Technical cleanliness: the third edition of the guideline moves into electronics
The third edition of VDA 19.1 supersedes the 2015 one. Alongside mechanical damage mechanisms it now covers short circuits, clearance and creepage distances, contact resistance and optical blockage.
- The reason for the revision is technology in which a particle does not have to abrade anything to do harm: electromobility, driver assistance systems and autonomous driving.
- For the first time process monitoring is given such weight next to classic limit value testing — cleanliness stops being a single acceptance measurement and becomes surveillance of production.
- The edition describes the whole path of the test, from packaging and delivery of specimens through to evaluation to the guideline, in order to take disputes out of the supplier–customer relationship.
- For laboratories this means updating procedures and retraining staff; the publisher runs a separate upgrade course from the 2015 edition to the 2026 one.
Source: VDA QMC — Volume 19.1 (2026), Inspection of Technical Cleanliness