CSA, CE, NTRL, and FCC Certification

[Tin Duc Vo]

Hello fellow forum members,

I would like some help in understanding how electronics certification works. From the research I have done, it seems that Canada, the United States, and Europe all have different certifications that are required for any products sold. Apparently, in Canada there is an exemption for any products using the mains at less than 100W of power consumption with peak DC voltages under 42.4V and without heated elements, but my product will most likely not fit into this category.

My concern is how products such as the ones on KickStarter are able to obtain these certifications with special interest in 3d printers because my idea is similar to this. From what I have seen, certification costs around $15000 to $100000 for the CSA certification alone. I was unable to get details however, so the price could be less for smaller scale sales on the order of 500-2000 units.

Please help a Canadian out; I may just come back with something you all love (no rush o.O).

Thank you.

[Neilm]

It does not matter for the predicted number of sales - if it needs to be certified it has to be up front.
In Europe, you will most likely need to meet the EMC directive, and the Low Voltage directive. Exactly what standards you will have to meet to be able to declare conformity will depend on what your product is. For example, IEC61010 applies to test and measurement equipment, so it would not apply to a 3d printer.

[Tin Duc Vo]

Thanks a lot for responding.

Do you know of any good resource for this kind of stuff? I do not need to know the full details right now, but I would like to know enough to be able to account the costs involved. I am not sure how deeply this kind of testing would cut into feasibility.

Could you please explain why it would not matter at this volume? I thought no electronics could be imported into Europe without the CE mark, into Canada without the C-UL or CSA mark, or into the US without the NTRL marks.

[Tin Duc Vo]

On second thought, do you mean the volume is irrelevant? I'm not sure how to interpret your first sentence.

[targ2002]

For CE.

I would start here http://www.newapproach.org/Directives/Default.asp to determine which directives apply, and then go into each directive, to figure out what standards apply to you product.

There will also be the WEEE directive you have to comply with.

[Zbig]

Perhaps that will be helpful: https://www.tindie.com/products/emcfastpass/global-certifications-for-markers-and-hardware-startups-2/ ?

[Neilm]

On second thought, do you mean the volume is irrelevant? I'm not sure how to interpret your first sentence.

It means that your product needs to be shown to meet the relevant standards before it goes on sale in the EU. It needs certification before you sell any. The only way the proposed sales affects the certification is the number of units you need to provide for the certification process to give sufficient confidence that the unit passes. Not usually relevant unless you are selling multiple thousands. Talk to a certification house for more details

[Tin Duc Vo]

I will check that book out soon. Thanks ZBig.

Thanks Targs, but I only need the high level overview right now.

I'm wondering how those 3d printer kickstarter projects are handling these certifications. Most of them don't go over $200,000 in funding, but that could be labour, certification, and legal fees alone. I'm guessing most of them sell as kits or just forgo certification? In that case, wouldn't it be illegal?

[AndyC_772]

CE marking is self-certification, so the minimum possible cost of applying the mark is little more than the cost of the label itself. However...

You're supposed to maintain a "technical file" which includes your justification for asserting that the product conforms to all applicable Directives. This contains schematics, PCB and mechanical drawings, the Bill of Materials and so on, plus the results of any compliance testing which has been carried out. Typically a company will contract out EMC and safety testing to a suitably accredited test house, and will keep their reports in the technical file as evidence of compliance.

It may not be too much of a stretch to say that a simple product is "safe" without external testing, though you'd need to at least have a copy of whatever the applicable safety standard is for your type of product. If, for example, you comply with voltage limits, clearances, earth bonding requirements and so on, you may be able to demonstrate compliance by reference to CAD data alone. On the other hand, it's very hard indeed to show that your product "must be" EMC compliant unless it's been formally tested. Most people who try, suffer an embarrassing failure when their product is actually tested.