Electromagnetic compatibility services

EMC testing measures the ability of equipment or systems to function satisfactorily in their electromagnetic environment without introducing intolerable electromagnetic disturbance to anything else in that environment. In practice it covers both emissions — what your product radiates or conducts — and immunity, or how well it withstands disturbance from other equipment.

EMC compliance is a mandatory requirement in most markets, including Europe, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. EMC testing is necessary to meet regulatory requirements, improve product performance and reduce the risk of costly non-compliance. Testing at an accredited third-party laboratory also strengthens your position with retailers and distributors who ask for evidence.

If it contains electronics, almost certainly. In Australia, EMC requirements arise under the ACMA's electromagnetic compatibility arrangements and are part of what the RCM declares. In the European Union the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU applies, or the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU if the product transmits. In the United States, FCC Part 15 applies to unintentional and intentional radiators; in Canada, ICES for interference-causing equipment and the RSS series for radio.

Partly, and this is where cost is won or lost. Emissions data is often largely reusable across markets because the underlying CISPR-based test methods are shared. Limits, frequency ranges, test configurations and RF exposure requirements differ, however — Canadian RF exposure requirements under RSS-102, for example, frequently do not transfer from FCC data. A properly written test plan sequences the testing so the shared work is done once and only the genuine deltas are repeated.