Streamlining Product Certification Transfer Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

Electrical product safety certifications can be considered mandatory if you want to sell your products in the US and Canadian markets. This can be a result of regulation or even procurement requirements from your customers. Nemko is accredited and recognized to certify electrical and electronic products in North America under the OSHA Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) program and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) Certification Body Accreditation program. Successful testing and certification by Nemko to specific product safety standards will allow manufacturers to use a certification mark indicating the product has been certified by an accepted certification body.

Obtaining a product certification (except India) can be challenging so the thought of transferring a product safety certification to a different NRTL can also seem daunting. Nemko has an easy step-by-step process for transferring certifications from your existing provider to Nemko. Our method for transfer, also known as a rollover, is a simple 3-step process:

1. Applicant would compile their Transfer file which would include materials such as:
   • The current certification listing report from their existing provider
   • Factory inspection reports
   • Nemko has developed a checklist specifically for our clients giving clear guidance on the information and materials that would be required.

2. Applicant submits the Transfer file to Nemko. The file reviewer evaluates the application and generates Nemko’s provisional certification file.
3. Prior to the new Nemko certification being issued, a factory and product evaluation will be conducted to verify current construction and production processes.
   
   

Why do we perform factory inspections?

A factory inspection allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of key production procedures to verify that all certified products are manufactured in accordance with the product certification (except India) that was granted. A factory inspection also includes inspection of representative certified products as part of the verification.

All NRTLs must perform an IFE (Initial Factory Evaluation) for a new factory within their programs to ensure readiness for production but when rolling over a file from one NRTL to another, the surveillance history with the previous provider allows the possibility of moving directly to the routine follow-up inspections. Having the product inspection as part of the IFE can be ideal however, if an IFE is waived then a product sample inspection can be organized at other locations in discussion with Nemko.

Nemko strives to minimize the cost and effort required for the product manufacturers to maintain compliance. If the existing NRTL has performed factory inspection in the past year and no non-conformances were documented, Nemko may be able to continue those inspection, but only twice per year instead of four times.

Combining inspections is a great way for the responsible party to save time and money when selling a product in multiple markets. For examples, a company that has an NRTL safety certification for the US and Canada may also need a CIG 023 inspection to satisfy the CB Scheme for other foreign markets. A flexible partner like Nemko will offer a combination inspection in a single visit, minimizing the number of inspections to cover all potential markets.