Development Requirements

[CoTang]

I was carious in regards to developing, producing and selling an electronic device that if the circuit has to be approved by someone or some company.

i.e. Say for example that I designed and tested a new type of alarm system. Do I have to get that designed checked and approved by a professional engineer? Lately i've been coming across people saying that anything you design that you want to market have to be looked at and approved by someone else that has some sort of ticket like PEGUS (sp?) or R.E.T.. I know for CSA or ULA or ATEX is required for certain countries but this is for a domestic product and don't require such regulations.

Thanks.

P.S. I live in Canada if that helps.

 

[D.J.]

Hi,

If the electronic devise produces RF than you would obviously have to have it approved by the FCC.

I think anything that you make has to be approved and have the little sticker on it saying that it was test by so and so.

D.J.

 

[CoTang]

So that means I have to "pay" someone to tell me that my circuit works. So that I can sell it. Nice......

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If the electronic devise produces RF than you would obviously have to have it approved by the FCC.

But only for the USA - presumably Canada (like other countries) have their own agencies?.

Basically it's down to individual legislation in the country you're marketing the device in. Certainly in the past (and in the UK) you didn't require ANY official tests, but obviously devices had to be 'safe'. The actual tests were optional, and the BEAB (British Electrotechnical Approvals Board) could do testing for you, and allow you to use a BEAB label - note this was a VERY!! expensive procedure!. Not all manufacturers bothered though, for example Grundig used markings from the German equivalent of BEAB, and actually wouldn't have passed the BEAB tests.

If anything, legislation seems to have become more vague than it was?, the European CE mark is a complete laughing stock - it's self regulated, and Chinese manufacturers will mark their products with CE on request!, no thoughts of compliance required!.

 

[D.J.]

Forgot about him being in Canada.

I've heard that you have to have anything you build inspected, even if you build a porch off your house, if you want to do it right.

I may be wrong but I heard that products are inspected and test so that your product is garanteed to work and if the user gets hert, then it is their falt. Atleast that what I heard goes on where I live.

D.J.

 

[Optikon]

I was carious in regards to developing, producing and selling an electronic device that if the circuit has to be approved by someone or some company.

i.e. Say for example that I designed and tested a new type of alarm system. Do I have to get that designed checked and approved by a professional engineer? Lately i've been coming across people saying that anything you design that you want to market have to be looked at and approved by someone else that has some sort of ticket like PEGUS (sp?) or R.E.T.. I know for CSA or ULA or ATEX is required for certain countries but this is for a domestic product and don't require such regulations.

Thanks.

P.S. I live in Canada if that helps.

As far as I know, alot will depend on the nature of your product. As pointed out, if it is an RF device, it has to comply with the appropriate FCC rules (there is similar requirements in Canada) What qualifies as RF product? You might be suprised! You ought to look it up for Canada. But here in the US there are some parts of the FCC code that pretty much make a simple microcontroller with a clock fall under a regulated category.

If you will sell to Europe, think CE (and lead free too!)

In all cases, if it has a potential safety Hazard like:

1) high voltage (here in US & other contries low voltage directive applies. Ie.e 60VDC, 40RMS or lower is "low voltage") Low voltages are not an issue. Certainly mains voltages are a safety issue. If it plugs into the wall, I guarantee you will need some kind of safety approvals. This is one good reason to purchase things like power supplies that are already approved.

2) Does it/ can it get hot? is there a potential for fire / burning?

3) Does it plug into a phone line? In the US that's regulated by FCC as well. You can get into legal trouble by hanging non approved circuits on the phone lines.

It will need UL (cUL for Canada). UL (cUL & CSA) have standards that regulate all kinds of things for in home use. You ought to look at them to see what applies to your design. Even things like how it will screw into the wall or ceiling (or door) are srutinized. After all, if it is an insecure design, it may fall and hit someone or worse, it fails to perform the critical function of detecting.

Yes, unless you have a certified testing department in your company, you will need to hire a third party testing agency for approvals. With all the documentation required and testing, I would not expect to pay less than $5000 USD for a single product certification (cUL, CSA) There are lower cost field approvals but I dont think it applies to you.

Here is another thing to think about, Perhaps you will find that you "LEGALLY" are not required to certify the product. You will be making your liability situation alot worse than if you had a certified product.

Lets say, the alarm system is for burgler detection. Lets say your unnaproved design fails for some reason that is not operator misuse. Lets say someone is murdered. While your product is not ultimately responsible for the mishap, don't think that lawyers arent going to drag you and your unapproved product into court to try and spread the blame & cash in. You really just avoid this kind of scenario altogether and do as much as you can to prove that your product is safe, reliable and fit for home / business use.

 

[CoTang]

Wow, that a lot to consider. There are so many good points to this. I guess in the end its worth the money (or no someone who do it for free) to check over and approve it.

Thanks Everyone for your valuable input.

 

[stevez]

There's a lot more to this. The alarm example is likely to be governed by numerous codes, rules and regulations. The insurance underwriter may also want a say - local officials too. For many of these systems the products have to be "approved" but the designers and installers are required to be licensed to varying degrees.

As already suggested, it's quite complex and you need to have a good understanding of the specific product as well as the intended application.