FIE homologation: who approves fencing equipment.

What homologation covers

Under Annexe A of the FIE Material Rules (August 2026), fencing material used in official FIE competitions and carrying the FIE logo must, without exception, hold a certificate of homologation certifying that the specific item complies with FIE rules. Homologation is compulsory for blades, points, protective clothing (jackets, breeches and under-plastrons) including masks and gloves, scoring apparatus (wired and wireless), pistes, video refereeing systems and competition management software, and the Executive Committee may extend the list (Annexe A, Field of application).

Who does it and how (Annexe A)

• The SEMI Commission carries out homologation under the supervision of an Executive Committee representative. It has 10 elected members plus that representative and may consult outside experts.
• The process starts with a written request to the SEMI President with the documents named in the relevant technical handbook. The file is checked for completeness within 14 days; laboratory compliance results come from the maker and from an independent institute approved by the SEMI; a reference sample goes to the SEMI President; and the final homologation is published on the FIE website. The maker must wait for publication and the certificate before starting production or sales.
• CE certificates and tests are given by specialised institutes, and the SEMI publishes the lists of homologated equipment with their certificates on the FIE website. FIE homologation tests by certified independent institutes are made against the FIE rules and CE/EC standards.
• Changes to a homologated item, whether appearance, composition, internal content or software, must be reported at once, and the modified item goes through homologation again.
• The FIE emblem is a registered trademark usable only on equipment that has passed homologation; by fixing the FIE quality label, a maker guarantees the item meets FIE technical and safety requirements. Annexe A also states that "chip and label installation requirements are suspended", without a date.
• Withdrawal: homologation may be withdrawn or suspended if material no longer conforms, or was significantly changed without resubmission.
• Random quality control: the SEMI may buy any item on the market and send it to a certified independent institute; non-conformity can bring a penalty and, in extreme cases, loss of homologation.

Blades have their own periodic-test and occasional-check rules, set out on blades and maraging steel.

Weapon control at FIE competitions

Homologation is the FIE's approval of the item; weapon control checks what each fencer brings. As the Material Rules (August 2026) set it out:

• At the Open, Junior and Cadet World Championships and the Olympic Games, checking of organisers' electrical material and fencers' equipment is supervised by the SEMI, whose delegates may seize any weapon, bodywire, lame or item of clothing for examination at any time (m.36). At other official FIE competitions the organising committee appoints those responsible (m.37.5).
• Fencers are responsible for their own equipment when they come onto the piste, and a check does not absolve a fencer who breaks the rules (m.37.1 and m.37.3).
• Each fencer may present at most four weapons, three bodywires, two conductive jackets, two masks and three mask-to-jacket leads; foil points must be presented bare over the first 15 cm (m.38.1). Equipment presented after 5 p.m. on the day before the event may be refused (m.38.3).
• Checked items are marked, and using equipment without the check mark brings penalties under t.120 (m.41.1). If equipment appears assembled so the fencer can control hit registration at will, the SEMI representative may require a penalty against the person who submitted it (m.39).

What FIE marking means below FIE level

British Fencing's markings page (as at 13 March 2026) explains the layers as it sees them: the CE mark is the maker's declaration of compliance with EU law, and equipment without it is not legal for sale in the UK or mainland Europe; meeting CEN Level 2 does not by itself make an item FIE-approved; an FIE mark means the FIE has approved the item, which British Fencing describes as covering approved materials and construction, factory audits, batch testing and ongoing compliance. It adds that counterfeit concerns should go to British Fencing and Trading Standards, and that insurance cover may be affected if an accident involves equipment without the correct quality marks.

USA Fencing's rules (October 2026) do not require FIE-homologated uniforms or masks (note to t.64.1) or homologated points (note to m.5.5) at USA Fencing competitions. The full national picture is on national equipment rules.

History of the system, as FIE documents record it

• 2009 handbook: the FIE's Technical Handbook for Homologation (Version 1.0, August 2009) covered scoring apparatus, 800 Newton clothing, 1600 Newton masks, FIE blades, epee and foil points and pistes for first-class FIE competitions. It says EC tests of clothing, under-plastrons and masks were made to EN 13567 level 2 by the institutes CRITT, Denkendorf and IFTH, and blade tests by CRITT, Sofranel and Visti.
• The 2009 lists, as the FIE listed them: the epee and foil blade list (version 30 March 2009) named Leon Paul, France Lames and Blaise Freres. The foil M2009 conductive-bib mask list (version 18 December 2008) named Absolute Fencing, Allstar, Blue Gauntlet, FWF, Jianli, Negrini, Leon Paul, PBT, Prieur Sport, Uhlmann and Wuxi. These are historical lists from 2009, not current ones.
• 2014: SEMI minutes of July 2014 record that its homologation records were being reassembled, with makers asked to resend paperwork, and that a homologation database on the FIE website was the aim. They also record that tests on equipment involved in accidents found some items below the homologation standard despite carrying the correct label, raising the possibility of counterfeits or weaker later batches, and that chipping homologated items was being researched.
• 2025: the SEMI report of July 2025 records a sub-group to improve the transparency and efficiency of homologation, including an online tracking platform and a re-homologation cadence by category, with Material Rules updates targeted for December 2025. The FIE Rules Commission report of the same month lists about 40 SEMI proposals on the Material Rules (Proposals 73 to 113), all supported by the Commission; which of them the FIE Congress adopted was not confirmed for this site.

What could not be found

A current, complete FIE list of homologated makers by equipment type was not found for this site; the FIE's equipment and homologation documents page did not appear in searches. The historical lists above are therefore the only ones reported, and the FIE's own website is the place its current lists are published.