees (not scaled to revenue):

Tier	Annual fee	Certify a new product	Certify own derivative product	Notable rights
Promoter	112,500 USD + one-time initiation fee	2,000 USD	1,500 USD	Board seat, working groups (vote, chair), can enter products in the transfer program
Participant	21,500 USD	2,000 USD	1,500 USD	Working groups (vote, chair), can enter products in the transfer program
Adopter	7,500 USD	3,000 USD	2,500 USD	No working group participation
Associate	0 USD	Not available	Not available	White-label only via the Certification Transfer Program: 2,500 USD per product + 500 USD per product per year

Two consequences the fee table hides. First, only Participant and Promoter members can operate a PAA or a PAI under the CSA PKI Certificate Policy (section 1.4.1), and only they can use FastTrack Recertification. An Adopter therefore gets its device certificates from a PAI run by someone else. Second, the CSA lists "the testing fee and the application fee" as the main costs: the lab fee is quoted by the lab and comes on top of the figures above. For budgets across schemes, see certification costs.

VID, PID, DAC chain and Certification Declaration

VID (Vendor ID) is assigned by the CSA to a member. PID (Product ID) is chosen by the vendor. Chapter 6 of the Core Specification then defines two artefacts that the device presents at commissioning.

The Device Attestation PKI. Every node that can be commissioned "SHALL include a Device Attestation Certificate (DAC) and corresponding private key, unique to that Device". The chain has exactly three elements:

PAA  Product Attestation Authority, self-signed root, listed in the DCL
 └─ PAI  Product Attestation Intermediate, bound to one VID, optionally to one PID
     └─ DAC  one per device, carries VID and PID in its subject

A PAI "SHALL be assigned to a Vendor ID value" and "MAY further be scoped to a single ProductID". A PAI used for several products cannot carry a PID. The DAC validity period is chosen by the vendor and may be set to 9999-12-31 (no defined expiry). Signatures are ECDSA with SHA-256 on P-256.

The Certification Declaration (CD). "Upon successful completion of certification by a device type, Connectivity Standards Alliance creates the CD for that device type so that it can be included in the device firmware by the manufacturer." It is a CMS-signed TLV structure carrying the vendor_id, a product_id_array, a certification_type (0 development and test, 1 provisional, 2 official) and, optionally, dac_origin_vendor_id/dac_origin_product_id and an authorized_paa_list.

What the commissioner checks (section 6.2.3.1)

Check	What the spec requires
PAA trust	PAA present in the commissioner trusted root store, which SHOULD include the PAA roots in the DCL at the DAC notBefore date
Chain	Exactly three certificates, validated as of the DAC notBefore date, with revocation checks on DAC and PAI
VID consistency	VID in the DAC equals VID in the PAI; if the PAA carries a VID, it equals the PAI VID
Possession	Attestation signature over a fresh 32-byte nonce verified with the DAC public key
CD signature	Verified with the CSA certificate authority key
CD content	vendor_id and product_id_array match the Basic Information cluster; DAC/PAI VID and PID match the CD (or its dac_origin fields)
Authorized PAA list	If the CD has an authorized_paa_list, the PAA must be in it
DCL software version	certificate_id SHOULD match the DCL compliance entry; on a mismatch the commissioner SHOULD NOT reject on that ground alone, and SHOULD check that the SoftwareVersion is certified in the DCL

If attestation fails, section 5.5 says the commissioner "MAY choose to either continue to the Commissioning, or terminate it, depending on implementation-dependent policies", and SHOULD warn the user. The hard refusal some ecosystems apply is their policy, not a requirement of the spec.

The DCL, a public ledger with restricted writes

Section 11.23 of the Core Specification and the DCL repository describe it:

Reads are public: device models, software versions, compliance state, PAA certificates, operational root certificates, revocation distribution points.
Writes are restricted by role: the vendor account linked to a VID adds and updates its device models and software versions; a TestHouse role writes test results; a certification centre role writes or revokes the compliance status.
Technology: a public ledger with permission-controlled writes, built on Cosmos SDK and CometBFT, with validator nodes added by proof of authority and run by CSA member companies.
Contents per software version: release notes URL, firmware information, OTA image URL, and the compliance record.

The spec also notes that hardware version is not part of the schema: "If there is different software for a VendorID/ProductID/HardwareVersion, then it SHALL be a new VendorID/ProductID."

Certification process, step by step

The CSA certification page lists eight phases. The Matter-specific artefacts are added where they occur.

Become a member (Adopter or above; Associate only for transfers).
Request a Vendor ID from the CSA.
Select a compliant platform or network transport and get the transport certified (Wi-Fi Alliance, Thread Group) before Matter certification.
Choose a testing provider from the CSA list of authorized test labs.
Send the product for testing, with the PICS (Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement), which sets the scope of the test plan. Before this, teams pre-test with the CSA test harness and tools.
Submit the certification application in the CSA Certification Tool (images, PICS, documents).
Application pending: the CSA certification team reviews.
Upon approval: the product receives a Certification Declaration file and a certified product record in the DCL, and may use the CSA certified product logo. "Issued certifications remain valid for the lifetime of the product."

The CSA does not publish a duration: it "is dependent on several factors, including the length of time required by the chosen test provider for testing".

Other certification paths

Path	Who	What it allows	Source
Certification Transfer Program	Product must belong to a Participant or Promoter; Adopters, Associates and new members can re-certify it under their name	Rebrand a certified end product with branding or appearance changes only, no functional change. Fees: 1,500 USD (Promoter, Participant), 2,500 USD (Adopter), 2,500 USD + 500 USD per year (Associate)	CSA transfer program page
Portfolio Certification	Matter and Zigbee manufacturers	Certify several portfolio member products in one application from a parent product	CSA newsroom, January 6, 2025
FastTrack Recertification	Participant and Promoter members trained in the tools (SVE or Rapid Recertification training)	Self-test software updates of a certified product, no ATL log review and no Alliance fee; two units sent to the Alliance Interop Lab; logs kept five years	Matter Handbook FAQ, CSA newsroom
General Recertification	Any certifying member	Any other change to Matter functionality, with ATL testing	Matter Handbook FAQ
Matter Compliant Platform Certification	Silicon and platform vendors	Certifies the platform so device makers can reduce their own scope	CSA newsroom, September 30, 2025
Product Security Certification 1.1	Separate CSA program	Level 1 supplier self-assessment reviewed by an ATL; Level 2 independent assessment and functional testing	CSA newsroom, June 17, 2026

The transfer mechanism is visible in the attestation data. The PKI Certificate Policy describes it: the original manufacturer provisions device certificates with its own VID/PID, and the partner obtains a CD "containing the partner's VID/PID as well as the manufacturer's VID/PID in the DAC_origin fields". FastTrack can be chained to a transfer as an "Expedited Transfer" with no certification fee.

Recertification and OTA updates

A certified product stays certified: the CSA states certifications "remain valid for the lifetime of the product". A new spec release does not withdraw it.
A new software version that should be recognised as certified needs a compliance record in the DCL. Commissioners SHOULD check that the reported SoftwareVersion exists as a certified version there.
FastTrack covers security fixes, critical bug fixes, interoperability fixes, updates to a newer certifiable spec version, SDK updates recommended by the Matter SC and approved by the TCOC, and device improvements. The CSA "reserves the right to restrict the use of FastTrack for certain specification updates".
Anything else touching Matter functionality goes through General Recertification with ATL testing.
The spec forbids reusing a VID/PID for different software on different hardware versions: that needs a new VID/PID.

Factory provisioning of the DAC

The DAC private key must exist and be unique per device before it is commissioned. The PKI Certificate Policy sets the controls around it:

Element	Requirement (PKI Certificate Policy)
PAA operator	CSA Participant or Promoter in good standing and Matter WG member; CPS approved
PAI under another party PAA	Same membership condition; VID owner authorizes the request
PAA cryptographic module	FIPS 140-3 Level 3 or Common Criteria EAL 4+
PAI, RA cryptographic module	FIPS 140-3 Level 2 or Common Criteria EAL 4+
Requester (manufacturer) module	SHOULD be FIPS 140-3 Level 1 or Common Criteria EAL 4+
FIPS 140-2	Accepted only until September 21, 2026; FIPS 140-3 only since then
DAC key generated by the CA	Delivered encrypted (PKCS #8, PKCS #12 or equivalent); CA keeps no copy more than two weeks after delivery
Generic modules and chips (not Matter-certified)	Builder MAY issue DAC certificates with its own VID but SHALL NOT use the same PID for several customers

Keys can be generated on the line by the manufacturer, or by the CA and delivered, or pre-generated on hardware tokens: the policy allows all three under the controls above. A DAC generated by the firmware at first boot, without a PAI issuing it, cannot satisfy the chain check.

Claims the texts contradict

Claim	What the text says
"The CSA has three tiers: Adopter, Participant, Promoter."	Four: Promoter, Participant, Adopter and Associate.
"Fees are tiered by revenue and must be confirmed with the CSA."	The membership page publishes flat amounts per tier: 112,500, 21,500, 7,500 and 0 USD per year, plus per-product fees.
"Adopter is the minimum tier to certify."	Associates (0 USD) can certify white-label products through the Certification Transfer Program.
"Matter runs on Thread or Wi-Fi, commissioned over BLE."	The spec names Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Thread. Commissioning can also use DNS-SD on IP, Wi-Fi USD (1.4.2) and NFC (1.6).
"CASE is Certification Authority Session Establishment, PASE is Password Authenticated Session Establishment."	Certificate Authenticated Session Establishment and Passcode-Authenticated Session Establishment.
"No valid DAC, no pairing; a non-certified device cannot be added."	The commissioner MAY continue after an attestation failure and SHOULD warn the user. Refusal is the ecosystem policy.
"The DAC and the DCL entry are what prove certification."	The proof carried by the device is the Certification Declaration in the firmware, signed by the CSA; the DCL supplies PAA roots and software version compliance.
"Major versions trigger recertification."	No major version exists after 1.0, and certifications remain valid for the lifetime of the product.
"Pre-test with chip-tool and the CHIP TestHarness, then a four-axis test plan (conformance, security, interoperability, network robustness)."	The CSA refers to its test harness and tools; the scope of ATL testing follows the PICS and the test plan for the spec version. The four-axis split is not in the CSA texts.
"A PAI is per manufacturer or per product family."	A PAI is bound to one VID and may be scoped to one PID; a PAI used for several products carries no PID.

Common pitfalls

Transport not certified first. The CSA asks for Wi-Fi Alliance or Thread Group certification of the transport before Matter certification.
Adopter planning its own PAA. The PKI policy reserves PAA and PAI operation to Participants and Promoters.
Shipping provisional firmware as final. A CD with certification_type 1 is provisional, 0 is for development; commissioners can flag both.
One PID across module customers. Forbidden for non-certified generic modules.
New hardware revision, same VID/PID, different software. The spec requires a new VID/PID.
Unrecorded software version. Shipping an OTA image whose version is not certified in the DCL lets commissioners see it as uncertified.
Forgetting RED cybersecurity. A Matter device is internet-connected radio equipment; the Article 3(3)(d)(e)(f) requirements have applied since August 1, 2025.

See the certification glossary for PAA, PAI, DAC, PICS and VID/PID.

Frequently asked questions

Does Matter replace radio certification (RED, FCC)?: No. Matter is an application layer over IPv6 that runs on Wi-Fi, Thread or Ethernet. The radio still has to meet RED in the EU (including the Article 3(3)(d)(e)(f) cybersecurity requirements applicable since August 1, 2025) and FCC Part 15 in the US. The CSA also asks for the network transport to be certified by its own standards body (Wi-Fi Alliance, Thread Group) before the Matter device is certified.
What happens if a device fails device attestation?: The Matter Core Specification leaves the decision to the commissioner: it MAY continue or terminate commissioning, depending on its own policy, and SHOULD warn the user that the device is not fully trusted. Whether a given ecosystem app lets the user override is that ecosystem's policy, not a rule of the spec.
What are the DAC and the Certification Declaration?: The Device Attestation Certificate is an X.509 certificate with a private key unique to each device, carrying the VID and PID, issued by a PAI that chains to a PAA approved in the DCL. The Certification Declaration (CD) is a CMS-signed file the CSA creates after certification and the manufacturer includes in the firmware. The commissioner checks both.
How many CSA membership tiers are there and what do they cost?: Four. On the CSA membership page read on October 7, 2026: Promoter 112,500 USD per year plus a one-time initiation fee, Participant 21,500 USD, Adopter 7,500 USD and Associate 0 USD. Fees are flat per tier. Associates can only certify white-label products through the Certification Transfer Program, at 2,500 USD per product plus 500 USD per product per year.
Does a new Matter version force recertification?: No. The CSA states that issued certifications remain valid for the lifetime of the product. A new software version that you want certified goes through General Recertification at an Authorized Test Lab, or, for Participant and Promoter members trained in the tools, through the FastTrack Recertification program introduced in November 2024.
Is the DCL public?: Reading is public, writing is restricted to authorised roles. The vendor account of a VID writes device models and software versions, test houses write test results and the CSA certification centre writes the compliance status. The ledger also distributes the approved PAA roots and revocation distribution points. It runs on Cosmos SDK and CometBFT.
Can any lab run the Matter test plan?: No. Initial certification is validated by a CSA Authorized Test Lab listed on the CSA testing providers page. Self-testing without a lab is only allowed for recertification under FastTrack, and the test logs must be kept for five years.
Can an OTA update keep the certification?: An already certified software version stays certified. A new software version is recorded in the DCL, and commissioners are told to check that the reported SoftwareVersion is certified there. Security fixes, bug fixes and spec or SDK updates fit FastTrack; other changes to Matter functionality need General Recertification with ATL testing.