Harmonised standards not sufficient for EMC compliance

Since the EMC Directive came into force in 2016, EMC experts likely find themselves having to apply test standards they are not familiar with, and which might not be harmonised by being listed in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU).

If you are still declaring EMC compliance by choosing the most relevant test standards listed under the EMC Directive in the OJEU — then passing those tests and listing them on your Declarations of EMC Conformity — you are five years out of date. This means your products might suffer costly delays in EU and UK customs as a direct result.

Since the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU, and the equivalent UK EMC Regulations, came into force in 2016, we have been required to perform, and document, an “adequate analysis and assessment of the risks” of our products’ complying with the Directive’s Essential Requirements.

The purpose of these EMC risk assessments is to specify the EMC standards, specifications and guidelines that apply to our products to help ensure their EMC compliance in real life. To help industry better understand these requirements, EMC Standards has published a free guide on its website. 

These assessments are particularly needed for frequencies below 150kHz, which have historically been neglected by EMC test standards because this is below any European broadcasting frequencies. However, many activities have recently started to develop that can mean products causing, or suffering from, electromagnetic interference (EMI) at frequencies below 150kHz. Furthermore, because the EMC Directive covers frequencies from DC to Daylight, this is a growing risk.

One of the standards that has been developed to help deal with EMI from DC to 150kHz is IEC 61000-4-16, an immunity test standard that addresses the Common-Mode (CM) noise on cables carrying power, signals, data and even earths/grounds. Armstrong has written a guidebook on this standard, which is available for free on the EMC Standards website. This guidebook includes discussions on how this EM disturbance arises, where it should be expected, and what it can affect, to help create EMC risk analyses.

This is one of many topics that will be discussed at this year’s EMC and Compliance International trade show. The event, taking place at Newbury Racecourse on 18 and 19 May 2022, is an independent EMC conference and will feature practical workshops and insightful expert sit-down sessions. Registration to attend and exhibit at the event is open now.