All You Need To Know As You Prepare For Your Company’s Conformity Assessment By EIAC Marketing

Conformity Assessment, CA is an activity where it is determined if the systems, product or processes meet the requirements mentioned in a specification. If the CA is done to a product in your company then the process involves inspection and testing, so that it meets the performance standard, surveillance, quality management, accreditation and declaration of conformity. Any company that is preparing for CA should know the following:

Conformity Assessment Body

One of the foremost things a company has to do to get CA is to find a conformity assessment body. The organization that you hire for evaluation should have accreditation. It is a recognition that is provided to the assessment body to confirm, that it can carry out the verification and validation services as per the technical standards and regulations in the scope of the accreditation. When an assessment body is accredited it is proof for the companies that it is a competent evaluator and the certificate provided is valid and accepted in the market and in the supply chain.

Conformity Mark

Certain markets demand that the products have a Conformity mark before it is sold in the market. CE is one such mark and it shows that the product meets the health, safety and environment requirements. It is also an indication that the product is compliant to specific legislations and that helps in selling in many global markets. Note that not all products mush have CE marking only those that have special directives should mandatorily have it. As a product manufacturing company, it is your responsibility to carry out the assessment, get the declaration of Conformity and then apply CE marking on it. Interestingly, up to 90% of the time self-certification for CE marking for products is allowed by CE marking regulations.

Conformity Certificates

In countries like UAE, all imported goods should have a Certificate of Conformity that is in compliance with the Emirates Authority for Standardization And Metrology, ESMA. It is the body that provides the Emirates Quality Of Mark for the product that meets the UAE standards. So if your company is planning to export goods to UAE they must obtain a certificate from an authorized representative, that it is eligible for providing conformity certificates.

Approved Code Or Practice

Regulations are in place for the safe use of work equipment and as part of it, there is a set of ACOPs that comes with guidelines to help comply with that law. A company can be held liable for breach if it is not followed and these ACOPs have a special legal status too and can be tried in the country’s court of law.

The conformity Assessment Procedure

A self-declaration of conformity is the most common approach by manufacturers. But when they want to test their products against the international standards or want it to be labeled as a quality product by an accredited third-party. The manufacturers will then have to provide information in the packaging and in advertising as required by the standard adopted. In some cases, a written declaration of conformity will have to be produced.

A company goes for a conformity assessment from a certification body as self-declaration does not meet the regulatory requirements and also does not meet the market demand. The accredited certifier will then conduct tests on the product to asses if it meets the performance standard. Additional evaluations on the company’s quality management systems will be done to make sure the production is done as per the standard specifications. When all the requirements are met, the accredited assessment body will grant the use of the certification marks like the CE mark on the products. The next step is the creation of a technical document that has all the labeling requirements. A declaration of conformity is maintained which states that the goods conform to the specified requirements.

Conformity assessment informs your clients that the company is a quality organization and is dedicated to best practices and excellence.

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