Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance tests & quality assurance tests, & meets qualification criteria stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications (typically called "certification schemes" in the product certification industry).

Any consumer, be it a household consumer or an industrial consumer, would like to ensure that the products they are buying will meet the performance criteria & will be able to deliver desired results.

In order to ensure that the products what you manufacture is perceived & accepted by the client as good quality product, you need to certify your product.

There are various product certification schemes available in various countries depending on type of product, intended use & application.

The most popular product certifications are given below:

• CE Certification
• UL certification
• Q Mark Certification
• ISI certification
• SASO certification

CE Marking:

CE Marking is now mandatory for most products in the EU. So if you are exporting to the European Union, make sure your product is certified as CE under the appropriate directive.

Step 1 :

Identify the Directive/s that is/are applicable to your product. You can download these directives free of charge from the EU website: www.newapproach.org.

You may wish to demonstrate that your manufacturing &/or sales & distribution activities comply with best practice, therefore you may consider Certification to ISO9001:2008

Step 2 :

Identify the conformity assessment procedure that must be taken. This could be self-declaration, involve testing, inspection or quality system assessment from a Notified Body or a combination of these. The conformity assessment procedure will differ depending on your product & the Directive in respect of which you will be CE Marking.

Step 3 :

Determine the date by which you must take action. This will be the date that the Directive comes into force. The majority of Directives are already in force. In these cases, it is an offence to place a product on the market without CE Marking because it indicates a presumption of conformity with all relevant legislation.

Step 4 :

Identify if there are any Harmonized European Standards applicable to your product. These are not always mandatory for manufacturers although there is a presumption that conformity to these standards will give conformity to the relevant part of the Directive. Whenever possible or appropriate, manufacturers should follow harmonized standards.

Step 5 :

Ensure the product complies with all the essential requirements of the Directive(s). Take appropriate measures to comply or identify existing data & test reports.

Step 6 :

Identify whether independent assessment of your conformity to the Directive, or some aspects of it, is required from a Notified Body. This will be stated in the Directive & is dependent upon the product you are CE Marking. You must not affix CE Marking to your product until all necessary certifications have been obtained from the Notified Body.

Step 7 :

Maintain technical documentation required by the Directive(s). Your technical documentation should support your compliance with the requirements of the Directive. It is essential to retain this documentation.

Step 8 :

Prepare the Declaration of Conformity & the required supporting evidence. The Declaration of Conformity along with the Technical Documentation should be available to Competent Authorities (EU Members) upon request.

Step 9 :

Check that no other purely national requirements exist in the countries where the product will be sold. These may include national standards, labelling or packaging requirements.

Step 10 :

Affix CE Marking on your product &/or its packaging & accompanying literature as stated in the Directive.

UL Certification

One concern when buying modern machinery is the safety of the equipment. No one wants to buy a product that could malfunction & hurt the operator or someone nearby. Because of this concern various organizations have been created to verify the safety of products.

UL is one of the oldest testing agencies in the country & provides certification on the safety of products as well as their environmental claims.

Q MARK

Q-Mark is regarded as one of the most rigorous certification processes available for the installation & maintenance of construction products. Like other certification schemes, Q-Mark is recognised by controlling authorities, home warranty providers such as the NHBC (National House Building Council) & is used by world-class construction companies & manufacturers.

Q-Mark personnel certification is available for those who install or maintain windows & doors, through the following schemes:

• Q-Mark Fire Door Registered Installer Scheme
• Q-Mark Fire Door Maintenance Scheme
• Q-Mark Window & Doorset Survey & Installation Scheme

SASO

For all exports to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a Conformity Assessment Programme has been implemented. All products require a Certificate of Conformity also referred to as a SASO CoC to enable them to be cleared through Saudi Customs.

The process for certification of a product is generally summed up in four steps:

• Application (including testing of the product)
• Evaluation (does the test data indicate that the product meets qualification criteria)
• Decision (does a second review of the product application concur with the Evaluation)
• Surveillance (does the product in the marketplace continue to meet qualification criteria)

If you are looking at any kind of product certification in the Saudi Arabia, contact Infomatics Consultancy Company at info@iso-saudi.com to initiate a discussion with one of our product certification specialist.