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Schneider Electric 2007 - Conferences publications THE USE OF CONFORMITY CERTIFICATION FOR PRODUCT VALIDATION Pierre MIGAUD, EDF R&D, (France), Pierre.migaud@edf.fr Marc VITTOZ, AREVA T&D, (France), marc.vittoz@areva-td.com J.-F. REY, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC, (France), jean-francois.rey@schneider-electric.com ABSTRACT For MV and HV switchgear, Utilities (and generally speaking Users) most often request a reliable demonstration of safety and performances. The purpose of this paper is to describe a way to adapt the concept of Product Certification to electrical equipment for Transmission and Distribution networks. The main features of this certification scheme are : o Independence based on the strong involvement of each party : Manufacturers, End Users, Testing Laboratories and independent experts, o Competence based on Testing Laboratories, o Certification scope limited to the conformity of the type of product, o International recognition through accreditation. The main advantages of this system are : o The organisation is cost effective, o The organisation is time effective and flexible, o Responsibilities are clearly split between the stakeholders, o Certificates are well accepted. KEYWORDS Conformity Assessment, Testing, Laboratory, Certification, Accreditation. INTRODUCTION Testing is only part of conformity assessment Assessing the conformity of a product is part of the relationship between the Manufacturer and the possible Users of a product. For Medium Voltage and High Voltage electrical equipment, assessment is based on the results of tests in most cases. However, it is not only the result of a single type test that allows to decide that a product fulfils all the requirements of a specification. Tens of type tests have to be performed, addressing various sharp technical competences. Several samples of equipment may be required to perform the complete list of type tests. And when a range of products is concerned, it is often cost effective to combine different tests with various options of equipment in order to cover the whole range of rated values with the minimum set of tests. Some tests may fail (it is part of the game, otherwise testing would be useless), leading to adjustments or improvements of the product design. In such a case it is important to avoid repeating the whole test series if possible, in order to minimize costs and delays. Then technical competences are needed to decide which tests have to be repeated according to the necessary design adjustments. Last but not least, identification of the product (or range of products) is part of the conformity assessment. This is not the less complicated task if the design has been updated in the course of the testing process. Consequently, assessing the conformity of a piece of equipment is not only performing type tests, but also defining the list of tests to be performed (or repeated), interpreting test results with regards to the test conditions, checking that drawings adequately represent the objects under tests. The complexity of this activity is well described by ISO/IEC Guide 67 (see table 1 in [1]). For the sake of simplicity, we can split this bunch of tasks in two parts : performing tests on one hand, and making a decision about conformity on the other hand. There are many ways to split the responsibilities As far as Testing is concerned, tests may be performed in the Laboratories of the Manufacturer (called First Party) or in the Laboratories of the User (called Second Party), assuming such facilities are available. They are also often performed by commercial Laboratories which are belonging neither to the Manufacturer nor to the User (called Third Party Laboratories). As far as the decision is concerned, various situations may be encountered : o The Manufacturer may supervise the testing process himself and finally attests the conformity of the object This is First Party assessment. o Some Utilities may demand to be involved in the assessment process (witnessing tests, reviewing the test results, attending the final expertise of the object after tests, and so on…). A given Utility may also rely on an external consultant of his choice, or an assessment panel made of several Utilities interested in the same pieces of equipment. Those two cases are Second Party assessment. o Third Party Bodies may also offer services such as supervising tests and reviewing test results. Amongst these bodies, we may find Certification Bodies or Inspection Bodies, as well as equivalent or alike bodies. Some of these bodies may operate their own testing facilities, while others may resort to separate Laboratories to have tests performed (either Third Party Laboratories, or Firsts or Second Party Laboratories in some cases).
Schneider Electric 2007 - Conferences publications Moreover, any combination of these various means of assessment is also possible. There is no right or wrong recipe. All is a matter of equilibrium between parameters such as : the financial amount at stake (price per unit X number of pieces), the possible impact of the piece of equipment on the reliability of the network, the availability of testing facilities, the availability of human resources and competences of each Party, the sale strategy of the Manufacturer, the purchase strategy of the Utility, and so on… To the end, the responsibility always lies on the shoulders of the Manufacturer who guarantees the rated performances, and on the shoulders of the Utility who intends to operate the equipment on its network for tens of years hopefully. This is why it is often important for them to keep an eye on the assessment process, being able to make sure the Laboratories in charge of testing and the Body in charge of deciding are correctly fitted to the interests at stake. An example of assessment system dedicated to MV and HV products The purpose of this paper is to describe an original solution for conformity assessment, based on the general concepts of certification and accreditation, involving each Party, and tuned to fit the specific requirements of MV and HV equipment. Such a solution that has been implemented in France for ten years, may be chosen each time a Third Party assessment is required. FEW RECALLS ABOUT GENERAL CONCEPTS The concept of Product Certification has been first developed for mass products in order to remove technical trade barriers. Accreditation is also intended on the same purpose since it is a way to get international recognition. The basis of both concepts is briefly recalled hereunder. Product Certification Product Certification is described by EN 45011 [2] that is identical to ISO/IEC Guide 65 [3]. It is a broad concept that encompasses all kinds of “products” (including processes and services) and may be implemented in different ways, including or not including : initial testing, assessment of the suppliers’ quality systems, surveillance of the factory quality system, subsequent surveillance testing of samples from the factory, and son on… (see Introduction in [2] or [3]). It is important to keep in mind that the concept of Product Certification ranges from certification systems based on type testing, to certification systems including type testing and surveillance of the manufacturing process. The choice of a given system within this range depends of product specificities and market needs. It is important also to note that the scope of the standards [2] and [3] is so broad that each Certification Body is responsible to adapt the general requirements of the standard to its specific domain of activity. But in any case, all certification systems exhibit a common feature that is to be operated by Third Party Bodies (being both independent from the Manufacturer and from the User). The outcome of a Product Certification system is usually called a “certificate of conformity”. It is important to avoid confusion with look alike wordings that may be used for designation of documents that do not result from a Product Certification system. Accreditation According to the International Vocabulary [4], Accreditation is a “third-party attestation related to a conformity assessment body conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks”. It is described by EN ISO/CEI 17011 [5]. According to European Regulation, Accreditation is a non profit activity that is “operated in each Member State by a single national accreditation body” (see article 4 in [6]). Following these principles : o a Laboratory that complies with ISO/IEC 17025 [7] may be accredited according to this standard by an Accreditation Body, o a Certification Body that complies with EN 45011 [2] may be accredited according to this standard by an Accreditation Body. In both cases, it is important to note the difference between “complying with…” and “being accredited according to…” that means “providing an evidence of compliance with…”. Only Accreditation provides a formal evidence of compliance. It is to be noted that Quality Requirements of ISO 9001:2000 are fully covered by ISO/IEC 17025:2005, as stated in [8] : “The management system requirements in ISO/IEC 17025 (Section 4) […] meet the principles of ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management systems – Requirements and are aligned with its pertinent requirements”. As a consequence a Laboratory has no need for ISO 9001 certification if it is already accredited against ISO/IEC 17025. On the contrary, it is important to mention that ISO/IEC 17025 goes further than ISO 9001, with additional requirements for technical competence and metrology that are specific to Laboratories. SPECIFIC FEATURES OF MV/HV EQUIPMENT The assessment schemes that have been tailored for mass domestic products may not fit MV and HV network equipment that have specific features. Amongst these specific features, let us consider the main ones as follows : o The ratio between the cost for testing (including the cost of the object under tests) and the number of manufactured products may be much higher for network equipment than for domestic products. As a consequence, it is more of all important to avoid useless test repetitions.
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