Can the CB scheme help your wireless product to market?

CB or not CB: that is the question. When you have worked in the telecoms and electronics approvals industry for many years, I think you tend to forget that to some people the compliance and approvals process can appear to be very complex. That's usually because it can be!

Take the manufacturer of a Bluetooth or ZigBee product. These radio modules are now incorporated into thousands of different product types, with a truly global market reach. So when it comes to compliance testing, the manufacturer usually knows that it needs to go through EMC and radio testing, but the safety aspect of the testing can often be overlooked; and when it comes to marketing the product in various countries around the world the proverbial brick wall can be encountered. This can be particularly frustrating as many different countries around the world have varying requirements for the safety testing of products which are to be allowed in their territory.

However, all is not lost!

Enter the "IECEE CB Scheme" for safety. The IECEE CB Scheme is an international system which applies to the safety of electrical and electronic products so that they can be readily accepted in international markets. It is essentially a Passport for safety compliance, and can be used in support of applications for National Marks such as UL or CSA. It provides an excellent conformity assessment platform for manufacturers wanting to trade in global markets and whose products need to demonstrate third party conformity to relevant standards. It consists of 54 member bodies whose aim is to promote mutual recognition of the testing process. It is also possible for some countries which are not part of the CB scheme to accept CB certified reports as a demonstration of compliance.

So how does it

work? Well we mentioned earlier that many different countries have varying requirements; well that is also true of the countries participating in the CB scheme, but fortunately they have agreed on a common framework. Let's look at an example as a way of explanation:

Consider a ZigBee product manufacturer who has an In Home Display (IHD) device displaying information from a smart meter, which he wishes to market in Argentina, Singapore, South Africa, Malaysia and Taiwan. The product is simply presented to a CB recognised Test Laboratory (CBTL) who will perform "base" testing to a common standard, IEC 60950-1. Then additional testing is performed which covers the additional test requirements for each of the countries required. A test report is produced which is then sent to a National certification Body (NCB) for review (An NCB is a body authorised to assess and certify CB test reports - of which TRaC is one), after which a "CB certificate" is issued. This test report can then be presented, as part of the regulatory process, to the regulatory authorities of the target territory in which the manufacturer wishes to market his product. Countries such as Malaysia, which are part of the CB scheme, will accept the report and certificate in its entirety. Even countries which are not part of the CB scheme (eg. Taiwan) will accept the report as part of their approvals process.

Some certification marks may require a small amount of additional testing dependent on the product type, as in this case of an IHD device; however a safety approvals expert should always be consulted when planning the compliance program to ensure efficient and cost effective access to market.

The beauty of the CB process is that it is scalable. Imagine our manufacturer wishes to add a further country after he has performed this initial testing, say 6 months after the original test. Because he has entered the CB scheme he can simply have the CBTL perform further testing which covers the variants for that country, then have this testing reviewed by the NCB and then have the CB certificate updated. This is particularly beneficial for ongoing compliance of a developing product; if there is an update or a variant of a previously tested product, the initial testing can be re-visited and partial testing performed only on the update. This again saves valuable resource and expedites time to market.

This versatility can also be applied to a manufacturer who has no idea which countries he is yet to market his product in. He may wish to start his marketing campaign in his own (national) country, so a suitable process would be to have testing performed by the CBTL to IEC 60950-1, perform the additional testing to satisfy his national requirements (if needed), and then acquire his CB certificate. He then he has a good foundation on which to build should he wish to expand his market reach at a later date.

Conversely, it is worth noting the potential consequences of not going through the CB route. Let's take again our conscientious manufacturer of ZigBee IHD. For examples sake; he is UK based and has performed his testing to EN 60950-1 (not IEC 60950-1 which has a number of differences). He is OK for the EU, but should he wish to market his product farther afield (we initially said Argentina, Singapore, South Africa, Malaysia and Taiwan), then he will have to start from scratch, which is inevitably going to cost more money for the testing and of course is going to be time consuming, which could obviously have an effect of the product timeline.

Although our examples above reference IEC 60950-1, there are many other standards in the CB scheme which can be applied; for example products such as audio/visual or household equipment.

So, the question was CB or not CB? (Yes I know it's corny, but I can resist it)

The choice is up to the manufacturer, but if there is even the slightest chance that the target market for a product could expand, then the CB route for safety compliance should seriously be considered, because spending maybe an extra £1000 pounds at this stage could save you many thousands later on, ...so really it's "YES CB"!!

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