Restricted Substances & Materials Compliance

GADSL deep-dive, REACH/SVHC, ELV and RoHS overlap, declaration obligations, and lab testing for global materials compliance.

Private cohorts & on-site
Format: 2-day (8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.)
Level: Intermediate
Location: Scheduled on demand · on-site at your facility or a regional venue
Date(s): Not yet scheduled for open enrollment. Get notified when it is, or book it privately for your team.
Includes: Certificate of Completion · printed slide binder · take-home reference text

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One email when dates are set. Or skip the wait: run it as a private cohort, on-site at your plant.

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Faculty

Faculty details for this seminar will be announced with the full schedule.

Fees

Early: $1,895 (payment 4+ weeks ahead)
Standard: $2,095 (check/ACH) · $2,165 (card)

Group discount: $200 off per attendee for 3+ from the same organization.

Also Available

  • Corporate on-site delivery at your facility
  • Private cohort sessions
  • Digital curriculum licensing

Seminar Overview

This seminar is built from the primary sources that actually govern what goes into vehicles and hard goods: the Global Automotive Declarable Substance List (GADSL) reference list — the corpus holds the real list with its 688 declarable substances (81 prohibited, 129 declarable, 477 declarable-and-prohibited classes) and its P/D/P-P classification system — plus the verbatim text of EU REACH Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 and the EU End-of-Life Vehicle Directive 2000/53/EC, and the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) resin identification framework. Vendor compliance software shows you the flags; this course teaches you to read the underlying lists and regulations so you can defend any declaration you sign.

Material compliance failures are silent until they are catastrophically expensive: a substitute part introduces a GADSL-prohibited plasticizer, a REACH SVHC crosses the 0.1% threshold without triggering the Article 33 information duty, or an ELV heavy-metal limit is exceeded by a coating nobody characterized. The companies that survive audits are the ones that understand the mechanism — how each list is structured, how thresholds attach, and what the declaration obligation actually requires of each tier in the supply chain.

After two days you will be able to navigate the GADSL classes and its annual revision process, read REACH from registration duties through the Candidate List, Annex XIV authorization, and Annex XVII restrictions, apply ELV heavy-metal limits (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium) with their exemption mechanics, understand the RoHS overlap, and structure supply-chain declarations and lab testing programs that hold up against customer and regulator scrutiny.

Ideal Learner

  • Materials and compliance engineers at OEM and Tier 1/2 automotive suppliers
  • Quality and sustainability managers responsible for IMDS/CAM declarations and customer submissions
  • Purchasing and supplier-quality staff who approve material substitutions
  • Product stewards and EHS staff managing REACH obligations
  • Lab and validation engineers specifying chemical testing programs

Learning Objectives

  • Read the GADSL reference list: P/D/P-P classes, substance families, and the threshold-of-application logic
  • Apply ELV Directive 2000/53/EC heavy-metal limits (Pb, Cd, Hg, CrVI) and navigate Annex II exemption use
  • Explain REACH 1907/2006 obligations: registration, SVHC identification, Candidate List duties, Annex XIV authorization, Annex XVII restrictions
  • Handle RoHS overlap questions for components carrying multiple compliance regimes
  • Structure supply-chain declarations (IMDS-style data logic) and customer reporting duties
  • Specify lab testing and validation programs proportionate to risk, and interpret supplier test reports critically

Consulting Sessions

Seminar attendees can sign up for individual consulting sessions with the instructor. Sessions are free for registered attendees, first-come first-served — sign up when registering by calling 248-539-0473 or during the seminar.

Seminar Outline

  • Why restricted-substances regimes exist and how they interlock: GADSL, REACH, ELV, RoHS, packaging and toy rules
  • The declaration chain: OEM requirements → Tier 1 → Tier 2/3 → formulator
  • Where the liability actually lands when a prohibited substance ships
  • **Compliance Case Study: a substance substitution that traded one violation for another**
  • The GADSL structure: what the 688-entry reference list contains and how the 81 prohibited / 129 declarable / 477 declarable-and-prohibited entries are organized
  • Class P (prohibited), Class D (declarable), and P-P entry semantics; thresholds of application
  • The GADSL review cycle — how substances enter, move classes, and leave the list
  • Using the list in engineering: spec language, substitute selection, and "no-listed-substance" traps
  • **Exercise 1: classify ten real-world substance declarations against GADSL classes and thresholds**
  • Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 architecture: title-by-title orientation
  • Registration duties and tonnage bands; the supply-chain information duty (Article 33)
  • SVHC identification criteria, the Candidate List, and what Candidate List status triggers for articles
  • Annex XIV authorization and Annex XVII restrictions: how they differ and how they bite
  • **Worked example: a 0.1% w/w SVHC threshold analysis on a polymer part**
  • ELV 2000/53/EC heavy-metal limits and the Annex II exemption framework (and its expiry logic)
  • Cadmium, lead, mercury, and hexavalent chromium: where each hides in vehicle materials and coatings
  • RoHS scope overlap for E&E components and how to handle dual-regime parts
  • Recyclability/recovery weight targets and their material-selection consequences
  • **Exercise 2: heavy-metal limit audit on a coating and fastener set**
  • Full material disclosure vs. declarable-substance reporting; the IMDS-style data model logic
  • Building supplier declarations that are actually enforceable; certificates vs. substance data
  • Managing the annual revision cycle when lists update mid-program
  • Customer-specific adders on top of GADSL/REACH and how to reconcile conflicts
  • **Exercise 3: triage a realistic multi-supplier declaration package and find the gaps**
  • When to test, when to rely on declarations, and how to sample intelligently
  • Screening methods vs. quantitation; typical test families for heavy metals, phthalates, and flame retardants
  • Reading and challenging supplier test reports: scope, detection limits, and the parts that weren't tested
  • Building a validation file that survives a customer audit
  • **Worked example: constructing a risk-based test matrix for a new supplier's molded part**
  • The full workflow: new part introduction → substance data collection → list screening → threshold analysis → declaration → change management
  • Common failure patterns: stale data, untracked substitutions, misapplied exemptions
  • **Exercise 4 (capstone): design the substance-compliance workflow for a new vehicle component line**

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