Will it pass the compliance test?
Find out on my bench what the test lab will find on theirs, before you pay for the lab. For DC-powered and 24 V AC/DC industrial, marine and vehicle products heading for RCM or CE. Pre-scan and report AUD 3,500; with fixes and compliance folder AUD 6,500.
Where you are
Your product is nearly done and it has to carry the RCM mark (or CE, or both) before it can be sold. The lab has quoted a day. Test labs commonly report that around half of the products they see fail the first time — Intertek’s long-quoted figure, and the lab data Henry Ott cites — and a failed run costs the lab day, a respin and a month you didn’t have; in my experience AUD 5,000–25,000. Most of those failures are visible on a bench a week earlier.
This is for DC-powered and 24 V AC/DC products: controllers, sensor nodes, motor drives, radios, meters — the kind that live in switchboards, engine spaces, dashboards and ceilings.
Two levels
| Pre-scan and report | Pre-scan, fixes and compliance folder | |
|---|---|---|
| Conducted-emissions pre-scan (LISN and spectrum analyser) — this comes out close to lab numbers | Yes | Yes |
| Radiated pre-scan: near-field probes to find and rank what’s emitting [plus your antenna / TEM-cell setup if you have one] | Yes | Yes |
| Written report: what’s emitting, where from, an estimate of margin for conducted, a ranked list for radiated | Yes | Yes |
| Recommended fixes, ranked by cost | Yes | Yes |
| Implement fixes on your prototype (filtering, grounding, layout notes for the respin) and re-scan | — | Yes |
| Compliance-folder skeleton — what ACMA calls the compliance records: standards applied, test plan, Declaration of Conformity template, what the lab needs from you (a CE technical file too if you’re going that way) | — | Yes |
| Which lab, which standards, what to bring | — | Yes |
| Price | AUD 3,500 | AUD 6,500 |
A bench is not a 3-metre chamber. That’s why the report estimates margin and ranks fixes rather than promising a number, and why the second level exists: fix the things the bench can see, then walk into the lab knowing what to expect.
What I need from you
- Two working units and the schematic. Layout files help.
- Where it’s going (switchboard, engine space, mast, ceiling) and how it’s powered and cabled in service.
- Any previous test reports — especially failed ones.
What’s not included
- The accredited lab test itself, or registering as the responsible supplier on the national database (the EESS Platform — “ACMA only” registration is free and takes minutes). That registration must be done by the Australian supplier, i.e. you, not by me and not by the lab. I’ll tell you exactly what to do.
- Mains-powered (230 V) products, or radio modules without an existing FCC/ISED modular grant or RED/ACMA test evidence to lean on. Ask; sometimes it’s still a fit.
- A guarantee of a pass. What you get is the list of what would have failed, a week before it costs you a lab day.
How it works
Intake form → scope and 50% deposit → units arrive → bench work → report (and, at the second level, fixes and folder) → 30-minute call → balance on delivery.