Does a dishwasher need FCC approval?
A dishwasher's digital control board is one of the appliance types the FCC exempts from the technical standards. The baseline conditions still apply: it must cause no harmful interference.
The FCC exempts a digital device used exclusively inside an appliance such as a dishwasher, dryer, or air conditioner from the standards, not from all obligations.
Exempt from the technical standards (baseline still applies)
The digital electronics fall in one of the 47 CFR 15.103 exempt categories, or the product is a receiver tuning only below 30 MHz or above 960 MHz (47 CFR 15.101(b)), so the device is exempt from the specific technical standards. It is still bound by the baseline conditions.
- Exempt means exempt from the specific technical standards, not from all obligations. The device must still meet the general conditions of 47 CFR 15.5 (cause no harmful interference, and stop on an FCC finding of interference).
- This identifies the authorization path and cites the rule. It does not perform or certify testing and does not issue the authorization. A specialized FCC test lab or a Telecommunication Certification Body does that.
Exempted devices are 'subject only to the general conditions of operation in §§15.5 and 15.29, and are exempt from the specific technical standards and other requirements contained in this part.' Listed types include a digital device used exclusively in a transportation vehicle (a); as a public utility / industrial-plant control or power system (b); as industrial, commercial, or medical test equipment (c); exclusively in an appliance such as a microwave oven, dishwasher, clothes dryer, or air conditioner (d); specialized medical digital devices 'generally used at the direction of or under the supervision of a licensed health care practitioner', not those 'marketed through retail channels for use by the general public' (e); devices drawing no more than 6 nW (f); joysticks, mice and similar passive add-ons with only non-digital circuitry or a simple signal converter (g); 'Digital devices in which both the highest frequency generated and the highest frequency used are less than 1.705 MHz and which do not operate from the AC power lines', which excludes those with 'battery eliminators, AC adaptors or battery chargers which permit operation while charging' (h). (i): 'equipment containing more than one device is not exempt from the technical standards in this part unless all of the devices in the equipment meet the criteria for exemption.' Paragraph (j): 'the rules in this chapter governing certification apply to any equipment produced by any entity identified on the Covered List' (the 2024 edition limited it to an entity identified 'as producing covered communications equipment').
eCFR current text, title 47, as of the 2026-09-22 issue date (read via the eCFR versioner API). Retrieved 2026-09-24.
§ 15.101(b): 'Only those receivers that operate (tune) within the frequency range of 30-960 MHz, CB receivers and radar detectors are subject to the authorizations shown in paragraph (a) of this section. Receivers operating above 960 MHz or below 30 MHz, except for radar detectors and CB receivers, are exempt from complying with the technical provisions of this part but are subject to § 15.5.' (read 2026-09-25, eCFR current text, title 47, issue 2026-09-22).
eCFR current text, title 47, as of the 2026-09-22 issue date (read via the eCFR versioner API). Retrieved 2026-09-24.
General conditions of operation: operation is subject to the conditions that no harmful interference is caused and that interference must be accepted; the operator must cease operating the device upon notification by a Commission representative that it is causing harmful interference.
eCFR current text, title 47, as of the 2026-09-22 issue date (read via the eCFR versioner API). Retrieved 2026-09-24.
This page classifies a dishwasher from its typical design. To check a specific product, including a variant that adds a radio, run the free FCC Requirement Check.
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