Some practical advice on "IEC certification" fraud

IEC has heard reports of companies falsely claiming to hold "IEC certification" for their products. While this may be a convenient way for manufacturers to sell more products and make money, purchasers could end up buying inferior products that don’t function properly. To clarify the question of "IEC certification", e-tech editor Dennis Brougham spoke to IECEE Executive Secretary Pierre de Ruvo.

	Sample CB Test Certificate

e-tech: Can electrical equipment and components get such a thing as "IEC certification"?

De Ruvo: That’s a short but inaccurate way of saying something that really has to do with the IECEE. The IEC does not do testing and it does not "certify" products and neither does the IECEE.

The IECEE administers the CB Scheme, which is a system that organizes test laboratories and certification bodies around the world. The laboratories do the testing and the certification bodies issue IECEE CB Scheme test certificates and test reports. These confirm that certain products have been built and tested to IEC Standards. Examples of certification bodies that belong to the system are KTL in Korea, VDE in Germany and UL in the United States.

The IECEE is there to reassure the market – meaning governments, consumers and so on –  that the products they’re buying are safe to use and perform as expected. The system also ensures that the laboratories and certification bodies recognize each others’ test certificates. There’s an export advantage in this that I’ll come back to.

The CB Scheme has 19 product categories, such as electrical medical equipment, photovoltaics, household appliances, office equipment and portable tools.

The IECEE also administers the CB-FCS, where "FCS" stands for Full Certification Scheme. If a manufacturer has an FCS conformity assessment certificate, it means his production process has been examined by a certification body, such as KEMA in the Netherlands or PSB in Singapore, and found to be fully compliant with IEC Standards.

e-tech: What is a CB test certificate and what does it mean to have one?

De Ruvo: It’s a document stating that a product has been tested successfully to the requirements for safety and/or performance set out in an IEC Standard. The steps to receive a CB test certificate are as follows:

1. A manufacturer sends an application for testing and certification to an IECEE certification body anywhere in the world. Accompanying documents must cite all IEC Standards that were used in manufacturing the product. The manufacturer must specify that they want to obtain a CB test certificate and, if they intend to sell abroad, they should also specify the export market so that national differences are taken into account during testing.
2. The manufacturer then sends a sample of their product to a test laboratory.
3. The test laboratory performs a variety of tests for safety and performance. The parameters they use for the tests will be set out in the IECSstandard.
4. The certification body that received the original application reviews and validates the testing. If the product has passed the test, the certification body issues an IECEE CB Scheme test certificate and test report. These are the two documents that constitute proof of conformity to an IEC Standard.
5. A certification body mark can also be granted if the applicant asks for it. Examples are OVE, IMQ, and so forth.

Those who fraudulently claim to have "IEC certification" don’t necessarily make unsafe or poor products. But they do create a climate of false confidence that may not be justified and they could be putting lives at risk just for commercial reasons. Having a CB test certificate and test report for your product is the way to prove your claim unambiguously.

The advantage of CB test certificates for manufacturers who want to export is that a product tested in one laboratory doesn’t have to be tested again in another laboratory in the target country, thereby reducing the costs of testing. This can mean lower manufacturing costs and this advantage can be passed along to customers in the form of less expensive goods or to shareholders in the form of higher profits. Another advantage for customers is that products that have been tested are safe to use and function as expected.

e-tech: Who may issue a CB test certificate?

De Ruvo: They may only be issued by a certification body that has been accepted to operate in the IECEE CB Scheme. All of these are listed on our website (www.iecee.org). No one else can issue them. So, someone truthfully claiming to have "IEC certification" really means that they’ve built their product to an IEC Standard and have had it tested in a laboratory successfully and have received a test certificate and test report from a certification body that is a member of the IECEE CB Scheme.

e-tech: When the manufacturer gets a CB test certificate, does he also receive a CB Scheme mark that he can affix to the product, like the UL mark?

De Ruvo: At present there is no CB Scheme mark of conformity. The test certificate and test report are the documents that purchasers can rely on.