Australia and New Zealand RCM Certification Service

Australia and New Zealand’s Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM) certification is controlled by Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and is mandatory for all electrical products, other than certain “low-risk”, non-wireless, battery powered devices. This mark covers disciplines of safety, EMC, telecom, and wireless testing. The three previous marks (A-Tick, C-Tick, RCM mark) have now been consolidated and replaced with the one single RCM mark.

Testing for RCM mark generally is not required to be done in Australia or New Zealand, in fact most foreign reports are accepted.If the product is deemed high risk for areas of EMC and Wireless disciplines (e.g.Products usingradio frequency energy generated for the treatment of material), then EMC/Wireless testing must be conducted by an accredited lab.Documentation illustrating compliance with the requirements for RCM must be submitted to an authorized agent in Australia/New Zealand, whom then issues a formal Declaration of Conformity for the product. Authorized agents must be registered as suppliers in the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC) database.

Products that are over 50Vac or 120Vdc should comply with applicable safety standards. Products that are considered medium to high risk for safety (which is a different criteria than risk levels defined for EMC/wireless disciplines), must be tested by a recognized certification body. The product(s), when determined to be compliant must then be registered on the ERAC database.

Challenges Obtaining and Maintaining RCM Certification

One misconception about RCM certification is that an RCM mark can be applied to a product once test lab reports have been issued. The final steps of finding an authorized agent and submitting the correct reports to him/her, must be taken in order to receive the proper certification DOC for the product.
The RCM mark encompasses many product conformity disciplines. Determining the areas of compliance and their associated risk levels, as well as providing the correct documentation upon submittal is crucial to a smooth certification process.

How Can We Help?

G&M will verify areas of compliance per product type and assess risk levels. We will verify that correct documentation is in order, and upon successful review submit it to a proper agent.
G&M Compliance has the experience to move products through certification efficiently. Our compliance experts understand the Australian process and will make sure that certifications are completed correctly.

For more information, additional questions, or to request a quote – Please submit an online RFQ, Contact Us, or call.

Certification Details

Mark –Certification mark required.

In-Country Representation – Required

In-Country Testing – Not required

Expiration Details – Suppliers DOC does not expire. Products categorized as medium to high risk for safety, and requiring registration with ERAC, generally have a 5 year validity period.

Continuing Surveillance – Factory inspections are not required. Market surveillance is not common.

Insource Homologation Management

We have found that often times certification bottlenecks can occur within a manufacturer’s organization. As a result, we offer a service to provide internal help managing regulatory certification tasks. Because G&M is not a certification body, we are in a unique position to offer valuable regulatory expertise without any conflict of interest issues. In such cases we place G&M certification experts into our customers’ organizations to manage the certification process for them. Once on the inside, our managers can leverage G&Ms collective experience to guide certification processes in an efficient and cost-effective manner. To learn more about this service see our Homologation Management Service Page.

Certificate Alert and Tracking System (CATS)

Untimely expirations of certificates can cause delays in product deliveries. Re-certification of products will generally be treated as new submittals instead of certificate renewals. This can be time-consuming and costly. G&M provides a web-based certification tracking system that alerts users when expirations are coming, provides on-line storage of important certification documentation, and is searchable by certification specific criteria. For more information on this system see our CATS page.