Do you wonder what standards your products need to comply with? Do you have no time to look for the information?

You can request quotations from testing laboratories you’ll find on Google, however, there are 6 common sources of frustration for buyers that we see coming from labs:

1. Different interpretations of what’s required from each lab.

Ask three testing houses and you might get 3 different lists of applicable tests since each one interprets regulations in its own way.

2. The labs may not take the time to ask certain questions.

They tend to remain on the “safe side” and assume that you are selling your product in a way that calls for mandatory tests. In some cases, you may want to override that and get to some ‘important but voluntary’ tests only once your order quantity picks up.

3. Ignoring important elements which can decrease risk.

In some cases, important elements that could be taken into consideration (e.g. certifications of certain materials, the fact that a key component comes from an international manufacturer…) are ignored. However, a test plan should be guided both by applicable requirements and a risk analysis.

Conversely, sometimes they assume the risk is low and they don’t suggest certain tests (a typical example is RoHS, which is not always tested but really should be tested in some circumstances).

4. Testing every single SKU, or every single substance, to max out costs.

If your order includes several SKUs that are different but share some materials and/or colors, setting up a ‘reasonable’ testing plan (rather than testing every single SKU fully) can often cut costs by more than half while keeping risks down.

Similarly, testing for high-risk substances usually makes more sense than testing all the components.

5. Forgetting critical standards for products in more than one category.

If your product is out of the ordinary or is across 2 sensitive categories (e.g. food contact and for children), they might forget some critical standards. This is a common issue due to the way they manage their databases.

6. They assume all needs to be tested in their own labs.

Many laws/regulations call for testing and collecting data from those tests but don’t mention that a third-party lab, let alone an accredited one, needs to be used.

In some cases, getting a test report from your supplier might be sufficient. Or using a cheaper, even unaccredited, lab. But, if you ask a testing house for a quotation, of course, they will quote for handling all the tests themselves.

Confused? Don’t be! We help you manage that entire process if the multitude of options is too much to handle.

Sofeast has a broad experience of working on testing/certifications of new products. Reading and analyzing regulations, especially from the USA, the European Union, Canada, and Australia, is a regular part of our team’s work.