Good People, Please forgive this (mostly) OT post.
An inquiry to an "agency" may seem the most direct route; but this route can be a difficult journey along a winding path. The mean experience level of agency engineers, IMHO, seems to have decreased in the previous five years. Also, some agency departments/sites have decided to not allow direct contact with engineers or technical managers unless referenced to an project number. In fact, some agency sites will not allow direct contact with an engineer until your project data and TRFs have reached their "inbox". And while there are wise ol' coots (uttered with the greatest respect) such as Mr. Woodgate and others that are willing to share their experience, I believe that a well-reasoned question to this forum prior to direct agency contact may be the most productive path. Of course none of this represents the opinion of my employer, and nothing I say has any meaning or relevance. luck, Brian > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of John > Woodgate > Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 6:56 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Compliance requirements for Canada for one-off item > > > In message <[email protected]>, > dated Wed, 19 > Apr 2006, Mark <[email protected]> writes > > >I'm sorry if emc-pstc members feel I did not do enough > research before > >posing my question, my defence in respect of not asking CSA > directly is > >that queries put to authorities in this country in the past > have just > >been answered with the letter of the law/act/regulations > and have not > >helped for the non-mainstream case of manufacture of one-offs . > > I'm not entirely surprised; that attitude is what keeps me > and other UK > safety and EMC consultants in business. I don't know who you > approached > with negative results, but I agree it happens. Enquiries > sent to BSI are > often forwarded to me, and when my response has been > filtered through > the BSI machine, it's often unrecognizable. So I almost always add > something like, 'If the enquirer is not satisfied with the > answer, he > can contact me directly for further advice, which is usually free of > charge.' > > > Perhaps in hindsight I should not have assumed that authorities in > >other countries would have to take the same approach as > those in this > >country (either because of ethos or because the local regulations > >encompass one-offs). > > UL and other 'agencies' are not in the same position as government > departments and national standards bodies, who often > consider that their > freedom to advise is extremely limited. > > > >Not withstanding my error, may I thank everyone for good advice and > >pointers to whom to phone: CSA will be top of the list to call and > >others will follow. > > I don't think you made an error; it's a very common > assumption that a > direct enquiry to UL or other agency will be unproductive, > as my enquiry > indicated. > > > >With regards from a slightly shame-faced Mark > > Not at all; big smile now! > -- > OOO - Own Opinions Only. Try www.jmwa.demon.co.uk and www.isce.org.uk > 2006 is YMMVI- Your mileage may vary immensely. > > John Woodgate, J M Woodgate and Associates, Rayleigh, Essex UK - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
