Certification Introduction:
RCM certification is a mark introduced by Australia and New Zealand to achieve unified marking of electrical products. The mark is a trademark owned by the regulatory agencies of Australia and New Zealand. It indicates that the product meets both safety and EMC requirements and is mandatory.
RCM certification controlled electrical products are mainly divided into non-regulated and controlled products, because not all products marked with RCM need to be registered. Non-regulated products do not need to be registered. Currently, only Level 3 electrical products need to be registered. There are a total of 56 major categories including power adapters, vacuum cleaners and other high-risk categories.
Under normal circumstances, the RCM logo should be displayed on the product label. The agent number was originally required. The new RCM does not need to indicate the agent number.
After this requirement was released on March 1, 2013, there was a three-year transition period, and it became mandatory on March 1, 2016. Therefore, manufacturers must strictly follow the requirements to perform tests related to this standard. Due to the new RCM requirements, which are different from the previous ones, in addition to the fact that importers will bear the high risk of substandard product quality, importers need to pay registration fees and annual login fees, so there will be very few companies that can provide this service.

Basic information about RCM certification
Nature of certification: compulsory certification
Whether factory inspection is required: No
Is local representative required: Yes
Certificate validity period: 2 years, 3 years, 5 years
Application period: one week after obtaining the safety certification certificate and C-Tick/EMC report
 
Applicable areas
Australia, New Zealand, Nauru, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Tuvalu, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa.
 
RCM= Safety + EMC + Importer Declaration
1. Safety (product safety certification)
Product safety certification consists of two parts: electrical products are divided into regulated electrical products (Prescribed Product) and non-prescribed products (Non-prescribed product).
1). Regulated electrical products are classified according to AS/NZS4417.2, including electric heating equipment, refrigeration equipment, power tools, parts, etc. Three of the issuing entities, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, are the most active in the certification process. Regulated electrical appliances must obtain a Certificate of Approval issued by the monitoring department, and must have a specified mark (certificate number must be stamped) . The first letter of the certificate number shows which state or territory the certificate was issued by. like:
(1) Q04051 (Queensland) --- Q Number
(2) W2015 (Western Australia) --- W Number
(3) V03101 (Victoria) --- ESV Certificate V Number
(4) NSW18099 (New South Wales) --- DOFT Certificate NSW Number
2). Non-regulated electrical appliances can be sold directly without certification, but the manufacturer must ensure that the electrical safety of the product complies with the Australian standard AS/NZS3820:1998 (Essential Safety Requirements for Low Voltage Electrical Equipment); the monitoring department will issue compliance certificates to products that meet the standard requirements. Certificate (Certificate of Suitability). Electrical products that have obtained a certificate of compliance can be marked with a certificate number. The last letter of the certificate shows which state or region the certificate was issued by, such as:
(1) CS/431/Q (Queensland)
(2) CS/108/NSW (New South Wales)
2. EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility)
Australia's electromagnetic compatibility compliance plan was developed in accordance with the Radio Communications Act 1992 and covers a wide range of products, including motor-driven and heating electrical products, power tools and similar products, lamps and similar equipment, Television receivers and audio equipment, information technology products, industrial scientific and medical instruments and equipment, ignition engines and arc welding equipment, etc. The plan divides products into three categories based on the risk of electromagnetic interference produced by the products. Products in the second and third categories must be marked with a C-Tick. However, no matter which category the product belongs to, it must comply with relevant EMC standards.
Category 1 products: Products that have only a minor impact on devices using the wireless spectrum, such as manual switches, simple relays, brushless squirrel-cage induction motors, AC power/power transformers, resistors, etc. Such products can voluntarily apply to use the C-Tick mark when producing and selling them.
Category II products: Products that have a greater impact on devices that use wireless spectrum, such as microprocessors or clock-connected digital devices, rectifiers or slip ring motors, arc welding equipment, switching power supplies, light regulators and motors Telecommunications terminal equipment of the speed controller, information technology (CISPR 22) category (changed from Category 3 to Category 2 since November 7, 2003).
Category 3 products: Products that have a serious impact on devices using wireless spectrum, such as industrial, scientific and medical instruments and equipment Group 2 (CISPR11).
 
Application process
1. A third-party laboratory evaluates the product and determines the testing standards to be implemented;
2. If there are non-conformities in the test, the laboratory will rectify the product to comply with and meet the requirements of Australian standards;
3. If the test passes, a test report will be issued;
4. Submit the test report to the Australian certification agency for document review;
5. Australia passes the review and issues the RCM certificate;
6. Customers can complete the Australian website registration by themselves or by the laboratory;
 
SAA certification controls safety regulations, C-Tick certification controls EMC and radio products, and A-Tick certification controls telecommunications products. The RCM mark is a certification mark launched in 2013. After a product obtains safety certification and electromagnetic compatibility registration, it can obtain the RCM mark through the safety certification regulatory agency. Starting from March 1, 2016, all electronic and electrical products sold must uniformly use the RCM mark; the A-tick and C-tick marks will be replaced. RCM can be understood as a registration system, including SAA and C-TICK.
 
(1) If the product has CB and country differences, you can directly transfer the Safety Certificate. Coupled with the EMC part, agents can help make announcements. The product can be sold to Australia and marked with RCM Mark.
(2) Safety Certificate: When applying for the safety part, if the product is a direct plug in, you need to do the AU Plug Test (Test Standard: AS/NZS 3112: 2004) for the product. If the product is a Desktop, you do not need to do this test. .
(3) EMCReport --- It can be C-Tick Report (TestStandard: AS/NZS CISPR 22: 2002) or CEEMC Report.
 
1. The RCM logo needs to be added to the product when it is released. Please note that this requirement was announced by Australia on April 19, 2013;
2. When the direct-plug adapter undergoes RCM certification, the plug must be randomly tested;
3. Lamp products: such as T8 LED lamps and fluorescent lamps, which can be directly replaced by users, pose a greater safety risk and require samples to be sent to Australia for evaluation;
4. The time will be different for different issuing agencies.