CE Certification

The Crowd Supply Guide: Understanding CE Certification

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The ‘CE’ mark appears on many products traded on the extended Single Market in the European Economic Area (EEA). The mark signifies that products sold in the EEA have been assessed to meet high safety, health, and environmental protection requirements. CE marking also supports fair competition by holding all companies accountable to the same rules and standards.

It’s important to understand that CE is a "self-certification" process that must be performed by the manufacturer. Any third-party involvement is very seldom needed.

By affixing the CE mark to a product, the manufacturer certifies the product meets all legal requirements for CE marking and can therefore be sold throughout the EEA. This applies to products made inside or outside the EEA.

There are two main benefits CE marking brings to businesses and consumers within the EEA:

Businesses know that products bearing the CE marking can be traded in the EEA without restriction. Consumers enjoy the same level of health, safety, and environmental protection throughout the entire EEA.

There are different "directives" written for each of the product groups identified by the EU (e.g., medical devices, low voltage devices, measuring instruments, etc.). Each directive specifies the requirements for your particular kind of project.

Note that not all projects shipping to the EEA will require CE marking, only certain product groups (you can access the full wording of the directives from this link, by clicking under the specific group you want to look at). However, even if you believe your product is exempt but you still want to ship to the EEA, you will still need to provide Crowd Supply (the exporter) with documentation of why you (the manufacturer) believe the product falls outside the CE requirements. (See table below.)

Note that in the same way that CE marking is mandatory for products that fall under the scope of CE, it is forbidden to affix the CE mark when a product is not covered by one of these Directives or Regulations.

Within CE Scope	CE Mark Present	OK to Sell in EEA
Yes	Yes	Yes
Yes	No	No
No	No	Yes

How To Qualify Your Product for CE marking

To qualify your product, you will need to take the following steps (these may vary slightly depending on the product):

Identify the directives and harmonised standards that apply to your product.
Ensure that your product meets the requirements of the applicable directive(s).
Determine whether or not a third-party assessment is required.
If necessary, test the product yourself to ensure it conforms to the directive; document your testing.
Write required technical documentation (e.g., safety warnings) and make sure it is available as needed by customers or regulators.
Add the CE mark and write up a Declaration of Conformity (DoC)

Tip Because the “EU Declaration of conformity” is a self-certification process, you cannot use a third-party to make the “EU Declaration of Conformity”, and you also cannot use the “Test Certificate” issued by a third-party in lieu of the EU DoC. That may seem that it has all the right information but it’s issued by the wrong party: the testing company and not the manufacturer (creator). EU Declaration of Conformity must be issued by the manufacturer (creator) only.

Question not answered here? Contact us to see how we can help.

The Crowd Supply Guide: Table of Contents

For Everyone

Proclamation of User Rights

For Backers

For Creators

Getting Started

Before Your Campaign Launches

Define Your Community, Write Your User
Building Your Open Source Community
Why Open Source?
Set Funding Goals
Properly Price your Product
Marketing and PR
Campaign Photography: Creating Stills and Videos
Working with Manufacturers
Understanding CE Certification
Writing Style Guide

During Your Campaign