Components & Spare Parts
Automotive Components and Spare Parts Certification
Component type approval, replacement part rules, and national certification schemes for OE and aftermarket automotive components: lighting, brakes, glazing, tires, exhaust, electronics, and accessories across markets.
The category
Components are approved as parts of a vehicle. Spare parts are approved as products in their own right, in every market they're sold.
Automotive components live two regulatory lives. As original equipment, they're part of the vehicle's type approval, either through component type approvals under UNECE regulations for regulated categories or through the vehicle-level approval that covers them. As spare parts and accessories sold into the aftermarket, they're products placed on the market in their own right, subject to replacement part regulations, national certification schemes, and the electronics, chemical, and producer rules that apply to any product. A brake pad, a headlamp, a windscreen, a tire, an exhaust component, or an electronic module may need a component type approval for OE fitment and a separate national certification to be sold as a spare part in a given country.
The frameworks are extensive. UNECE regulations provide component type approvals for lighting, glazing, tires, brakes, mirrors, seat belts, child restraints, exhaust systems, and many other categories, with the E-mark as the visible result. Replacement parts in the EU face specific rules for certain categories. Markets such as China, India, Brazil, the Gulf states, and others run national certification schemes for automotive parts, sometimes accepting E-marks and sometimes requiring local testing and certification. The US relies on FMVSS self-certification for regulated equipment, with DOT marking. Electronic components add EMC, radio, and cyber requirements; components containing batteries add battery regulation.
ORBIS Compliance works with component manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers to manage component type approvals, national certifications, and the additional regulatory sets their products carry, across the markets where they sell.
Component categories
Components and parts we support
Lighting and signaling
Headlamps, lamps, light sources, and retro-reflectors under UNECE lighting regulations, with national schemes for aftermarket lighting.
Braking and safety components
Brake pads, discs, hoses, and systems under UNECE R90 and related regulations, plus seat belts, airbags, and child restraints.
Glazing, mirrors, and body
Windscreens and glazing under UNECE R43, mirrors, bumpers, and body components with their approval and replacement part rules.
Tires and wheels
Tires under UNECE R30, R54, R117, and national labeling and certification schemes; wheels under national and regional requirements.
Exhaust and emissions components
Replacement silencers, catalytic converters, and emissions-related parts under UNECE and national emissions and noise rules.
Electronic and connected accessories
Aftermarket electronics, dash cams, telematics, and accessories under automotive EMC, radio approval, and consumer electronics rules.
OE and aftermarket
The same part, two regulatory positions.
Original equipment
What matters
Aftermarket spare part
Covered by component type approval or the vehicle's type approval, held by or with the OEM.
APPROVAL
Needs its own approval or certification to be sold in each market, held by the parts supplier or a local holder.
E-mark or equivalent where component approval applies; otherwise covered by the vehicle.
MARKING
Market-specific marks and labeling required on the part and packaging.
Usually addressed through the vehicle manufacturer's market entry.
NATIONAL SCHEMES
The supplier faces national certification in each market: CCC, INMETRO, and others.
Substance rules under the ELV Directive, handled in the OEM's supply chain.
ADDITIONAL REGIMES
Producer responsibility, packaging, and consumer product rules land on the parts supplier.
How ORBIS is involved
Component homologation and market certification managed as one program per part.
ORBIS manages component type approvals under UNECE regulations, coordinating with technical services and approval authorities, and the national certifications aftermarket sales require in each market, with local representation where schemes demand a local holder. For electronic components, our engineers scope the EMC and radio approvals. For parts sold as consumer products, we handle the substance, packaging, and producer obligations.
Component programs often involve large ranges with many part numbers and variants. ORBIS Intelligent Compliance holds each part family's approvals, markings, and market coverage, so a new variant, a material change, or a new market is assessed against what exists rather than started from scratch.
Where a market's acceptance of E-marks or other approvals is unclear, or where a national scheme's requirements for a part type are ambiguous, we engage the authority rather than guess.
Questions
Component and spare parts compliance
Does an E-mark let us sell a part in every UNECE market?
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It's accepted as evidence of conformity in contracting parties that apply the relevant regulation, but many markets add national certification, registration, or marking requirements for aftermarket parts regardless. Non-UNECE markets don't recognize it at all. ORBIS maps acceptance per market and part type.
We supply OE parts. Do we need our own approvals for the same parts sold as spares?
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Often, yes. The OE fitment may be covered by the vehicle approval or a component approval held with the OEM, while aftermarket sales require the part to carry its own approval and marking in your name or a local holder's, and to meet national scheme requirements in each market.
How are electronic accessories regulated?
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As automotive electronics for EMC under UNECE R10 where applicable, as radio products for any transmitter in every market, and as consumer electronics for safety, substance, and producer rules. Dash cams, aftermarket infotainment, and telematics devices typically carry all three. ORBIS scopes them together.
Parts approved for the vehicle and for the market they're sold in.
Bring the component range, its OE and aftermarket channels, and the markets. We'll map the component approvals, replacement part rules, and national certifications each one requires.
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