John One thing to remember for the EU is that manufacturers are required to APPLY current harmonised standards, not TEST to them. You can, in theory, test, or not test, to whatever you like.
"Apply" isn't really defined anywhere - one suggested definition (that I think I saw posted here) is along the lines of "you can consider to have fully applied a harmonised standard if your product would pass when tested against it" The easiest way to Apply a standard for most products is to test against it. :) However, Technical files can be used to: - justify why, for example, product complies with basic standard EN61000-4-8 magnetic field immunity without need for test. - discuss Delta requirements in revisions of Product/Generic standards calling up new basic standards, and what testing, if any, is needed to demonstrate compliance with updated product/generic standard Regards Charlie From: John Barnes [mailto:jrbar...@iglou.com] Sent: 11 December 2009 05:43 To: EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG Subject: [PSES] Effective Dates for EMC Standards EMC-PSTC'ers, Here is a question that has been bugging me for some months-- Given an electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) or electromagnetic interference (EMI) standard (edition & amendments) that applies to a product: * When may we start testing products to the standard? * When must we start testing products to the standard? * When do we have a choice of testing products to the standard OR a later standard? * When must we stop testing products to the standard? In short, during what period may we claim compliance to EMC requirements by testing to the standard, and listing it in the declarations of conformity (DoC's) for products? I realize that various nations and market areas may have different policies in this regard. I was told some years ago that we usually have a two-year transition period, from when an EMC/EMI standard or regulation comes out, until we are required to use it. But is this documented anywhere for: * United States' FCC Part 15? * Canada's ICES-003? * Australia/New Zealand AS/NZS standards? * Japan VCCI standards? The question comes up because ANSI C63.4-2009 and Amendment A1:2007 to EN 55022:2006 are seriously changing how we measure Radiated Emissions above 1GHz. This is akin to amendment A1:2000 to EN 55022:1998, which required putting ferrite clamps/ferrite tubes on power cords and some signal cables for Radiated Emissions testing of tabletop products. (This requirement was finally removed in EN 55022:2006, but it caused the DOCOPOCOSS for EN 55022:1998 and its amendments to be delayed six years.) For the European Union (EU) we can refer to the most-recent list of Harmonized Standards under the EMC Directive 2004/108/EC (see below): * If the standard (& its amendment(s)) are listed, we may test to it, and list it in the product's DoC. * Once we reach the Date of cessation of presumption of conformity of the superseded standard (DOCOPOCOSS), we *must* test to the standard. * We must test only to the standard until a superceding standard appears on the list. * We must stop testing to the standard, and revise our DoC's, once we reach the DOCOPOCOSS of the superceding standard. The best way I've found to see if the EU has published a new list of Harmonized Standards is: 1. Go to http://eur-lex.europa.eu/RECH_mot.do 2. Type "2004/108/EC" in the Search for box, and hit Enter. 3. Look for results that start with "Commission communication in the framework of the implementation of Directive 2004/108/EC ..." 4. Click on "pdf" below the item, to see it exactly as it was published. Thanks! John Barnes KS4GL, PE, NCE, NCT, ESDC Eng, ESDC Tech, PSE, SM IEEE dBi Corporation http://www.dbicorporation.com/ - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <emc-p...@ieee.org> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ 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 <emcp...@socal.rr.com> Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org> David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com> - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <emc-p...@ieee.org> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ 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 <emcp...@socal.rr.com> Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org> David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com>
