Fab Lab conformity rating

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The Fab Lab conformity rating is a code that describes how closely a lab meets the conditions for use of the Fab Lab label. It should be taken as a quick summary of the lab "now" and understood to be able to change over time. The conformity rating is self-assessed or community-assessed (ie, perceived rating by others).

Philosophically it would be ideal for all labs to be fully open all the time with free access and fully participating with other global labs. However, this may not be practical for every lab at this moment. A lab may shift their operations over time to adjust for economic pressures or to respond to a changing user base. For labs with less than an AAAA rating, we'd hope that the managers and administrators look for ways to fold in these behaviors.


  access to the fab lab adherence to the Fab Charter common set of tools and processes participate in the larger, global fab lab network
A at least some free/open public access
(but may assess real material costs)
charter explicitly on site and website has all core tools & processes
and possibly more
members actively contribute or
collaborate with members from many other labs
lab takes part in or leads network initiatives
B paid public access only, but anyone can join "in the spirit" of the charter very close to but missing at least one
core machine or process
members actively contribute or
collaborate with a few other labs
lab keeps up with network initiatives and discussions
C closed or restricted user group no mention of charter difficult to do most fab projects
or follow fab tutorials
very little, only passive, or
no participation outside of local lab

Examples:

Amsterdam is AAAA = lab offers free public access, refers explicitly to the Charter, has all tools&processes and takes actively part in the global network

A2, Florida is CCCC = lab is only open to students of the University, there is no reference to the Charter whatsoever, the lab has only laser cutters and 3D scanning/printing, does not do electronics, and it does not participate in the network