EMC Directive

The CE Marking Authority Compliance Management System defines the regulatory requirements, rules, and standards that apply to your product. Then executes the program which, generates the compliance report, producing detailed clause-by-clause assessments against the standards and reviewing supplier documentation.

We offer you flexible solutions for your business needs by supplying you with a test plan which can be conducted by you in-house, saving time and expense. Then we review the data or we can conduct the testing for you. Then finally, we supply you with a complete technical file that demonstrates compliance with the applicable legislation.

As part of the Compliance Management System, we monitor all the applicable regulations and standards and inform you when they are updated enabling you to manage your technical file effectively and giving you peace of mind.

The EMC directive first limits electromagnetic emissions of equipment in order to ensure that, when used as intended, such equipment does not disturb radio and telecommunication as well as other equipment. The directive also governs the immunity of such equipment to interference and seeks to ensure that this equipment is not disturbed by radio emissions when used as intended.

Definitions;

As “apparatus”, manufacturers shall understand any finished appliance or combination of finished appliances, thereof placed on the EU market as a single functional unit, intended for the end-user, and liable to generate a specific level of electromagnetic disturbance or the performance of which is liable to be affected by such a disturbance.

For instance, an apparatus can be:

• Plug-in cards for computers;
• Computer disk drives;
• Programmable logic controllers;
• Electric control or monitoring equipment;
• Power supply units if used as autonomous appliances or sold separately for installation by the end-user;
• Mobile installations;
• Others.

“Fixed installations” refers to a particular combination of several types of apparatus and, where applicable, other devices, which are assembled, installed, and intended to be used permanently at a predefined location. For instance, residential electrical installation, national electrical and telephone networks, industrial installations, and others. Within the scope of fixed installations are also included large machines as long as they can be defined as fixed installations.

For example, fixed installations could be, as follows:

• Industrial and power plants;
• Power supply networks;
• Telecommunication, cable TV and computer networks;
• Parcel handling installations;
• Automatic warehouses;
• Wind turbine stations;
• Water pumping stations;
• Air conditioning installations, and many more.

Scope of Directive

The EMC Directive sets out mandatory essential requirements that all equipment within its scope needs to comply with. These essential requirements don’t specify in detail the technical specifications but define the results that need to be attained. Moreover, they allow the product design of the equipment to be adapted to technological progress. The essential requirements are legally binding for all equipment within the scope of the Directive and allow only compliant equipment to be placed on the EU market.

The essential requirements are split into two parts:

1. General requirements for all equipment – All electrical equipment, when designed, manufactured, and placed on the EU market, must comply with the following criteria:

• The electromagnetic disturbance generated when specific equipment is utilised must not exceed the level allowing the normal functioning of radio or another type of equipment;
• The equipment has an adequate level of immunity to electromagnetic disturbance, and it can operate without unacceptable degradation of its intended use;
• The equipment shall be designed and manufactured with regard to the state of the art.

2. Specific requirements for fixed installations:

• Application of good engineering practice;
• All documents required in case of inspection should be kept safely by a responsible person;
• Respecting the information on the intended use of all of its components.

The EMC Directive sets out obligations to manufacturers of electrical equipment (apparatus or fixed installations) in regards to the necessary conformity procedures for placing a product on the EU market. The EMC Directive states expressly that it is no longer sufficient the electromagnetic compatibility of equipment to be verified only by test reports containing EMC test data or on the basis of expert analysis. Now, the electromagnetic compatibility of an apparatus or fixed installations has to be confirmed by appropriate risk analysis and assessment. Both, the adequate analysis and evaluation of the risk, shall be included in the technical documentation of the product.

Types of conformity assessment procedures

The EMC Directive 2014/30/EU sets out the following conformity assessment procedures for apparatus and fixed installations:

A. Internal production control:

• Evaluation of the electromagnetic compatibility of the equipment on the basis of the relevant phenomena, with the aim of meeting the essential general requirements
• Creation of a technical file that shall contain the following information (see an example of a Technical file)
• The manufacturing of the product shall be in accordance to the product’s technical documentation and the essential requirements of the Directive.
• Every individual product that complies with the EMC’s requirements must have affixed the CE mark on it (learn more about the CE mark itself).
• Creation of a Declaration of Conformity (see an example of a Declaration of Conformity).

B. An EU-type examination that is followed by Conformity to type based on internal production control.

a) EU-type examination refers to the assessment phase when a notified body needs to examine the technical design of equipment and verify and attest that the same meets the essential requirements of the EMC Directive. Consequently, the notified body must issue an EU-type examination certificate to the manufacturer. A copy of the certificate, along with any annexes, additions, and the product’s technical documentation, shall be at the disposal of the respective national authorities for ten years after the product’s introduction to the market.

b) Compliance to type based on internal production control refers to the assessment phase where the manufacturer fulfills the following obligations:
• Manufacturing of the product according to the essential requirements of EMC Directive 2014/30/EU and the product’s technical file
• Affixing the CE mark on every individual product that complies with the EMC’s essential requirements (learn more about the CE mark itself).
• Creation of a Declaration of Conformity for certifying the CE compliance of the equipment (see an example of a Declaration of Conformity).

Both procedures mentioned above are not mandatory in cases when the apparatus is intended for integration into a particular fixed installation and is otherwise not made available on the market.