Administrative Clarification: Test Sample Size and Sizing Templates
Memorandum No: BA.0101-2005-01

Please note that as of Sept. 26, 2005, NIJ Standard-0101.04 was replaced by the NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet-Resistant Armor. The NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements incorporated the test procedures of NIJ Standard-0101.04 in their entirety.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is providing armor manufacturers and approved test laboratories with an administrative clarification to Section 4.7.1 of NIJ Standard-0101.04 with regard to the proper size of test samples submitted for official compliance testing in accordance with this standard. This clarification introduces a set of sizing templates for concealable male and female, as well as tactical (outerwear) designs that will be used by the Compliance Testing Program at the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC)-National to determine if, based on size, armor samples submitted to NLECTC-National will be accepted or rejected for testing. Additionally, NLECTC-National, not the laboratories, will be responsible for marking the initial six shot locations on each of the panels. NIJ/NLECTC-compliant laboratories are also instructed to use these sizing templates for retesting of NIJ-compliant armors performed for manufacturers, public safety agencies, or others to ensure the consistency of the size of samples tested.

Section 4.7.1 of NIJ Standard-0101.04 requires all test samples to be "sized to fit a 117 cm (46 in) to 122 cm (48 in) chest circumference for males and a 107 cm (42 in) to 112 cm (44 in) chest circumference for females." This requirement was intended to ensure that the test samples were adequately sized to fit the six-shot series on each panel in accordance with the shot spacing requirements outlined in Section 3.14 of the standard.

The Compliance Testing Program at NLECTC-National has noted that actual panel sizes of test samples, submitted for compliance testing by various manufacturers, vary significantly between manufacturers. In response, NLECTC-National and the National Institute of Standards and Testing Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) initiated an extensive review of this issue and determined that standardization of the test sample size will eliminate potential test-to-test variability.

Effective Apr. 18, 2005, models of armor voluntarily submitted by manufacturers to NIJ's Voluntary Compliance Testing Program (operated by NLECTC-National) for testing in accordance with NIJ Standard-0101.04 will be inspected by NLECTC staff and compared with the appropriate sizing template to ensure compliance with the sizing requirements specified in Section 4.7.1 of the standard. NIJ has established three sizing templates: one for male concealable models, one for female concealable models and one for tactical (outerwear) models. A sample that does not meet the minimum sizing requirements, or exceeds the maximum sizing requirements, defined by the appropriate template, will result in the rejection of the entire sample from further testing. Rejected samples will be returned to the manufacturer at the manufacturer's expense.

With this memo, armor manufacturers participating in NIJ's voluntary compliance testing program and NIJ/NLECTC-approved test laboratories are being provided with detailed engineering drawings of each of the three sizing templates. These drawings are also being made available via the NLECTC System Web site, JUSTNET, at http://www.justnet.org. NLECTC-National reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, reject any sample determined to not be representative of a finished commercial product.

During the performance of Penetration-Backface Signature (BFS) testing in accordance with the standard, if a shot does not comply with the "fair hit" requirements (Sec. 3.14), the laboratory may identify a suitable location on the armor for a second shot. If the second shot also fails to satisfy the fair hit requirement, the panel will be discarded and a new armor panel tested as specified in Section 5.12.4.7.

NIJ/NLECTC-approved laboratories are further instructed to use the sizing template when evaluating NIJ-compliant armor models submitted for any other "third-party" testing in accordance with the standard, and to only test samples that comply with these sizing requirements. While we are aware that third-party testing of new and used NIJ-compliant armor is conducted at NIJ-approved body armor testing facilities, it is critical to ensure that the armor sample sizes are in accordance with the NIJ standard and sizing template. This will help to ensure that third-party test results are reflective of the armor's performance and not due to the potential influence of differently sized armors.

NOTE:

The intent of this template is not to restrict the sizing of armors sold to public safety agencies subsequent to testing. It is also not intended to dictate the design or perimeter shape of the armor. Armor manufacturers should submit samples that comply with the "minimum/maximum" measurements defined by the applicable template, while ensuring that the sample submitted for testing is representative of the final product manufactured for sale to public safety agencies. Any model submitted that does not comply with this sizing criteria will be rejected for further testing and returned to the manufacturer for correction. 

Last updated: Aug. 6, 2009