Information required for quotations

The specifics of the application of the CE mark directives to any product are dependent on a large number of factors. Whether or not the product falls within the scope of a particular Directive can be dependent simply on the contents of the manufacturer's sales literature or user instructions.

Because of this it's impossible to publish a priced 'menu' for our services. Each project is unique and before we can tell potential clients how much it is going to cost to help them, we need to know quite a lot about the product and the company which makes it.

Usually projects are commenced by Conformance issuing detailed quotation. This way the client knows exactly what they are getting involved in before spending any money and we can offer some basic information without it having to be so general as to be almost useless.

A list of the information which we need in order to be able to provide a quotation is below. If you'd like a quotation from us for your CE marking project, please use this list to provide us with the information we need.

If you don't have answers to all the questions, don't worry - just tell us what you can and if we need more information we'll ask for it. If you don't want to send a complete copy of (for instance) a bulky operator's manual, just send us the contents page and we'll ask for the other parts if we need them.

Information we need typically includes:

• Name and address of manufacturer and of the company which will be responsible for importing the product into the EU;
• Product description (dimensions, weight, power supply requirements etc.);
• Details of any additional supplies required (feed stock material, water supply, air/gas supply etc.);
• Copy of sales literature;
• Block diagram and explanation of principles of operation;
• Details of intended use (i.e. what the machine is to be used for);
• Copy of operator's manual/user instructions;
• Copy of installation and maintenance instructions;
• Details of the sort of people who will be using it (skilled staff, line operators, researchers, students, etc.);
• Scale of production (is this equipment a one-off, or is it produced in volume? If produced in volume give approximate numbers per year);
• Parts list, including details of any subassemblies purchased from external suppliers and any approvals these have got;
• Countries where the product is to be sold;
• Approximate time scale for completing CE marking (when are you expecting to ship the product);
• Is the product or something similar to it already on sale outside the EU, and if so how long has it been sold for and how many units have been sold?
• Is the unit itself or something similar already on sale in the EU?
• Is the unit made by you, or is it made by another company and you are responsible for selling it inside the EU?
• Does it have any existing safety approvals (e.g. UL for the USA)?
• Do you have full component drawings for the product?
• Does it contain any digital circuitry (e.g. a microprocessor controller) and if so, what clock frequencies are used?
• Do you have any EMC test data for the unit?
• Do you (or the manufacturer) have an approved quality management system, and if so by whom has it been approved and to what standard?

A note about confidentiality:

As a matter of policy we never pass information between different clients (or potential clients) without the agreement of the parties concerned. We don't even publish a list of clients - if you want references from people with whom we've worked before, we'll be happy to provide them, but we will check with the referees before we release their details. If necessary, we are usually happy to sign a confidentiality agreement in advance of receiving the information required in order to prepare a quote and for a small charge we can provide the text of a suitable agreement for clients who don't already have their own.