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 client show 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.

Back to
the Conformance CE marking contents page

Last updated: 29 March 2000