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What CPL status actually means

Active, Suspended and Inactive on the NIJ Compliant Products List, what each one says about a model, and how to read it on a listing.

ArmorList Editorial·June 4, 2026·4 min read

A body-armor model on the NIJ Compliant Products List (CPL) carries a status. It is the most useful single field on the list, and the easiest to misread. This article sets out the three statuses as NIJ's program defines them, and what each one does and does not tell a buyer.

How a model gets on the list

The NIJ Compliance Testing Program tests armor by model. If NIJ determines that a model meets the standard and the program's requirements, it issues a Notice of Compliance and adds that model to the CPL. There is not one list but four, and a model's status belongs to its entry on one of them.

The four lists

  • Ballistic armor, NIJ Standard 0101.07. The current standard. Since October 2024 the program evaluates ballistic armor against it, and NIJ has published the initial list of compliant models. Its levels are HG1 and HG2 for handguns, and RF1, RF2 and RF3 for rifles, defined in NIJ Standard 0123.00.
  • Ballistic armor, NIJ Standard 0101.06. NIJ stopped accepting new 0101.06 models on 5 January 2024. Models already listed remain listed and subject to follow-up testing, and NIJ anticipates maintaining the list through at least the end of 2029. An Active 0101.06 model is not expired.
  • Stab armor, NIJ Standard 0115.00. Three performance levels, set by the armor's ability to stop a blade or spike from going deep enough to injure, at different strike energies. Two protection classes: commercially made knives, and the lower-quality blades and improvised spikes likely in a corrections setting. NIJ has drafted an update, NIJ Standard 0115.01.
  • Combination armor. NIJ has no separate standard for it. A combination model has been fully tested in both the ballistic and the stab programs and holds a Notice of Compliance from each. To confirm one, find the same model designation on both the ballistic and the stab lists.

The three statuses

  • Active: the model is currently produced and is in compliance with the program's follow-up inspection and testing.
  • Suspended: the model's compliance status has been temporarily suspended, typically in conjunction with an NIJ Advisory Notice.
  • Inactive: the manufacturer is no longer actively producing the model.

These are the definitions published by CJTTEC, the center that administers the program's lists. "Historical" and "pending" are not CPL statuses. A model that is still in testing does not appear on the list at all.

Follow-up inspection and testing

A listing is not a one-time event. Listed models are subject to follow-up inspection and testing (FIT), in which samples from production are inspected and tested against the original construction. Most notices come out of that process.

Advisory Notices and Safety Notices

NIJ issues two kinds of notice about listed models.

An Advisory Notice tells agencies that the program has concerns about a model. The model is temporarily suspended from the CPL while the program reviews and evaluates the concern, and the program has a process for trying to resolve it.

A Safety Notice communicates a recognized safety concern. Models named in a Safety Notice are removed from the CPL, and NIJ advises agencies that possess or use units of those models to replace them as soon as possible.

Recalls are separate. A recall is a manufacturer's action; NIJ notices are the program's. The program's investigation may lead to production stops or recalls, but the notice and the recall are two different records.

Reading status on a listing

  • Read the status from the list itself, not from a spec sheet or a label.
  • Note the date you read it. Status is a snapshot.
  • Check the model name exactly. Sister models can have different statuses.
  • Check which list the entry is on: 0101.07, 0101.06, stab or combination.
  • Check the program's active Advisory and Safety Notices for the model.
Buy against the status you read on the list, for the exact model, on a date you record. Suspended means under review; a Safety Notice means replace.

Sources

  1. CJTTEC, Compliant Product ListsRead September 25, 2026
  2. CJTTEC, NIJ Advisory Notices and NIJ Safety NoticesRead September 25, 2026
  3. CJTTEC, Active Advisory and Safety NoticesRead September 25, 2026
  4. NIJ, Compliant Products List: Ballistic Resistant Body ArmorRead September 25, 2026
  5. CJTTEC, NIJ Standard 0101.07 InformationRead September 25, 2026
  6. NIJ, Specification for NIJ Ballistic Protection Levels and Associated Test Threats, NIJ Standard 0123.00Read September 25, 2026
  7. CJTTEC, Stab-Resistant Body ArmorRead September 25, 2026
  8. CJTTEC, Compliant Product List: Stab ArmorRead September 25, 2026
  9. CJTTEC, Compliant Product List: Combination ArmorRead September 25, 2026
  10. CJTTEC, New Standard Addressing Real-World Stab and Slash Threats (draft NIJ Standard 0115.01)Read September 25, 2026
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