METHOD FOR DECIDING ON THE NON-CONFORMITY OF APPARATUS WITH THE EMC PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS BASED ON MEASUREMENTS RESULTS DIVERGING FROM THE THRESHOLD VALUES SPECIFIED IN THE STANDARDS

摘要

The experience gained so far with the testing of apparatus on the market has shown that with a few exceptions the manufacturers apply the conformity assessment method described in § 4(1) of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Act to the majority of apparatus, i.e. in their EC declaration of conformity they refer to the harmonised European standards applied by them. If in the course of measurements it is found that an apparatus does not adhere to the threshold values specified in the standards referred to in the manufacturer's EC declaration of conformity, it is very difficult to determine whether apparatus also violates the EMC protection requirements. Only in the latter case is it legally possible to initiate measures restricting the placing on the market. This is due to the fact that the conformity assumption principle in § 3(2) subpara 1 of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Act and the EMC Directive 89/336/EEC only allows adherence to the protection requirements to be assumed when the requirements set out in the relevant standards are met. The reverse assumption is not permitted, i.e. it is not permitted to assume that the EMC protection requirements are not met if individual threshold values in the standards are not adhered to. (For example, in such a case it would still be possible to place an apparatus on the market on the basis of the conformity assessment method in § 4(2) of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Act with the aid of a certificate issued by a competent body.) To solve this problem, i.e. to be able to determine non-conformity with the protection requirements on the basis of non-adherence to a threshold value, a three-stage method was developed and has been undergoing field trials since the beginning of the year 1999.