An OCPP certificate is a document, not a badge. It records that one exact product, implementing one exact version of OCPP, passed independent testing under the Open Charge Alliance’s certification programme, and which functions were in scope. Reading one means checking four things: the holder, the product, the version and the tested scope. A claim that cannot produce the document is not certification at all.
Key Takeaways
- Read four things on any OCPP certificate: holder, exact product, version and tested scope.
- Scope is the missed line — certification only covers the functions that were actually tested.
- A certificate, a pairing record and a self-declaration answer three different questions.
- No EVDANCE listing claims OCPP certification; for EVDANCE models the check is the stated version plus a written pairing confirmation.
The Four Things a Certificate Names
| What to read | What it pins down | What it rules out |
|---|---|---|
| The holder | The company whose product was tested | Coverage of another brand selling the same hardware under its own name |
| The product | The exact model that was tested | Coverage of a sibling model, a bigger variant or the rest of the range |
| The OCPP version | The version the testing was performed against — 1.6 or 2.0.1 | Credit for the other version: a 1.6 certificate says nothing about a 2.0.1 claim |
| The tested scope | The functional areas covered by the testing | Assurance about functions that were never in the test |
Why Scope Is the Line Most Buyers Miss
Two products can both be described as OCPP certified and still differ in what their certificates cover. Certification is granted for the functions that were tested: core session work is one area; areas such as smart-charging functions or device management are others. If your network depends on a function, the certificate only helps if that function sat inside that model’s tested scope. It is the same discipline buyers apply to safety marks (see our guide to EV charger certifications): the mark is the headline; the document is the information. Read the scope line against your requirements, and file the document with the purchase record.
Certificate, Test Report, Declaration: Three Different Papers
Not every piece of paper behind an OCPP claim is a certificate. A maker’s pairing record proves something narrower and, for a live deployment, often more practical: that this charger and a named platform have actually talked, as the operator’s OCPP guide frames the hardware side. A conformance statement or self-declaration is the maker’s own assertion that its implementation follows the specification, with no independent test behind it. The reading error to avoid is upgrading one paper into another: a pairing record does not become certification because the meeting went well, and a declaration does not become a test because it is printed on letterhead.
When the Paper Stops Matching the Product
A certificate names its holder and its product, so two changes should restart your questions. The first is a name change: hardware sold under a new or private-label brand is not automatically the product named on the certificate, and whose name the evidence carries must be settled before launch — the ownership issue our private-label certificate guide examines. The second is a substantially changed build: the claim attaches to what was tested, so a model whose implementation has moved on deserves a fresh answer from the maker on what stands behind the claim for the units you receive.
How EVDANCE States It
EVDANCE listings state the version claim only: OCPP 1.6J for the EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station, and “OCPP-ready” for the EV-ACS3210E portable, which names no version. No OCPP certification is claimed in any EVDANCE listing — so there is no EVDANCE OCPP certificate to read. For these models the buyer’s check is the pairing route instead: the model, its stated version and a tested pairing with your platform, confirmed in writing before a network depends on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an OCPP certificate say anything about electrical safety?
No. OCPP certification covers how a charger talks to a management platform. Electrical safety belongs to a separate system of listings and marks, explained in our guide to UL and ETL listing through the NRTL programme.
A seller says a charger is certified but cannot show a certificate. What then?
Treat the claim as a declaration and verify it that way: the maker’s own test evidence and a named, tested pairing with your platform, in writing. Certification that cannot produce its document is a claim nobody can check.
Does certification guarantee a charger will work with my platform?
No — it shows the tested model behaved as the specification requires within the tested scope. Two conforming products can still disagree in detail, so the pairing test with your platform remains the final check.
Related Reading
- EV Charger Certifications Explained: CE, UKCA, UL, ETL, CB and What Buyers Should Ask For
- UL and ETL Listing for EV Chargers: How NRTL Certification Works
- Who Owns the Certificate in a Private-Label EV Charger?
- OCPP Explained: What Charge Point Operators Need From EV Charger Hardware
