Product development · Certification readiness
Certification readiness for electronic products: CE, FCC and UL
We work out which standards apply in each market, design the board and enclosure to meet them, plan pre-compliance tests, and take your product to the accredited lab ready, from Israel or abroad.
Certification is issued by accredited labs. We prepare the product, the pre-compliance tests and the documentation
- For
- Companies and startups about to sell in Israel, Europe or the US
- What you get
- A standards map per market, pre-compliance results and a technical file ready for the lab
- First step
- A call with an engineer about the product and your target markets, then a written proposal
Standards by market
Which standards does your product need?
The standards follow the target market and the type of product: how it is powered, whether it has a radio, and where it will be used. This is the starting point; the exact list is confirmed with the lab.
- Europe, CE: the CE mark is the manufacturer's declaration that the product meets EU requirements, usually backed by lab reports and a technical file. For electronic products that typically means the EMC Directive, the Low Voltage Directive (LVD) for mains-powered products, the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) when there is a transmitter, and RoHS.
- United States, FCC: almost every digital electronic product has to meet the emissions limits of FCC Part 15. A product with a transmitter, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, also needs FCC certification through a recognised certification body.
- United States, UL: UL and similar recognised labs test for electrical and fire safety. For most products this isn't required by federal law, but retailers, industrial customers and insurers often ask for it.
- Israel: some products have a mandatory Israeli standard. A wireless product also needs approval from the Ministry of Communications, unless it falls in an exempt category.
Is CE valid in Israel? CE is a European mark, not an Israeli approval. Since Israel's reform adopting European standards, however, many product categories can be brought to the Israeli market on the basis of compliance with EU requirements, through an importer's declaration and supporting documents. Some products still have a mandatory Israeli standard, and wireless products also need Ministry of Communications approval. So each product is checked on its own.
Pre-compliance
What is pre-compliance, and why does it save lab rounds?
Pre-compliance tests find problems before the formal test, while they can still be fixed in the next board revision rather than after a lab failure.
A pre-compliance test is an informal run of the hardest tests on the prototype, before you book the formal test. It doesn't replace the accredited lab, but it shows where the product stands.
- Emissions: scans of radiated and conducted emissions, to find problem frequencies and trace them to the board or the cables.
- Immunity: electrostatic discharge, fast transients and surges on the inputs, as the standard requires for the product.
- Safety: insulation distances, component heating and markings, when the product connects to mains power.
Every finding is fixed in the next revision, and the formal test is booked once the pre-compliance results are clean. A lab failure usually costs another test round, and sometimes a full board revision, so it pays to find the problems first.
Certification readiness is one part of our product development work. All hardware product development services
Design for compliance
Designing for compliance in the board and the enclosure
Most of what decides whether a product passes the lab is settled in the schematic, the PCB layout and the enclosure, long before the test.
- Grounding and routing: solid ground planes, short return paths, and fast signals kept away from board edges and connectors.
- Input filtering and protection: filters on the power input and communication lines, and protection against electrostatic discharge and surges. The Quest Controller board we designed, for example, used resettable fuses, opto-isolation and reverse-polarity protection.
- Component choice: pre-approved power supplies and radio modules where possible, to reduce what has to be tested.
- Enclosure and cables: insulation distances, enclosure material, and how cables leave the enclosure without turning into antennas.
- Documentation: up-to-date schematics, BOM and drawings, which also feed the technical file.
We guide your product through FCC and UL, Israeli certification, environmental testing and the Israeli safety standard for outdoor electrical products. Certification guidance is led by an engineer who has taken a product through FCC and UL certification in an earlier role.
Accredited lab
Working with an accredited lab: what do we prepare?
The formal test is run by an accredited lab, and the approval comes from the lab or the certification body. Our job is to arrive with everything the lab needs, and to deal with the findings.
Test plan
The standards and tests for each market, the operating modes to be tested and the product configuration, agreed with the lab in advance.
Output: An agreed test plan
Test units
Units identical to the production product, with test firmware that runs it in the required operating modes, including continuous transmit when there is a radio.
Output: Test units and test firmware
Technical file and documentation
Schematics, BOM, drawings, a product description, user instructions and marking labels, as the standard and the lab require.
Output: A technical file ready to submit
Support during testing
Available to the lab during the test, analysis of every failure, and fixes to the board, firmware or enclosure when a test fails.
Output: A findings and fixes report
Environmental and sealing tests
Planning and coordinating environmental tests, IP-rating tests and MIL-STD tests when required, and managing the process with the lab for you.
Output: An environmental test plan and lab reports
Marking and market documents
A draft declaration of conformity, product labels and markings, and the documents an importer or distributor will ask for.
Output: Declaration and marking documents
Certification readiness: FAQ
What drives the cost of certification readiness?
The cost depends on the product and the markets, so you get a written proposal after we go through the product and your target markets together. The main drivers:
- The number of markets and standards
- Wireless connectivity, which adds radio tests and approvals
- Mains power and the safety requirements that come with it
- The number of pre-compliance and fix rounds
- Lab fees and certification body fees
How long does certification take for an electronic product?
It depends on the product, the number of markets and the lab's availability, so the schedule is estimated after the initial evaluation. What usually makes it longer is a formal test failure that needs a new board revision, and documentation that isn't ready. Pre-compliance tests and a technical file prepared in advance help, because the formal test starts when the product is already close to passing.
What does a wireless product need, and what about Israel's Ministry of Communications?
A product with a transmitter, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or cellular, needs radio tests in addition to EMC and safety: under the RED in Europe, and FCC certification in the US. In Israel a wireless product also needs approval from the Ministry of Communications, unless it falls in an exempt category.
A pre-approved radio module usually reduces the testing, but doesn't remove it. The requirements for each product are confirmed with the lab and the Ministry.
Does the product need certifying again after a change?
Sometimes. A change to the board, the power supply, the radio module or the enclosure, or even a component swap for availability, can require a full or partial retest. Before such a change we check with the lab what it triggers, and plan the change to affect the tests already passed as little as possible. That's why it pays to mark alternative parts in the BOM before the formal test.
We're a startup selling in the US. What do we need?
Usually FCC: almost every digital electronic product has to meet the FCC Part 15 emissions limits, and a product with a transmitter also needs FCC certification. UL or a similar safety listing is often required by retailers and customers, especially for products that connect to mains power.
It's worth designing for all your target markets at once, so you don't redesign for each market. Hardware development for startups
Which labs do you work with?
The accredited lab is chosen for each product by the standards, the target market and the type of testing, and we manage the process with it for you: scheduling the tests, submitting the documentation and handling the findings.
We guide products through FCC and UL, Israeli certification, environmental testing and the Israeli safety standard for outdoor electrical products, and the work is led by an engineer who has taken a product through FCC and UL certification in an earlier role.
Tell us about the product and your markets, and we'll map what it needs
Describe the product briefly, how it is powered and how it communicates, and where you want to sell it. An engineer will reply with an initial direction and a proposal for the next step.
Usually a reply within 3 working hours, by email or phone