Avionics Development Assurance Online Training: Systems, HW & SW (EC-CERT-101)

Course overview

EC-CERT-101 gives a clear explanation of what development assurance is and why it is needed for the development of anything complex. Starting from the fundamentals of certification and safety, it explains the key activities that drive development assurance level determination, how the resulting level affects development activities, and how it fits within the overall aircraft certification process.

The course also explains the key terminology used in avionics development assurance for systems, hardware, and software. On completion, attendees understand what drives the need for development assurance and how FDALs and IDALs are applied during the development of systems, hardware, and software.

What you will learn

• What gets certified
• What regulations are, including similarities and differences between civil and military
• Safety and development assurance
• Development Assurance Levels and principles, including FDALs vs IDALs
• Key terminology: intended aircraft function, verification, validation, independence, derived requirements, and requirements traceability

Who should take this course

Early-career engineers and newcomers to avionics who need a foundational understanding of development assurance across systems, hardware, and software.

What “development assurance” actually means

For someone new to avionics, the hardest part is the vocabulary, because almost every term has a precise meaning that everyday usage does not capture. Development assurance is the disciplined set of activities that gives confidence a system, its hardware and its software will behave as intended — and, just as importantly, will not behave in unintended ways. It is needed precisely because complex electronics cannot be exhaustively tested; assurance substitutes planned process rigor for impossible exhaustive testing.

The two ideas a newcomer must get straight first are the level and the direction of effort. The level is the Development Assurance Level, split into a Function level (FDAL) and an Item level (IDAL), and it scales how much rigor each activity needs. The direction is the difference between validation (are these the right requirements?) and verification (were the requirements met?). Add the supporting concepts — independence, derived requirements and traceability — and you have the mental model the rest of the curriculum builds on. This course installs that model in plain language before any standard-specific detail.

What you will be able to do afterward

After EC-CERT-101 you will be able to explain what gets certified and why, read the core development-assurance vocabulary without getting lost, and describe how FDALs and IDALs apply across systems, hardware and software — a foundation that makes every later course easier.

Where this fits in your learning path

EC-CERT-101 is the entry point of the early-careers track. From here, newcomers branch into the standard-specific overviews — EC-CERT-SYS (ARP 4754B), EC-CERT-SW (DO-178C) and EC-CERT-HW (DO-254) — before moving on to the practitioner course AV-CERT-101. For a written primer, see our ARP 4754 explained guide. Prefer instructor-led? Explore our full ARP 4754 & 4761 training courses.

How on-demand training works

Every ConsuNova module is delivered online and self-paced, so you can learn on your own schedule. Each purchase includes 30-day access with unlimited views and downloads for one user, and a certificate of completion is issued automatically when you finish the module.

Your instructors

This module is authored and delivered by ConsuNova’s senior certification authorities, giving you both FAA and EASA perspectives on compliance:

Reza Madjidi FAA DER Consultant

Provides FAA Designated Engineering Representative expertise on U.S. avionics certification.

Martin Beeby EASA CVE Authorized

Brings EASA Certification Verification Engineer authority on European avionics compliance.

Frequently asked questions