Fees associated with laser variances?

[ZeroPoint]

I'm still in the process of building my first projector but I've been reading a lot about variances and haven't read or heard anything about any fees associated with getting an accession number for the projector or variances for individual shows. I find it hard to believe that any process involving a government organization could possibly be done free of charge but I haven't seen any indication to the contrary. Is there anyone here with experience in variances that can settle this for me once and for all?

[DanG]

FDA does not charge any fees for variance submissions or product reports. However, most companies charge fees to help you with the paperwork if you do not want to do it yourself (which some are happy to do but in general I do not recommend).

Hope that helps!

[ZeroPoint]

That helps tremendously and is exactly what I wanted to hear. I do have another question though. These companies you mentioned, are they the laser manufacturers helping to fill out the paperwork for their products? I'm building my own laser so I won't be associated with any company. Is there still assistance available somewhere for the DIYer?

[DanG]

There is yes, but other than fellow DIY'ers who have varying levels of expertise the options can get rather expensive. $1-2K seems to be a fair median price tag for someone to help a DIYer get paperwork done and as it is that is CHEAP in relationship to what needs to be done. Then you have Arizona issues on to of that. Looking at your equipment list, it looks like you have some off-shore things which you will have a hell of a hard time certifying. It is not an easy road but it has been travelled before and can be done successfully as some folks here have done.

[ZeroPoint]

Thanks again! I will not be attempting to file anything related to my Chinese projector as I am well aware that it does not meet the requirements and therefore will only be for personal use in my home. The projector I am building will use several components from companies and people recommended on this forum. The laser driver's I am using are DrLava's P3's and I will also be using the ILDA interface board from Rob Stanwax. I know these are designed to meet the requirements of the FDA here in the US. the only Chinese component to date is the galvo kit which is identical to the 20k scanners OMAR sells on here (although I bought them from eBay). Hopefully the scanners do not pose too much of a problem. I am still a long ways off from being ready to certify anything but I'm sure I will have many questions as the build proceeds. Thanks again for your help.

Edit: I guess I didn't think about the lasers themselves. The red and blue I will be putting together myself using the Casio 445's and 2x LPC-826's, but the green is a 150mW module from China. Aside from needing the power measurements is there any reason a Chinese module would cause issues when certifying?

Cheers
-Luke