Are you in the process of developing a new product? Have you heard of pre-compliance testing and compliance testing but are not sure what that means for you and the successful launch of your newly developed product? If so, read on below to find out more about EMC Testing. After reading this article you should have the answers to the following questions: 

  • What is Pre-Compliance Testing?
  • What Is Full-Compliance Testing?
  • What Is The Main Difference Between Pre-Compliance Testing And Full-Compliance Testing?

Any new electronic product needs to go through a number of stages before reaching the end-user. At every stage, the product needs to be thoroughly tested to ensure that it is safe and working as intended. Due to the technical issues involved, product testing requirements vary from stage to stage. 

Pre-compliance testing is normally used to assess the safety and effectiveness of electronic components at the early stages of development; while, full-compliance testing is normally done at the final stages. 

What Is Pre-Compliance Testing? 

In a nutshell, pre-compliance testing can save you a lot of time and money by helping you identify potential problems in your product/design before you take it through full-compliance testing. This can potentially help you avoid having to make extensive design alterations when it is too late; and, unnecessary delays in taking your product to market.   

During pre-compliance testing, you get to collect useful and actionable data on the performance of your product, which can be used to make vital changes/improvements, before you undertake full testing. As such, it boosts the chances of your product passing final testing the first time around. 

With the above in mind, it is clear to see that pre-compliance testing comes with a few important benefits to product developers and manufacturers, including: 

  • Seeing whether the product is able to operate as initially intended, and within the defined standards. 
  • Significantly decreasing the risk that the product might not pass the final compliance testing
  • Decreasing costs and any unnecessary product delivery risks to you
  • Decreasing the amount of time it takes to take the product to market

Pre-Compliance Testing Vs Full-Compliance Testing

What Is Full-Compliance Testing? 

For final version products that are about to be put on the market, full-compliance testing is required. This sort of testing is conducted in line with all relevant standards without any deviation whatsoever, by fully qualified experts, using all the necessary testing equipment. Full-compliance testing (or simply compliance testing) is necessary for product certification purposes.

Compliance testing must be conducted in a fully accredited facility. Accreditation means that the facility can perform compliance testing procedures in accordance with the relevant standards. It is also worth noting that this sort of testing tends to be quite rigorous and costly.  

What Is The Difference Between Pre-Compliance And Full-Compliance Testing?  

Pre-compliance testing relies on a different number of tests, equipment, test set up, calibration and test lab expertise. As a rule of thumb, full-compliance testing relies on more stringent procedures than pre-compliance testing. 

Due to technical reasons, some tests and testing procedures may be left out of pre-compliance testing undertakings. 

In general, pre-compliance testing is recommended for early product development stages. During these stages, full-compliance testing may easily turn out to be overly expensive and highly time-consuming. With that in mind, full-compliance testing is only recommended for the final stages of product development.

Summary

Compliance testing is an essential part of the product development process. One of the best ways to ensure that your product works as intended, and has a great chance of satisfying all the relevant certification standards before taking it to market, is to conduct pre-compliance testing during the earlier stages of development. This way, any issues can be identified and corrected as early as possible; and, at the lowest cost.

With the right pre-compliance testing procedures, and changes to your product/design, based on the data collected, your product will have a better chance of passing the full compliance testing carried out in the final stages of development. 

Compliance Engineering offers accredited testing services for a broad range of products in particular compliance with EMC regulations in Australia. We provide the highest standard of environmental testing that measures the performance of specific products under particular environmental conditions.

Please call us today at Compliance Engineering on + 61 3 9763 3079 or leave an enquiry.