Definition
A Full Material Declaration (FMD) lists every substance present in a part, reported down to the homogeneous material level and ideally summing to 100% of the part's mass.
Key point
An FMD is the future-proof option. Because it captures everything, a new regulated substance can be checked against existing data instead of re-surveying suppliers. It is carried by formats like IPC-1752A.
Why it's valuable
- Future-proof: when a new substance becomes regulated (for example a new SVHC), you can re-check existing FMD data instead of re-surveying suppliers.
- Reusable: one FMD answers many different regulatory questions (RoHS, REACH, and more).
A compliance or substance declaration is narrower. It only answers "does this comply with list X?" and must be re-requested whenever the list changes. Formats like IPC-1752A support both styles.