Compliance Readiness That Starts at the Schematic
We help teams prepare for certification by designing with constraints in mind, building the documentation package, and coordinating test planning. The goal is predictable pass rates and fewer “panic” redesign loops. When regulatory compliance is treated as a design input rather than a gate at the end of the schedule, the path to market becomes shorter, cheaper, and far less stressful.
Most certification failures are traceable to decisions made months before the product reaches the test lab—an unfiltered switching regulator, an antenna ground plane that was never reviewed, or a creepage distance that was sacrificed for component density. Our role is to close those gaps early, track the documentation as the design evolves, and ensure that when the product enters formal testing, the outcome is a confirmation rather than a surprise.
Requirements & Standards Mapping
Every product has a unique regulatory profile determined by its function, target markets, operating environment, and whether it contains intentional radio transmitters. We begin each engagement by mapping the applicable standards—FCC Part 15 Subpart B or C, CE EMC Directive (EN 55032, EN 55035, EN 61000-4-x series), Low Voltage Directive (EN 62368-1), UL/CSA safety standards, and any industry-specific requirements such as IEC 60601 for medical devices or EN 50155 for railway equipment. The result is a compliance matrix that links each standard to specific design constraints: emissions limits, immunity levels, creepage and clearance distances, energy hazard thresholds, and marking requirements. This matrix becomes the reference document for every design review that follows.
Documentation Checklist
Certification bodies and test laboratories require specific documentation packages, and incomplete submissions are a common cause of delay. We build and maintain a living checklist tailored to your standards set: block diagrams, schematics, theory of operation, cable and port descriptions, internal photographs, external photographs, test configuration details, operating mode definitions, antenna specifications (for intentional radiators), safety-critical component lists with certification marks, and declarations of conformity. We track each document’s status—draft, under review, approved—and flag gaps before they become blockers. For CE marking, we prepare the full Technical Construction File. For FCC equipment authorization, we compile the application package including RF exposure evaluation, test setup photographs, and user manual extracts covering regulatory notices.
Lab Coordination Process
Accredited test laboratories operate on tight schedules, and poor preparation wastes expensive lab time. We coordinate the entire lab engagement: selecting an appropriate lab based on scope, accreditation, availability, and geographic convenience; defining the test plan in advance so the lab understands every operating mode and configuration; preparing samples with the correct firmware revision, cables, peripherals, and ancillary equipment; and providing a technical point of contact during the test session who can answer questions about device operation in real time. If pre-compliance screening has been performed, we share those results with the lab so they can focus attention on any marginal areas. The objective is a single, efficient lab visit that produces a clean report.
Design Fixes Loop
When pre-compliance screening or formal testing reveals a failure, the response must be targeted, efficient, and documented. We diagnose the root cause—whether it is conducted emissions from a switch-mode supply, radiated emissions from an unshielded clock trace, an ESD vulnerability on an unprotected interface, or a safety clearance violation—and specify the exact corrective action: a filter component addition, a ferrite bead on a specific net, a ground stitching via pattern, a shielding modification, or a PCB layout change. Each fix is verified through re-measurement before the product returns to the accredited lab. We document every change and its measured effect so that the compliance history of the product is traceable across revisions. The goal is to close the loop in one iteration, not to enter an open-ended cycle of test-fail-guess-retest.