The S-Mark is administered within Korea. I believe the organization is
called "KISCO." The S-mark only has meaning within Korea.
I believe the administrative organization declares, somehow, what types of
equipment must bear the S-mark and may go without.
I believe the S-mark requires verification by a body appointed or recognized
by the administrative organization.
I work with a semiconductor industry called SEMI. SEMI has been working to
determine the impact of S-mark on our members. The following are some
questions that were compiled for KISCO and a first pass at answers by a TUV
office in Korea. Some of the reference apply to SEMI standards (eg. S2) and
meetings.
1. What is KISCO's procedure for assessing equipment against the S-Mark?
Brief procedure distributed.
2. Are there any other testing laboratories or third parties authorized
to issue the S-Mark?
No other organizations
3. Can manufacturer self-certify the S-Mark?
Not possible.
4. What is KISCO's confidentiality policy?
???, like third party?, governmental organization directly under the
Ministry of Labor, It has same functions as OHSA in US and HSE in
England. KISCO changes the name from beginning of next year to KOHSA.
5. Is S-mark compliance-based or risk-based?
both
6. What standard(s) are used in the evaluation of the equipment?
S-mark standards based on EHSR of CE Marking + Quality System such as
ISO 9000 and/or Factory Inspection.
7. Would KISCO accept 'certificate of compliance' from a European
competent/notified body as proof of compliance to CE marking?
No, but when mutual agreement is made like us, it is easy to get
S-mark.
8. Does KISCO recognize SEMI S2 as an equivalent means of demonstrating
compliance with S-Mark?
Until now No, but it has to be discussed in the meeting.
9. How are differences of interpretation between the manufacturer and
KISCO engineer resolved?
KISCO is a big organization, but the department dealing with S-mark
has only about 15 engineers, mechanical and electrical. They have
limited man power and cannot cover numerous machines. So they tend
to accept the manufacturer's idea.
10. Does the S-Mark certification involve an on-site assessment of
the system? If so, where would this be conducted?
At the manufacturer's site.
11. What documentation is required by KISCO?
Technical Construction File same as CE-Marking
12. How long would the assessment take and how much would the
assessment cost?
Time depends on the complexity of machine, and the cost is cheap
relatively. But for foreign manufacturers, it will be recalculated.
13. Would there be any tests (e.g., dielectric, temperature,
grounding continuity, etc.) performed on the equipment?
Yes, e.g. earth continuity, insulation resistance, dielectric,
impulse noise, burst noise, acoustic noise.
14. What is KISCO's position on components and assemblies that do
not have their own safety certifications? How would they go about
evaluating these components and assemblies for suitability of use?
They want to expand the area, but I think it is not so easy because
we in Korea have several other testing house specialized in
components and assemblies.
15. Are documents to KISCO required to be in Korean?
They have their own form sheets written in Korean, but they said for
TCF English is okay except user's manual. ( At least user's manual
shall be written in Korean).
16. If SEMI S2 is used as part of the S-Mark certification, would
KISCO accept low risk level non-compliances?
At the beginning, they said "NO", but they seem to change due to the
meeting, It has to be discussed at the meeting.
17. For which type of equipment is the "S" mark required by law?
S-mark is voluntary but, for the manufacturers producing dangerous
machinery such as press, crane, hoist, etc. which are legally
requiring type approval from them, It exempt from the type approval.
18. Is S-Mark approved by the World Trade Organization (WTO)?
Obviously not. They made it for themselves. After economic crisis,
so-called IMF, government started to reduce financial support to all
governmental organizations and pushed them to survive by themselves.
And moreover, because of CE-Marking in European market, they had to
do something for the machinery manufacturers. These two motives made
S-Mark in fact.
19. Are the IEC standards part of S-Mark?
No, but 70 percents are equivalent.
20. What are the governmental organizations that certify
laboratories for S-Mark?
Nowhere. They made it by themselves.
21. Are foreign laboratories allowed to be certified for S-Mark?
As I explained before, TUV-R, AMTRI veritas in England, and BV in
France got agreement with KISCO so far.
22. Does a foreign laboratory have to be located inside Korea to be
able to evaluate and release the S-Mark? Not clear. It may be solved
at the meeting.
Hope this helps
Lauren E. Crane
* Eaton Corporation, SEO
* Ion Beam Systems Division
* Manager - Product Design Safety and Compliance
* [email protected] 978.921-9745
> -----Original Message-----
> From: |Moshe Valdman [SMTP:[email protected]]
> Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2000 3:15 PM
> To: EMC-PSTC
> Subject: S-Mark for industrial equipment
>
>
> Hello,
>
> My customer makes industrial equipment, CE marked according to the 292 and
> 204 standards in Europe. In Korea he was required to meet (be certified
> to?)
> the S-Mark.
> 1. What is this S-Mark?
> 2. How is it related to industrial equipment?
> 3. is there certification to it? is the CE self declaration sufficient?
>
> thanks in advance,
> Moshe Valdman
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
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