ICES-003 issue 7 Comes into Force

The transition period for compliance with either issue 6 or issue 7 of ICES-003, the Interference-Causing Equipment Standard, has now formally ended. From 15th October 2021, all products subject to this standard that continue to be manufactured, imported, distributed, leased, offered for sale, or sold in Canada must comply with issue 7 of ICES-003.

The product standard sets out limits and methods of measurement of radio frequency emissions, as well as administrative requirements for information technology equipment (ITE), including digital apparatus. This includes devices or systems that generate and/or use timing signals or pulses having a rate of at least 9 kHz and employ digital techniques for purposes such as computation, display, control, data processing and storage.

No major changes between these two standards that would affect any testing

There are no major changes between these two standards that would affect any testing. Normative references now fall in line with CISPR22 being replaced by CISPR32, to which Element is fully accredited. Whilst the limits section has been streamlined with alternative limits having been removed, the limits themselves are either identical or slightly less stringent than those in issue 6 and both CISPR and ANSI test methods continue to be permitted.

Devices that have wireless charging now also need to comply with RSS-216

The main addition of note is that any devices that have wireless charging now also need to comply with the standard RSS-216, Wireless Power Transfer Devices.

Specific exemptions to ICES-003 clarified

In regard to the applicability of ICES-003 to power supplies, those marketed with an ITE device shall be tested with the device, while those marketed separately fall under ICES-001 instead. Specific exemptions to ICES-003 were also clarified, including stating that while electronics for the main functions of appliances are exempt, electronics not contained in the appliance, such as a thermostat, or not directly related to the main function, for example, the digital display on the exterior of a refrigerator, are not exempt. This could potentially mean testing is now required.

Test reports issued for ICES-003 Issue 6 must be updated to demonstrate compliance with Issue 7

General requirements on labeling and test reports have been revised to reference ICES-Gen. All test reports issued for ICES-003 Issue 6 must be updated to demonstrate compliance with Issue 7 in order for products to maintain compliance to the Canadian regulations.

If you would like one of Element’s experts to review an existing report and update it to demonstrate compliance with Issue 7, including any additional test results or engineering analysis that may be required, please contact Element today.

For more information on the key changes to the standard, please take a look at our previous article on ICES-003 Issue 7 Standard Updates here.

For support with product compliance advice, testing, and ensuring compliance to ICES-003 Issue 7, CISPR32: 2015 and/or RSS-216, please get in touch.