Australia RCM Sign in

Australian RCM registration
The latest certification requirements for Australian RCM certification
1. The new law came into force on March 1, 2013.

2. SAA certification and C-Tick certification will be phased out and replaced by RCM certification, which covers safety and EMC (C-TICK may still apply to some small power wireless products).

3. All electronic products will be divided into three categories: High, medium and low Risk. We do not have detailed information on the division of the range, in general, battery drive and voltage below 12V products are low risk, 240V standard voltage products are medium risk, high voltage products are high risk. The buffer period for low-risk products is 6 months, and the buffer period for medium-high risk products is 3 years (this period is recommended by the relevant association in Australia, but the specific law has not been finalized by the government).

4. 4.RCM certification can only be applied for by a local Australian company, which must apply for an RCM number from the Australian Government. Chinese producers and exporters can apply for IEC or AS/NZS reports in their own name, but the reports must be submitted to Australian importers for RCM applications. The registration fee is AUD 75 per product per trademark per year (for example, A company in Australia has two trademarks: A and B, he imports exactly the same batch of products from China, half marked with the trademark A, and one marked with the trademark B, which means that he must pay AUD 150 per year registration fee).

5. According to the expert, as the importer will bear the risk of product failure (the responsible party), and non-Australian companies cannot directly apply for RCM certification. It is expected that more and more small Australian companies will change the practice of producing reports and applying for SAAs at the expense of Chinese production plants in order to reduce costs. They will tend to designate laboratories with certain ability and reputation, provide insurance reports and test data, and then they will apply for Australian RCM certification.

6. In theory, an Australian laboratory can also act as an applicant to help a company obtain RCM certification. However, according to the expert's opinion, due to the large legal responsibility, it is estimated that most Australian laboratories will not take the initiative to take this risk, and even if they do, the relevant costs may be relatively high.

7. Australia and New Zealand are introducing the RCM mark to achieve uniform identification of electrical products, which is a trademark owned by the regulatory authorities in Australia and New Zealand, indicating that the product meets both safety and EMC requirements, and is non-mandatory.

RCM mark

RCM= Safety + EMC + Importer Declaration

1. Safety (Product safety certification) :

Product safety certification consists of two parts: electrical products are divided into regulated electrical (prescribed product) and non-regulated product (Non-prescribed product).

Regulated electrical products are classified according to AS/NZS4417.2, including electric heating equipment, refrigeration equipment, power tools, spare parts, etc. Three of the issuers, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, are the most active in the certification process. Controlled electrical appliances must be mandatory to obtain a Certificate of Approval issued by the monitoring department, and require identification (must be marked by Shanghai book number). The first letter of the certificate number indicates which state or territory issued the certificate. Such as:

a) Q04051 (Queensland) -- Q Number

b) W2015 (Western Australia) -- W Number

c) V03101 (Victoria) -- ESV Certificate V Number

d) NSW18099 (New South Wales) -- DOFT Certificate NSW Number

Non-regulated electrical appliances can be sold directly without certification, However, the manufacturer must ensure that the Electrical Safety of the product complies with the Australian standard AS/NZS3820:1998 (Essential Safety Requirements for Low Voltage Electrical Equipment); The monitoring department will issue a Certificate of Suitability for products that meet the requirements of the standard. Electrical products that have obtained a certificate of conformity can be marked with a Shanghai book number, and the letter at the end of the certificate indicates which state or region issued the certificate, such as:

a) CS/431/Q (Queensland)

b) CS/108/NSW (New South Wales)

2.EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility)

Australia's EMC Compliance program was developed under the Radio Communications ACT 1992 and covers a wide range of products. Including motor driven and heating electrical products, power tools and similar products, lights and similar equipment, television receivers and audio equipment, information technology products, industrial science and medical equipment, ignition engines and arc welding equipment. The program divides products into three categories according to the risk of electromagnetic interference, and the second and third categories must bear a C-Tick mark. However, no matter which category the product belongs to, it must meet the relevant EMC standards.

Category 1 Products: Products that have only a slight impact on devices using the wireless spectrum, such as manual switches, simple relays, brushless squirrel cage induction motors, AC power supplies/power transformers, resistors, etc. The C-Tick label can be applied for voluntarily during the production and sale of such products.

Category Two products: Products that have a significant impact on devices that use the wireless spectrum, Such as microprocessors or clocked digital devices, rectifiers or slip-ring motors, arc welding equipment, switched power supplies, photometric regulators and motor speed controllers, telecommunications terminal equipment in the Information Technology (CISPR 22) category (changed from Category 3 to Category 2 with effect from 7 November 2003).

Category 3 Products: Products that have a serious impact on devices that use the wireless spectrum, such as Industrial, scientific and medical instruments Group 2 (CISPR11).

RCM application matters

(1) If the product has CB and country differences, you can directly transfer the Safety Certificate. With the EMC part, you can let the agent help out with the declaration. The product can be sold in Australia and marked with the RCM Mark.

(2) Safety Certificate: When applying for the safety part, if the product is a direct plug in, AU Plug Test (Test Standard: AS/NZS 3112: 2004), if the product is Desktop, you do not need to do this test.

EMC Report: It can be a C-Tick Report (Test Standard: AS/NZS CISPR 22:2002) or a CE EMC Report.

Where is RCM certification applicable?

Australia Nauru Fiji Solomon Islands Kiribati

Federated States of Micronesia Tuvalu New Zealand Tonga Marshall Islands Vanu Papua New Guinea Samoa

What is the RCM certification application process?

1.ALPHA Laboratory evaluates products and determines the test standards to be performed;

2. In case of non-conformity in the test, the manufacturer will make corrections to the product to meet and meet the requirements of the Australian standard;

3. Pass the test and issue the test report;

4. Submit the test report to the certification authority in Australia for document review;

5. Australia approved and issued RCM certificate;

6. The customer can complete the registration of the Australian website by himself or by ALPHA;

What are the considerations of RCM?

1. The RCM logo needs to be added uniformly on the product at that time. Note that this requirement is announced by Australia on April 19, 2013

2. When the in-line adapter is RCM safety certification, random plug test should be done

3. Lamp products: such as T8 LED lamp, fluorescent lamp because the user can directly replace, the safety risk is greater, need to send samples to Australia for evaluation

4. The time varies with different issuing agencies