Blog
OSHA Close to Authorizing NRTL Certification to ANSI/AAMI ES60601-1 for Medical Equipment
After a long wait, medical electrical equipment manufacturers are looking forward to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) expected near-term recognition of one or more labs – including MET Labs – for product safety certifying medical devices to ANSI/AAMI ES60601-1:2005/(R)2012 under the U.S. Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) Program. In March 2014, OSHA announced... Read More
FCC Part 15 DFS Testing Requirements Change for U-NII Devices
To accommodate changes in the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Docket 13-49, the Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) test procedure document KDB 905462 D02 UNII DFS Compliance Procedures New Rules has been issued. The document describes the compliance measurement procedures for performing DFS tests under FCC Part 15 Subpart E Rules required for U-NII (Unlicensed –National Information... Read More
ENERGY STAR Certification of Set-Top Boxes Now to Version 4.1
As of August 1, 2014, EPA ENERGY STAR Certification Bodies – including MET Labs – are only certifying set-top boxes (STBs) and cable boxes to the new Version 4.1 specification. No new certifications to Version 3.0 are allowable, although existing Version 3.0 certifications will remain valid for the purposes of ENERGY STAR qualification until December... Read More
FCC Issues Guidance on New E-Labeling
On July 11, 2014, the FCC’s Office of Engineering & Technology (OET) released new guidance giving some consumer electronics manufacturers more flexibility in digitally labeling (e-labeling) their products. The guidance advises that all devices with an integral (non-removable) screen can now display that label digitally on that screen, and up to three steps deep into... Read More
Some Electronic Devices Are Exempt from FCC EMC Testing
Most electronic devices destined for sale in the U.S. fall under Part 15 (CFR 47) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules for limits to the unintentional and intentional emission of radiation. However, there are some exemptions that you may be able to take advantage of, depending on the nature of your product. You can... Read More
MIL-STD-810G Change Notice 1 Incorporates Many Climatic & Dynamic Updates
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently issued Change Notice 1 to MIL-STD-810G, Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests. This change notice incorporates more changes – climatic and dynamic – than any previous revision of -810. A PDF of Notice 1 is available here. It’s a bulging 1,058 pages, over 280 pages more than the... Read More
European Commission Considering eCompliance System
The European Commission is contemplating developing an “eCompliance System” and has published a “Preliminary Reflections on eCompliance” paper on how it would work. Following is a summary of this report that was distributed at the May 2014 meeting of the Group of Notified Bodies under the EMC Directive (EUANB) in Amsterdam. As products become more... Read More
Radio Equipment Directive (RED) Replacing R&TTE Directive, is Published in OJ
The Radio Equipment Directive (RED) – 2014/53/EU – has been published in the Official Journal. This Directive is replacing the RTTE Directive (1999/5/EC). You can read more about the changes in the new RED in a previous Compliance Today post. Timetable May 22, 2014 – Publication in OJ June 12, 2014 – Entry in force... Read More
IEC 60601-1-2 4th Edition for Medical EMC Has Immunity & Risk Management Changes
In February 2014, the IEC published IEC 60601-1-2:2014, ed 4.0 for Medical EMC. There are a number of changes in the 4th edition, including new immunity and risk analysis requirements. Dates For new products in the U.S., the FDA will make a decision on the 4th edition this July, with a likely 3-year transition period... Read More
No Standard? No Problem. Custom Test Plans Measure Reliability, Accuracy & Efficiency
Most electrical product testing is to a published standard, but not always. MET Labs has a rich history of developing custom test plans that meet manufacturers’ specific needs. One reason for developing a custom test plan is to check equipment performance against marketing claims made by the equipment manufacturer, or to check the performance of... Read More
