Product testing FAQ

Product testing FAQ
Ask a question about product testing at lab@sertika.lt and the SERTIKA team will contact you.

ARE TESTING STANDARDS MANDATORY?

Each directive sets quality guidelines, thus making it possible to ensure the safe use of the device, protecting the user himself and the environment. All these requirements can be met by complying with applicable standards.

It is necessary to meet the requirements of all applicable directives, but compliance with the standards is voluntary, i.e. compliance with directives and regulations can be ensured in other ways.

Of course, the best way to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of directives and regulations is the use of harmonized standards (these are technical specifications created by CEN, CENELEC or ETSI committees and published in the official EU publication and adopted as a national standard by at least one EU member state), thus accepting that the product meets the essential safety requirements.

The manufacturer is free to choose how to demonstrate conformity to the essential requirements, but must ensure that the minimum requirements of the harmonized standards are met.

If these standards are not used, according to the directive, the product can be validated by means of an assessment by a notified body.

Contact the head of the laboratory department and discuss the questions you have:

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE STANDARD OR OTHER PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS CHANGE?

If the standard changes, the product may need to be retested. Updates to EN (European Standards) are ongoing and may sometimes be purely editorial. However, updates sometimes include significant changes to how products are tested for security. Therefore, you must carefully consider each change to see if it affects your product or not.

If an applied harmonized standard becomes invalid after its validity period, the conformity with the applicable directive also ceases to be valid. In other words, you will no longer be able to claim that the product meets the requirements of the CE Directive based on the presumption method. In this case, you should consider upgrading the product technical documentation to a later valid standard version, i.e. i.e. perform tests according to the new version of the standard.

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Where do I start when I want product testing?

We start familiarization with the product by familiarizing ourselves with the technical information already available from the manufacturer.

The UAB SERTIKA team will determine the requirements for the product faster and easier if you have the technical data of the product at hand or know the specification:

  • Main functions, areas of application;
  • Power supply voltage;
  • Maximum voltage of internal circuits;
  • Components, materials (their CE declarations of conformity or certificates or test reports) (pdf);
  • Component communication (wireless, communication cables);
  • Power (Total);
  • Weight, device type (stationary, mobile, portable).

The following documents about the product help to submit the offer and sign the contract:

  • Product technical file, available technical documentation (LT, EN language);
  • Product name, model, quantity pcs;
  • Manufacturer;
  • User manual (doc);
  • Product label (doc);
  • Design drawings (pdf).

At the manufacturer's request, we sign a confidentiality agreement.

Contact the head of the laboratory department and discuss the questions you have:

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT STANDARD TEST METHOD FOR MY PRODUCT?

In order for the SERTIKA test laboratory to be able to measure, for example, temperature and power measurements and issue an accredited test protocol, it is necessary to know according to which test method you want to measure.

SERTIKA performs accredited temperature measurements according to the standard for household appliances: Household appliances: Household and similar electrical appliances LST EN 60335-1.

And power measurements according to the same LST EN 60335-1 standard and 2 more standards: Medical devices. Electrical medical equipment LST EN 60601-1 and Measurement, control and laboratory equipment LST EN 61010-1.

If we can't determine which method we need to test, the results can be difficult to reproduce. This would be due to the fact that the specific measurement conditions would not be defined without a specific method. For this reason, we do not do non-standardized methods in the accredited testing area.

Contact the head of the laboratory department and discuss the questions you have:

WHAT IF THERE IS NO TEST METHOD APPROPRIATE FOR MY PRODUCT?

The customer can create and describe his own test method.

Then the SERTIKA test laboratory evaluates whether it can perform those tests and, after a positive decision, we perform the tests and issue a test report in a non-accredited area.

Example of determining the test method and compliance conditions

What should we do if we want to make sure that the appliance works properly at a specific ambient temperature, and there are no applicable safety standards for that appliance and our test according to the domestic appliance standard LST EN 60335-1 is not suitable?

The SERTIKA test laboratory can offer to simulate different temperatures in the climatic chamber, but the product manufacturer should define what would be the correct operation of the device when it is placed in the climatic chamber at a specific temperature. This is where the importance of the method becomes apparent, as it is necessary to specifically define the conditions of compliance, i.e. as seen in this example, it is necessary to define what to treat as proper operation of the device.

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How to ensure that your certificate, certificate or test report is acceptable?

The mark of the signatory of the European Accreditation Organization Multilateral Agreement (EA MLA), in this case the National Accreditation Bureau that accredited SERTIKA, acts as a "trade passport" in certificates and test reports issued by an accredited conformity assessment body - SERTIKA.

The approval provided by this accreditation eliminates the need for suppliers to be certified in each country where they sell their products or services, thus creating a basis for goods and services to cross borders in Europe and around the world.

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I don't have a CE certificate. What to do about importing the device to Lithuania from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus or other countries?

When you want to import a device to Lithuania, usually the Lithuanian Customs Information Department asks for several documents, one of which is the CE certificate.

If the device is brought to Lithuania for testing in UAB SERTIKA's laboratory, this device does not have a CE certificate. It is transported for this purpose - to perform tests to confirm the compliance of the device with EU safety requirements.

In this case, the SERITKA test contract and a copy of the order must be submitted to the Tariff and Customs Valuation Control Department - an advance payment for the planned safety tests.

Also consider the fact that after the tests we do not recommend using the product because it was maximally "loaded" during the tests.

Contact the head of the laboratory department and discuss the questions you have:

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