In order to enable consumers to have a clearer understanding of the certification marks on the products they buy，and all kinds of certification fees to lighten the burden of the manufacturer，The Korea Academy of Technical Standards (KATS) announced on August 20, 2008 that it will implement the new certification system KC (Korea Certification) certification on January 1, 2009. The plan has been implemented in the Ministry of Knowledge Economy since July 2009 and is expected to be extended to all sectors by the end of 2010.

 

KC Mark Certification Products List(KC Certified Product Catalogue) According to the provisions of the Korean Electrical Supplies Safety Management Law, since January 1, 2009, the safety certification of electrical products can be divided into mandatory certification and voluntary certification.

 

Compulsory certification means that all electronic products belonging to compulsory products must obtain KC Mark certification before they can be sold on the Korean market. Every year, they need to undergo Factory review and product sampling test.

 

Self-disciplined (voluntary) certification means that all electronic products belonging to voluntary products need to be tested and certified without factory review. The certificate is valid for five years.

 

Technical Information to be Submitted in Application for KC Mark Certification

 

In order to obtain KC Mark certificate, the manufacturer needs to apply to EST certification authority for safety certification of electrical and electronic products. The manufacturer here refers to the factory that directly produces the product.

 

When the same type of product is manufactured in different factories, each factory has to apply for KC Mark certification separately, because the name of the factory is different.

Technical Information to be Submitted in Application for KC Mark Certification

1、Application Form

2、Product descriptions (or User's Manuals) : Korean Version

3、 List of critical components

4、Insulation Material Catalogue (Specified Products)

5、Circuit Diagram

6、Power of Attorney (when applying for agency)

7、Marking Label

8、Questionaire

9、 Specification of Transformer

10、Sample preparation (the number of samples depends on the product type)

Electrical products with voltages ranging from 50V to 1000V must be certified. The KC Certification Scheme will enforce the use of the KC logo on all electronic and electrical products on January 1, 2009. At that time, the new KC logo will replace the original EK logo.

 

Documents to be submitted for KC certification

 

If enterprises need to apply for KC logo, they must first apply to Korea Testing Certification (KTC) or Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL) or Korea Testing & Research Institute (KTR). If a product is manufactured by several independent factories, although the product is of the same type, several factories should obtain certification marks at the same time. Overseas manufacturers may apply directly or authorize local Korean agencies and representative manufacturers to apply.

 

When applying for KC certification for new products, the following documents should be submitted

 

Application for Safety Certification of Electrical Appliances (Compulsory Products);

Application for self-regulatory safety confirmation of electrical appliances and declaration of self-regulatory safety confirmation of electrical appliances (self-regulatory products);

1)       List of parts and components directly affecting safety;

2)       Electrical circuit diagram;

3)       Detailed specifications for transformers (when relevant products are available);

4)       Catalogue of insulating materials (temperature, voltage withstanding characteristics or fire resistance, etc.);

5)       Product certificate (including Korean product certificate);

6)       Label;

7)       Certificate of authorization of the agent (necessary for mandatory products; necessary for self-regulated products when applied by the agent);

8)       Questionnaire survey (compulsory products).

 

 Factory censorship

(1)     First Factory review

After accepting the product certification application, KETI needs to conduct the first factory review and preliminary evaluation of the quality control system of the factory.

According to the Korean safety certification laws and KETI regulations, factories should have the following documented procedures or regulations, which should be compatible with factory quality management and product quality control:

1)       The procedure of product change control (e.g. after the approval of the certification authority for the certification of product change declaration, the relevant technical documents shall be formulated strictly in accordance with the approved content of the change and issued to the relevant departments in order to correctly implement the change of the certified product. No certification mark shall be imposed on the altered product if the alteration is not approved. );

2) Document and data control procedures;

3) Quality Record Control Procedure (storage period of purchase, routine and operation inspection records is at least 3 years);

4) Routine inspection and confirmation procedures;

5) Control procedures for non-conforming products;

6) Inspection or verification procedures for key components and materials;

7) Internal quality audit procedures;

8) Procedures such as process operation instructions, inspection standards, operating procedures of instruments and equipment, and management systems shall be maintained by the factory, including at least the above quality records, in order to verify that the factory has indeed carried out all production inspections and production tests, and that the quality records shall be true and effective;

9) Routine inspection and confirmation inspection records of products; inspection/verification records of imports of key components and materials and certification provided by suppliers:

① Records of periodic calibration or verification of inspection and testing equipment;

②Routine inspection and confirmation (operation) inspection records;

③ Daily inspection records of safety equipment on production line (workshop);

④ Disposal records of nonconforming products (purchase, routine and operation);

⑤ Records of internal audit;

⑥ Records of corrective actions taken against customer complaints;

⑦Records of unqualified corrections for operation inspection;

 

(2)     Annual Factory review

After issuing the certificate, the certification authority will conduct an annual follow-up review of the plant every year to verify the consistency of the plant's quality control system and whether it can consistently meet safety standards. The annual Factory review is divided into two parts:

1) The requirements and contents of the inspection of quality documents, quality records and relevant contents of production site are basically the same as those of the first review.

 

2) It is necessary to confirm the consistency of all products authorized by KC logo. According to the attached page of the product authorization certificate (list of key components), confirm the key components, materials, circuits and structures of the certified products to see if they are consistent.

 

(3) Sampling inspection

There are 216 products listed in the compulsory certification of KC logo up to now. Korea's Safety Law stipulates that all kinds of products are sampled annually, so each product is sampled once a year. Sampling method is: the factory inspector carries out the annual review. When there is production or stock on the site, the inspector seals the samples, and the factory sends the samples to the designated place within three months. When there is no production or stock on the factory inspection, the factory must send the designated samples to the designated place within six months.

 

KC Certification Mark

 

(1) KC logo information content

The KC logo mainly includes the following information:

The security authentication mark with KETI authentication code is attached.

 

Product Name; Model Name; Rated Input; Manufacturer Name; Double Insulation Mark;

Rated input time (in the case of short input time); production date (year, month, day or batch number);

Telephone and address of Korean service providers; EMI or EMI/EMS logo (optional, product is recommended if there is enough time to apply for logo);

 

(2) KC logo

The KC Certification Mark (Fig. 2) shall vary according to the size of the product.

It is easy to identify on products or containers and packages, and it is marked by printing or engraving methods which are not easy to fall off.

Adjacent to the KC certification cover and mark the KC certification number.

Matters relating to safety standards should be listed in Korean or English.

It should be black.

 

(3) KC authentication number

The KC certification number is composed of the difference code, product classification number and manufacturer number of the security certification authority. Take "H (X) W 09 999 - 8001" (Fig. 3) as an example, in which:

 

①      "H (X)": the difference code of the security certification authority (H: the certification         authority is KTC, S stands for KTL, J stands for KTR; X: self-disciplined security confirmation);

 

② “W”: Regional number of electrical appliances manufacturers (Korea: A~Q; Asia: U; America: V; Europe: W; Middle East: X; Africa: Y; Others: Z);

 

③”09”: Classification number of electrical appliances;

④ “999”: Number of manufacturing plants in the same region/product classification;

⑤"8":the last figure of the year (e.g. 0 in 2000 and 8 in 2008);

⑥"001":Number of the basic models of the same factory/product classification.