Australian Electrical Product Testing and Certification Institute

Australia and New Zealand are introducing the RCM logo to achieve a unified logo for electrical products. The logo is a trademark owned by the regulatory authorities in Australia and New Zealand. It means that the product meets both safety and EMC requirements and is non-mandatory.

application process

Australian RCM Certification Process

1. Third-party laboratory evaluation products, determine the implementation of the test standards;

2. If there is any non-conformity in the test, the laboratory will rectify the product to meet and meet the Australian standard requirements;

3. Pass the test and issue a test report;

4. Submit the test report to the Australian issuing authority for document review;

5. Australia approved and approved the RCM certificate;

6. The client can complete the Australian website registration by himself or by the laboratory;

Precautions

1. The RCM logo needs to be added to the product from time to time. Note that this requirement was issued on April 19, 2013 in Australia.

2 plug-in adapter to do RCM safety certification, to do a random test plug

3. Tube products: such as T8 LED tubes, fluorescent tubes can be directly replaced by users, and the safety risk is high. Samples need to be sent to Australia for evaluation.

4. Different licensing agencies will have different time

1. Safety (product safety certification):

Product safety certification consists of two parts: Electrical products are classified as Non-regulated products and Non-regulated products.

1). Controlled electrical products are classified according to AS/NZS 4417.2 and include electrical heating equipment, refrigeration equipment, power tools, and parts. Among them, the three licensing agencies in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria are the most active in the certification process. Controlled electrical appliances must obtain a Certificate of Approval issued by the monitoring department and specify the identification (certificate must be applied). . The first letter of the certificate number shows which state or territory the certificate was issued. Such as:

(1) Q04051 (Queensland, Queensland) --- Q Number

(2) W2015 (Western Australia Western Australia) --- W Number

(3) V03101 (Victoria, Victoria) --- ESV Certificate V Number

(4) NSW18099 (New South Wales, New South Wales) --- DOFT Certificate NSW Number

2). Non-regulated electrical appliances may be sold without certification, but the manufacturer must ensure that the electrical safety of the product complies with Australian Standard AS/NZS 3820:1998 (Essential Safety Requirements for Low Voltage Electrical Equipment); the monitoring department will issue compliance for products that meet the standard requirements. Certificate (Certificate of Suitability). The electrical product that obtains the certificate of conformity may be given a certificate number. The last letter of the certificate shows which state or region the certificate was issued by, for example:

(1) CS/431/Q (Queensland)

(2) CS/108/NSW (New South Wales)

2 EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility)

Australia’s electromagnetic compatibility compliance plan is based on Radio Communications ACT 1992 and covers a wide range of products, including motor-driven and heat-generating electrical products, power tools and similar products, lamps and similar equipment, Television receivers and audio equipment, information technology products, industrial scientific and medical instrumentation equipment, lighting engines and arc welding equipment. The plan classifies products into three categories based on the degree of danger of electromagnetic interference generated by the product. The second and third products must be accompanied by the C-Tick mark. However, regardless of the product category, it must comply with the relevant EMC standards.

One class of products: Products that have only slight effects on devices that use the wireless spectrum, such as manual switches, simple relays, brushless squirrel-cage induction motors, AC power/power transformers, and resistors. This type of product can be voluntarily applied for using the C-Tick logo at the time of production and sales.

Class II products: Products that have a significant impact on devices that use the wireless spectrum, such as microprocessors or clocked digital devices, rectifiers or slip ring motors, arc welding equipment, switched power supplies, photometric regulators, and motors. Telecommunication terminal equipment of the category of speed controllers, information technology (CISPR 22) (from November 3, 2003 to the second category).

Three types of products: Products that have a serious impact on devices using wireless spectrum, such as Industrial, Scientific, and Medical Instrument Group 2 (CISPR11).

RCM related application matters

(1) If the product has CB and national differences, you can go directly to the Safety Certificate. Together with the EMC part, the agent can help the announcement. The product can be sold to Australia and marked with RCM Mark.

(2) Safety Certificate: When applying for the safety part, if the product is a direct plug in, you need to do AU Plug Test (Test Standard: AS/NZS 3112: 2004) for this product. If the product is Desktop, you do not need to do this test. .

(3) EMC Report --- This can be a C-Tick Report (Test Standard: AS/NZS CISPR 22: 2002), or a CE EMC Report.

The issuing unit of RCM (SAA) is as follows

The CB member lab test will submit the test report to the certification authorities of each state for a certificate. There are seven institutions (including New Zealand) that are eligible to receive certification applications:

1) DepartmentofFairTrading, NewSouthWales(NSW)

2)Department of Minesand Energy, Queensland

3)TheOfficeoftheChiefElectricalInspector,Victoria

4) OfficeofEnergy Policy, SouthAustralia

5) OfficeofEnergy, WesternAustralia

6) OfficeofElectricity,StandardsandSafety,Tasmania

7)Ministry of Commerce, NewZealand

Certification requirements

1. The new law will be formally implemented on March 1.

2. SAA certification and C-Tick certification are gradually canceled and replaced by RCM certification, which covers safety regulations and EMC (C-TIck may still be applicable to some low-power wireless products).

3. All electronic products will be divided into three categories: High, medium, low Risk. We do not have detailed breakdown data. In general, battery drives and products with voltages below 12V are low-risk, 240V standard voltage products are medium-risk, and high-voltage products are high-risk. The buffer period for low-risk products is 6 months, and the buffer period for medium- and high-risk products is 3 years (this period is recommended by the relevant Australian associations, but the specific decree has not yet been finalized by the government).

4. RCM certification can only be applied by a local Australian company. The company must apply to the Australian government for an RCM number. Chinese manufacturers and exporters can apply for IEC or AS/NZS reports in their own name, but the report must be submitted to an Australian importer to apply for RCM. The application fee for registration is AU$75 per product per trademark per year. (For example, a company in Australia owns two trademarks: A and B. He imported exactly the same batch of products from China, half of them were marked with A, and one was marked B's trademark, that means it must pay 150 AUD per year for the registration fee).

5. According to the expert's opinion, because the importer will bear the risk of product quality failure (responsible party), and non-Australian companies can not directly apply for RCM certification. It is estimated that more and more small-scale Australian companies will change their practices in order to reduce costs, and Chinese manufacturers will bear the costs of making reports and applying for SAA. They will be inclined to appoint laboratories with certain capabilities and prestige, provide insurance reports and test data, and then they will apply for Australian RCM certification.

6. Theoretically, Australian laboratories can also act as applicants to help a company obtain RCM certification. However, according to the expert's opinion, due to the legal responsibility, it is estimated that most Australian laboratories will not take this risk. Even if they do, the related costs may be relatively high.