Canio In the EMC+LVD +Machinery Yearbook 1999 was an excellent article on this very subject by Neil Harvey who at that time was with BSI. The summary said " It is never possible to be sure that a system will be compliant, when using the CE+CE=CE approach. As a result, the decision regarding its adoption and use is fundamentally a matter of sound judgement, flavoured with careful risk assessment" Regards Alan E Hutley Editor EMC+Compliance Journal nutwoo...@msn.com www.emc-journal.co.uk
----- Original Message ----- From: Canio Dichirico To: IEEE EMC List Sent: Monday, March 27, 2000 01:30 Subject: Is the "modular approach to EMC" the same as CE + CE = CE? Hi All! The designer/manufacturer of a (prototype) system has recently exposed to me the following argument. If the system is built out of subsystems that are CE-marked, the complete system may be considered compliant with the EMC Directive 89/336/EEC. The designer stated that this is possible on the basis of the "modular approach to EMC". In order to understand this argument I read the paper "Update on the European Union's EMC Directive", appeared on the European Edition of Compliance Engineering - 1999 Annual Reference Guide. In this paper one may read that "For systems and installations ... either a system or a modular approach may be used to demonstrate compliance. The TCF [Technical Construction File] route is thus not required for verifying a system and/or installation if all subunits and subsystems comply with the EMC requirements (modular approach), presuming that the referenced standards are relevant for intended environments and that installation guidelines are followed." Does what I read on Compliance Engineering confirm what declared by the (prototype) system designer? Which are the "installation guidelines" that the paper quoted above is referring to? Which are the differences, if any, between the "modular approach" and the "equation" CE + CE = CE? I remember reading in this forum (plenty of times) that CE + CE does not necessarily equal CE. Any replies or comments are welcome. Thank you all in advance! In the EMC+LVD +Machinery Yearbook 1999 was an excellent article on this very subject by Neil Harvey who at that time was with BSI. The summary said " It is never possible to be sure that a system will be compliant, when using the CE+CE=CE approach. As a result, the decision regarding its adoption and use is fundamentally a matter of sound judgement, flavoured with careful risk assessment" Regards Alan E Hutley Editor EMC+Compliance Journal nutwoo...@msn.com www.emc-journal.co.uk Canio Dichirico European Southern Observatory Technical Division - Electronic Systems Department Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2 D-85748 Garching bei München Tel. +49-89-3200 6500 Fax +49-89-320 23 62 email: cdich...@eso.org website: www.eso.org
