ARP 4754B Overview Online Training (EC-CERT-SYS)

Course overview

EC-CERT-SYS follows on from the fundamentals of certification and safety to explain the development assurance processes expected for aircraft and systems development, and how they relate to the certification activities.

On completion, attendees understand the development assurance objectives for systems development and how FDALs and IDALs are decomposed during the development of systems, hardware, and software. The course also explains the fundamental activities during system development and verification and the expectations for showing compliance to ARP-4754B.

What you will learn

• Systems and safety processes overview
• Architectural considerations (redundancy, monitoring)
• Objectives and FDALs
• Functions, requirements, assumptions, and architecture
• System design and the allocation of function
• Systems, sub-systems, equipment, and items
• Interactions with item development processes
• ARP general principles and DAL decomposition
• System verification and showing compliance

Who should take this course

Early-career systems and safety engineers learning the ARP 4754B development assurance process for aircraft and systems.

Recommended prerequisite: EC-CERT-101 — Introduction to Development Assurance (Systems, Hardware and Software)

Learning to think at the system level

The shift that ARP 4754B asks of a newcomer is one of altitude: instead of a single box of hardware or software, you reason about functions, how they are allocated to systems and items, and how failures propagate across the whole architecture. This overview teaches that perspective. It shows how an intended aircraft function is decomposed into systems, sub-systems, equipment and items, and how architectural choices such as redundancy and monitoring change the safety picture — and therefore the assurance levels — long before any code is written or any board is laid out.

The central early-career takeaway is how Function Development Assurance Levels (FDAL) and Item Development Assurance Levels (IDAL) are decomposed down the architecture, and how that allocation is what ultimately tasks the DO-178C and DO-254 work below. Once you can see the system as the thing that creates the requirements and assurance levels for everything beneath it, the item-level standards stop looking like arbitrary rule sets and start looking like the natural consequence of system design decisions.

What you will be able to do afterward

After EC-CERT-SYS you will be able to describe the ARP 4754B systems and safety processes, explain how functions are allocated across an architecture, and understand how FDAL and IDAL decomposition drives the hardware and software effort.

Where this fits in your learning path

EC-CERT-SYS follows EC-CERT-101 and leads into the practitioner ARP track, starting with AV-CERT-210 (ARP 4754 Introduction & Planning) and AV-CERT-320 (DAL Assignment). 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