What Product Compliance actually means — and why it's not optional

If you design, manufacture, or sell a physical product, "compliance" isn't a single checkbox — it's a set of legal requirements that differ by country, by product type, and by what your product does. Get it wrong, and the consequences range from a blocked shipment at customs to a full product recall.

Product Compliance - Overview

Product Safety Construction and design requirements meant to prevent physical harm — electric shock, fire, mechanical injury — plus the testing needed to prove your product meets those requirements before it reaches a customer.

EMC & Radio If your product uses electricity or wireless communication, it has to avoid interfering with other devices (EMC) and, if it transmits a signal, it needs radio-specific certification (FCC, CE RED, Japan's Radio Law, etc.).

Chemical & Environmental Restrictions on hazardous substances in your product's materials — RoHS and REACH in the EU, Prop 65 in California, and similar rules in other markets — plus environmental requirements like WEEE (product take-back/recycling) in Europe.

Other Requirements Depending on your product and market, this can include cybersecurity requirements for connected devices (a fast-growing area, especially in the EU), labeling and documentation rules, and packaging requirements.

Most products touch more than one of these at once. And every country approaches each of these categories slightly differently, so knowing the requirements by country is critical.

Services

Product Compliance Management

Create or Review Processes & Documents; Organize Technical File; Perform Risk Assessments

Concierge Service

Full Product Compliance Support - from Concept Through Certification & Launch

Training

Virtual or In-House Training

Product Safety Explained Book - Now Available

What every engineer wishes someone had explained before the first failed test - an in depth guide of product safety.

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PCE Blog Posts

What is "Production Testing" for Product Safety?

Let's say you have a product that requires a product safety evaluation & approval, and you have gotten the product certified - congrats! Are you done? Not exactly... If your product has a safety approval for North America (often called an "NRTL approval" - i.e. cULus, cETLus, etc) then there are requirements for ongoing safety testing on the production line. In this article, we'll review what those tests are, and what will be checked during factory inspections. If you want to

Kevin Eldridge

Product Compliance - Strategies to Avoid Failing Testing

Have you ever submitted a product for safety or EMC testing, only to get the call or email that your product failed? In this article, we'll cover some helpful tools to avoid failing product compliance at the lab and gain confidence in what is often called "Pre-compliance testing" so that you can feel confident when submitted to the lab for testing. Here are the main areas that will help avoid failures when submitting a product for compliance testing: Compliance Plan Markings