Re: Post Design Stage obstacles

[Tinco Brouwer]

Declan. Moriarty wrote:

On Fri, Feb 14, 2003 at 02:59:19AM -0800, John enlightened us thusly
    

Dear Declan,

in order to get a general idea for product design specifications check the
following sites:
 http://www.i-spec.com/  (new products compliance guide),
      

I could get this one. I'll get around it a bit with google, once I know
how to describe exactly  what I'm looking for. I reckon I could lose a
lot of time there otherwise.

The CE compliance costs a lot of time and money anyhow.

 http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/newapproach/index.htm  (EU new
approach guide),
      

This one appears broken, or restricted :-(. 

no problem now.

 http://www.dti.gov.uk/strd/strdpubs.htm (UK's page for standards and
tecnical regulations),
      

Broken. Everyone had a go at their site since you've been surfing.

no problem now.

 http://web.meganet.net/eszlari/index.htm (information on standards for
product safety),

no problem now. I have found much useful info there.
<snipsnip>

Is it (as I somehow fear) that the red tape has expanded to crowd out
any small timers from entering any market?
        

Small scale production will be expensive because the cost of tests. If you want to market the products you need to have documents from a recognized test house (National Certification Bodies).

All products need to be capable to pass the required tests for safety and EMC. It is best to get legal advice.
If you are a sub-contractor, make sure the whole resposibility is for the main contractor.

Any person (manufacturer or importer) can affix the "CE Marking", and issue the "Declaration of Conformity".

But that person is responsible for the product! Self-declared conformity can be very expensive if the product is NOT ok.
Usually importers don't take the risk and demand test reports from a trusted third party like TUV Rheinland, Kema, UL and others.
If there are any problems (safety, EMC) with the product, you will have BIG problems.. read the part about "the risk of non-compliance in Europe" on:

http://web.meganet.net/eszlari/introduction_to_ce_marking.htm

Some pre-compliance testing can be done in house, but you need at least hipot equipment, and a very expensive test receiver (special spectrum analyzer like the R&S ESPI) & antenna's. The official documents are very expensive too, like 75 pages for 136 swiss francs.

There are many test-houses that can assist in several ways, read:

http://www.i-spec.com/Basics/submit_product.html

Everything above could be wrong and is to be followed on your own risk! I have done only a short EMC training with a test house and I'm not a lawyer.
Regards, Tinco Brouwer.