TABLE OF CONTENTS An EMC test plan is a vital part of the specification of a new product. It provides the basis around which the development and pre-production stages can be structured in order for the product to achieve EMC compliance with the minimum of effort. It can act as the schedule for in-house testing, or can be used as a contractual document in dealing with an external test house. Although you should prepare it as soon as the project gets underway, it will of necessity need revision as the product itself develops and especially in the light of actual test experience on prototype versions.
You may decide to do the testing at an accredited laboratory. The accreditation standard ISO/IEC 17025 [171] actively demands that an accredited laboratory has a procedure for the review of requests, tenders and contracts, which ensures that:
the requirements, including the methods to be used, are adequately defined, documented and understood;
the laboratory has the capabilities and resources to meet the requirements;
the appropriate test and/or calibration method is selected and is capable of meeting the customer s requirements.
Most such laboratories have a mechanism for dealing with this contract review stage by asking customers to complete a standard form with details of the equipment to be tested, its support equipment, the standards to be tested against, performance criteria and operating modes, and so forth. It s helpful if customers can anticipate this and provide...
