This document provides a standard to be used by the National Institute of Justice Compliance Testing Program for ballistic-resistant body armor and is divided into the following chapters: test threats, equipment and materials; NIJ ballistic protection levels; armor ballistic performance requirements; soft armor and hard armor requirements and allocation of test items for conditioning and testing, test item examination, and test requirements and procedures; label system requirements; test report; and appendixes A through H which provide more specific study parameter information.
This National Institute of Justice (NIJ) publication specifies minimum performance requirements and test methods for the ballistic resistance of body armor used by U.S. law enforcement that is intended to protect the torso against handgun and rifle ammunition. The primary purpose of this standard will be for use by the NIJ Compliance Testing Program (CTP) for testing, evaluation, and certification of ballistic-resistant body armor. It will also be used by ballistic testing laboratories and body armor suppliers participating in the NIJ CTP. This standard will be included in the Law Enforcement and Corrections Equipment Laboratory Accreditation Program of the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program to accredit ballistics laboratories. NIJ Standard 0101.07 is divided into fourteen sections and eight appendices. It is a revision of NIJ Standard 0101.06, published in 2008, and differs from it in several important ways. Among these are notable structural changes between the two documents, as well as the introduction of several improvements to test methods and laboratory practices.