Certification test planner

How it works

Selling a system or product in several countries means passing a different set of safety, EMC, environmental and energy requirements in each one. This planner proposes those requirements by name for the product type, power source and markets you pick, lets you edit every row, and totals the samples, cost and schedule, with a view of how ready each market is. Durations and costs are editorial estimates: replace them with lab quotes.

1. Describe the product and the markets. The product type sets the safety and EMC standards (for example IT and audio-video equipment, industrial control, medical electrical equipment or an automotive module). The power source adds battery or external supply rows. Each ticked market adds its own rows. A product with a radio needs radio approvals too, which are planned in the radio certification planner.
2. Propose the requirements by market. For each market the planner lists the scheme and the standards by name: in the EU the Low Voltage Directive, the EMC Directive, RoHS, REACH and WEEE with the harmonised standards; in the US the FCC Part 15 rules and an NRTL listing; in Canada ICES-003 and a Canadian safety mark; in the UK the UKCA route (the CE mark is recognised); in Japan VCCI and PSE where they apply; in China CCC where the product is in the catalogue; in South Korea KC; in Australia the RCM. Medical products add the medical device regulator of each market, and automotive modules add the vehicle EMC and electrical tests.
3. Set the order of work. Each row can wait for others. A pre-scan comes before every formal EMC test, and a design review comes before every safety test, because a failure found early costs far less. A declaration or certificate waits for all the tests of its market. Rows that wait for nothing start once the samples are ready, so tests in different labs run in parallel.start = latest end of the rows it waits for (or the sample-ready week); end = start + weeks
4. Total the cost, samples and schedule. Cost is the sum of the row costs, scaled by your lab-rate factor when the plan is proposed. Samples are the sum of the units each row needs. The schedule is the end of the longest chain, and the critical path is that chain, listed row by row. The parallel saving is how many weeks the parallel running saves compared with running every row one after another.total cost = sum of row costs; schedule = latest end week; parallel saving = prep + sum of weeks − schedule
5. Reuse one safety report. Many markets accept a safety report issued under the IECEE CB Scheme, so the first market that tests safety makes the report and the others test only their national differences. Tick the CB option off to plan a full test in every market. The EU, US and Canada also share EMC measurements when the labs run them together.
6. Track readiness. Each row has a status (planned, booked, in test, passed, failed, waived). A market is ready when all its rows are passed or waived. The readiness table shows the share done, the cost and the week each market finishes.

Sources

The methods and default figures rest on these public sources. The wording here is our own; read the source for its full text.

• What the Commission is doing: electrical and electronic engineering industries (opens in a new tab), European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, page checked October 2026. Names the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU, the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU and the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU, and the role of harmonised standards.
• Placing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain (opens in a new tab), Department for Business and Trade, GOV.UK, 17 May 2024. CE and UKCA markings for electrical equipment, EMC and radio equipment in Great Britain.
• 47 CFR Part 2, Subpart J: Equipment Authorization Procedures (opens in a new tab), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (Office of the Federal Register), current text, checked October 2026. The FCC's certification and supplier's declaration of conformity procedures; Part 15 Subpart B covers unintentional radiators.
• IEC 62368-1, Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment, Part 1: Safety requirements, International Electrotechnical Commission, current edition, checked October 2026. The hazard-based safety standard behind EN IEC 62368-1, UL 62368-1 and national versions; cited by name only.
• IEC 60601-1, Medical electrical equipment, Part 1: General requirements for basic safety and essential performance, International Electrotechnical Commission, current edition, checked October 2026. The medical safety standard behind the national versions named in the plan; the collateral standard IEC 60601-1-2 covers electromagnetic disturbances. Cited by name only.
• Global Market Access: Japan (opens in a new tab), TÜV SÜD, page checked October 2026. An overview of VCCI (voluntary, class A and B) and the PSE mark (mandatory, specified and non-specified items).
• On 31 December 2021, SAMR/SAC published two new standards for the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) scheme (opens in a new tab), SESEC (Seconded European Standardisation Expert in China), article checked October 2026. GB/T 9254.1-2021 and GB/T 9254.2-2021 for IT and related equipment, in force from 1 July 2022.
• ISO 16750, Road vehicles: Environmental conditions and testing for electrical and electronic equipment, International Organization for Standardization, current parts, checked October 2026. The electrical load, climatic, mechanical and chemical test parts named in the automotive rows; cited by name only. CISPR 25, ISO 11452 and ISO 7637 are named in the same way.