Qualification Program Reference Document (QPRD) v4 (effective July 21, 2025)

Introduction

An updated policy, Qualification Program Reference Document (QPRD) v4, was approved by the Bluetooth SIG Board of Directors on 21 July 2025. This updated policy and accompanying tool enhancements bring several new benefits to our Members. Key benefits include:

• Increased flexibility: set your Publication Date up to 180 days after completing the Bluetooth Qualification Process — double the previous 90-day limit.
• Expanded corrections support: Design corrections are now available for both Design Numbers (DNs) and Qualified Design IDs (QDIDs) in Qualification Workspace.
• More intuitive consistency check: the tool automatically ignores invalid Implementation Conformance Statement (ICS) inconsistencies when the corresponding ICS does not exist, eliminating the need for a Test Coverage Waiver (TCW).

The Bluetooth SIG recognizes the benefits that iterative updates to our policy can provide to our Members. We plan to update our policy annually to continually improve the Qualification Process and ensure that our program adapts to changes in how our Members develop and qualify their products.

Detailed updates

The following list details the individual updates that make up QPRD v4. Each entry links to the corresponding tracker item.

• ES-25488: editorial update to replace "and" with "with" in Section 3.2.
• ES-25518: editorial update to replace "including" with "such as" in Section 3.2.1.
• ES-25519: updates to Section 3.5 Verification. Added text clarifying that it is the validity of the test reports being checked.
• ES-25520: updates to Section 3.5 Verification. Updated the section reference for when the Qualified Product will be listed in the Qualified Product Database. Added clarifying text that the listing is made public on the specified Product Publication Date, which is not always the same date as submission.
• ES-25522: updates to Section 4 Qualified Product Database. Updated Table 4.2 and associated footnote to indicate that certain Qualified Product corrections after the Product Publication Date are allowed.
• ES-25524: updates to Appendix B TCW policy. Editorial change replacing "applies to" with "is available to".
• ES-25651: updates to Section 3.2.2.3 Complete consistency check. Added clarification that for unmodified Layers, only ILDs pointing to ICS that exist in the TCRL Package version selected when the included Design completed the Bluetooth Qualification Process are shown.
• ES-25665: updates to Section 3.2.2.4 Generate test plan. In Option 2b, explain that IOPT tests are not generated for X2Core Layers that are unmodified from an included Design that has a Core Configuration.
• ES-26500: updated the link in the references for [6] to the Assignment Agreement Form.
• ES-26733: updates to Section 1.1 Definitions. Incorporates change to allow the Product Publication Date to be up to 180 days after submission.