Andy said:
I followed a post that pointed here in regard to CE certification. I
need to find out about how a person goes about doing such a thing?
There was mention of an F.A.Q. section relating to this also. I am
trying to figure out how one might go about getting electrical plug
converters, which Im not making Im buying, certified so I can sell
them. I figure it should be relatively simple, but I can't really find
any info on how to do this, so can anyone offer any advice??
Thanks very much in advance,
Regards.
Andrew
(If UK)
If you follow the British DTI reccomendations then be prepared to shell out
at least £5000 on test and certification costs (assuming a pass in one go).
Most of the smaller British manufacturers have wised up to this, "only big
companies allowed" rip-off and will spend say just a morning, having their
kit tested at at one of the many 'pre-approval' labs out there. Expect to
pay say £200-£350 for half a day but in that cost you'll also get a lot of
solid practical advice and help on the whole approvals process from the guys
that are doing the actual tests on your kit. (Don't follow the path of
trying to to get any sense out of the BSI, DTI etc.)
I do work for a PCB company that has an EMC test lab and do know they can
throw in the EMC testing for 'free', if some PCB or assembly work can ride
on the back of it.
Bear in mind that that we are talking 'self-certification' here. If you so
wish you can just stick on a CE label and sell the stuff. But woe betide you
if your product causes complaints either wrt it's safety, construction or
it's electrical noise.
For peace of mind it's best to be able to show that you made made some kind
of effort and thought in complying with the reg's, (even if it results in
just sticking an EMC filter on the mains lead).
If EMC aspects of your product are a problem then it may be worthwhile
buying a cheap second hand spectrum analyser and knocking up a "LISN" and a
couple of aerials and doing the work yourself.
regards
john
PS: I just bought yet another £3.50 wall-wart this morning. It had a CE mark
plus 2 other approvals already on it.
