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The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and lifting accessories
The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, broadly, is applicable to machinery, defined in Article 2 (a) as an assembly fitted or intended to be fitted with a drive assembly to perform a function. The power,...
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UL 94 testing
UL 94 is a standard that measures, in a laboratory setting, the burn characteristics of plastic materials. The title of the standard itself is pretty descriptive: UL Standard for Safety for Tests for...
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Lasers, IEC/EN 60825-1, the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU, and the General...
Laser devices sent to Europe are subject to specific safety requirements. Some of these requirements are applicable even if the rest of the device is seemingly innocuous. To start with, we will...
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Repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the Medical Device Tax
Yesterday afternoon, March 6th, the House Republicans released the bill to repeal (most of) the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Since F2 Labs is a safety compliance laboratory, helping...
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CE marking and the Technical File
Manufacturers who send equipment into the EU are required to send a CE compliant product in most cases. This means that if you are making an electromechanical device, chances are that you will need to...
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The EU declaration of conformity
A frequent source of confusion for exporters of products to the EU is the EU declaration of conformity. Many customers that we assist are vaguely familiar with the concept and the role of the “DoC”....
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CE marking and the ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU
Many times, we receive a request for assistance from a customer for a project that involves, “CE marking and ATEX.” While there is nothing wrong with calling ATEX out separately from other CE marking...
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Safety Components and the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
From time to time we are presented with a device that seemingly “fits” into the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU because it only has electric function and no moving components. This would lead most to...
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RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU – Article 4 (3) – expired
The RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, Article 4 (3) exclusion for industrial monitoring and control instruments expired on Saturday, July 22, 2017. That exclusion was used by quite a few manufacturers to...
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Net Neutrality, what is it?
I have been hearing a lot about “net neutrality” lately but I did not really know what it means, probably the same as most people, so I decided to find out. Read on. Basically, net neutrality means...
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ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU and the ATEX Directive 99/92/EC
The ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU applies to equipment used in mines and potentially explosive atmospheres. It is very common for the sales staff at F2 Labs to receive a request for technical assistance...
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Guide to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Edition 2.1 –...
The Guide to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Edition 2.1, was published by the EC Commission in July. The link to the document is here. Be advised that is a direct download link....
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Safety Fences and the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
While reading the new Guide to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Edition 2.1, I was interested to see that the last sentence in section 42, dealing with Safety Components and their...
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RoHS 2011/65/EU, EN 50581:2012, and clause 4.3.3.
Manufacturers that send equipment to the EU with a CE marking must understand that a CE marking is a blanket claim by the manufacturer. The claim is that the equipment complies with any applicable CE...
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Aerosol Dispensers Directive 75/324/EEC
The Aerosol Dispensers Directive 75/324/EEC, also called the ADD 75/324/EEC is one of Europe’s oldest Directives. Although it has never been replaced like, for instance, the Low Voltage Directive...
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FCC – New Labeling and Manual Requirements
The FCC released new guidance and procedures for manufacturers to show compliance with FCC regulations in June 2017. Some of the changes are in the labeling requirements and, notably, the allowance for...
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RoHS 2011/65/EU and Machinery
F2 Labs assists many manufacturers, internationally, with CE marking requirements. Regarding CE marking, primarily we test and evaluate electro-mechanical equipment for compliance with electrical...
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Directive (EU) 2017/2102 and RoHS 2011/65/EU
The RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU was amended in November 2017 by Directive (EU) 2017/2102 with some administrative clarifications. I found one item particularly interesting: Recital (2): (2) Secondary...
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CE marking Onsite Consulting and Training
F2 Labs is able to send a CE marking expert to your facility to provide overview training to your business – sales and engineering. We can quickly dig into the Directives that apply to your specific...
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Partly completed machinery and the requirement for Assembly Instructions
Manufacturers who build parts of machines or incomplete machinery (for example: no controls) must be aware that their equipment must not carry a CE marking and must follow a separate compliance path in...
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