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What is CE Mark?
Products that are exported to the EC and that are placed on the market
for the final end user have to carry this mark. The manufacturer or
his representative is required to issue a declaration of conformity
which must be kept available to the enforcement authority for 10 years
following the placing of the products in the market. He is required
also to affixed the mark on the products, or its packaging,
instructions or guarantee certificate.
The CE mark is as shown below and must be at least 5mm in height.
What it means to have CE Mark?
When the CE Mark is affixed, it means that the products conform to EMC
(Electromagnetic Compatibility) Directive and other relevant
Directives that are relevant to the products. Many electrical
appliances also have to conform to Low Voltage Directive. Electrical
toys will have to conform to Toy Safety Directive.
The EC declaration of conformity must include components like :
a) Description of the products.
b) A reference to the specifications under which conformity is
declared.
The reference to the specifications does not necessarily mean that you
have to test these specifications. Three scenarios are apparent.
i) The product intrinsically meets the requirements of the Directive
and does not need testing. Most electronic products are not able to
follow this option.
ii) Declaration is make on existing test results. If the products
already conform to existing standards such as FCC for emissions and
IEC 801 for immunity, then you may be confident that the product will
meet the appropriate harmonized standards without further testing.
iii) Test fully to the harmonized standards or choose the technical
file route. For complex and new products, this will be costly but is
essential.
c) Signatory to bind the manufacturer or his representative.
d) where necessary, reference to the EC type examination certificate
for radio transmitters.
Compliance with the CE Mark Directive
There are 2 routes for manufacturer to comply to the CE Mark
Directive.
a) Self Certification
Most manufacturer will follow this route which is self certification
to harmonized standards. Harmonized standards are those CENELEC or
ETSI standards which are announced in the Official Journal of the
European Communities (OJEC).
The advantage of certifying against standards is that there is no
mandatory requirement for testing by an independent test house. The
only requirement is that the manufacturer makes a declaration of
conformity as mentioned above which references the standards against
which compliance is claimed. The manufacturer have to make sure that
he tests the product to assure himself that it does meet the
requirements of the standards and this can be done in-house. In the
long run, it is cheaper to have its own basic in-house equipments to
test the product instead of sending it to an independent test house
which is costly most of the time. By having these facilities, it will
enable the manufacturer to design in the product to conform to the
standards as most of the time, a lot of modification to the product
needs to be done in order to conform to the standards.
b) The Technical Construction File
The second route is to generate a TCF(Technical Construction File)
which will be held by the relevant authorites as soon as the product
is placed on the market and for 10 years after the last item has been
supplied. TCF should describe the apparatus, the procedures used to
ensure conformity and a technical report from a competent body. It may
or may not contain test data. The difference between this route and
the first route is that the technical report or certificate is issued
by a competent body.
This route is normally taken when existing standards cannot be applied
or when testing is not practical because of the size of the product.
Source: Wikipedia
You can find more interesting articles, books and free literature at
href="http://www.techdockets.com"
Products that are exported to the EC and that are placed on the market
for the final end user have to carry this mark. The manufacturer or
his representative is required to issue a declaration of conformity
which must be kept available to the enforcement authority for 10 years
following the placing of the products in the market. He is required
also to affixed the mark on the products, or its packaging,
instructions or guarantee certificate.
The CE mark is as shown below and must be at least 5mm in height.
What it means to have CE Mark?
When the CE Mark is affixed, it means that the products conform to EMC
(Electromagnetic Compatibility) Directive and other relevant
Directives that are relevant to the products. Many electrical
appliances also have to conform to Low Voltage Directive. Electrical
toys will have to conform to Toy Safety Directive.
The EC declaration of conformity must include components like :
a) Description of the products.
b) A reference to the specifications under which conformity is
declared.
The reference to the specifications does not necessarily mean that you
have to test these specifications. Three scenarios are apparent.
i) The product intrinsically meets the requirements of the Directive
and does not need testing. Most electronic products are not able to
follow this option.
ii) Declaration is make on existing test results. If the products
already conform to existing standards such as FCC for emissions and
IEC 801 for immunity, then you may be confident that the product will
meet the appropriate harmonized standards without further testing.
iii) Test fully to the harmonized standards or choose the technical
file route. For complex and new products, this will be costly but is
essential.
c) Signatory to bind the manufacturer or his representative.
d) where necessary, reference to the EC type examination certificate
for radio transmitters.
Compliance with the CE Mark Directive
There are 2 routes for manufacturer to comply to the CE Mark
Directive.
a) Self Certification
Most manufacturer will follow this route which is self certification
to harmonized standards. Harmonized standards are those CENELEC or
ETSI standards which are announced in the Official Journal of the
European Communities (OJEC).
The advantage of certifying against standards is that there is no
mandatory requirement for testing by an independent test house. The
only requirement is that the manufacturer makes a declaration of
conformity as mentioned above which references the standards against
which compliance is claimed. The manufacturer have to make sure that
he tests the product to assure himself that it does meet the
requirements of the standards and this can be done in-house. In the
long run, it is cheaper to have its own basic in-house equipments to
test the product instead of sending it to an independent test house
which is costly most of the time. By having these facilities, it will
enable the manufacturer to design in the product to conform to the
standards as most of the time, a lot of modification to the product
needs to be done in order to conform to the standards.
b) The Technical Construction File
The second route is to generate a TCF(Technical Construction File)
which will be held by the relevant authorites as soon as the product
is placed on the market and for 10 years after the last item has been
supplied. TCF should describe the apparatus, the procedures used to
ensure conformity and a technical report from a competent body. It may
or may not contain test data. The difference between this route and
the first route is that the technical report or certificate is issued
by a competent body.
This route is normally taken when existing standards cannot be applied
or when testing is not practical because of the size of the product.
Source: Wikipedia
You can find more interesting articles, books and free literature at
href="http://www.techdockets.com"