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Product certification often depends on decisions made long before a device enters the test chamber. A recent In Compliance Magazine article highlights how proactive preparation can mean the difference between a smooth certification process and a costly delay.

Treating compliance as an early design discipline helps teams identify issues while they are easier to fix. That includes researching standards early, designing with shielding and grounding in mind, and running pre-compliance tests. Complete documentation and early collaboration with test labs are just as critical for avoiding unnecessary delays.

For those of you who have been through it:

• What preparation steps have made the biggest difference in product certification outcomes?
• Where do teams most often underestimate what is needed?
• What pre-compliance testing setups or documentation practices would you recommend?

Share your experience below. Your insight could help someone avoid a painful last-minute scramble.

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Benjamin Koziol
Marketing & Digital Specialist
Exemplar Global · ASQ
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In my experience as a management systems and product certification auditor, the biggest mistake is treating compliance as a final verification instead of a design requirement. Early risk assessment, clearly identifying applicable standards, and validating critical requirements during development save significant time and cost. Just as important is maintaining complete technical documentation and involving the certification body or testing laboratory early in the project.

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Francisco J. Tapia Guerrero
ftapia@qualitascertification.com
www.linkedin.com/in/franktapiaguerrero
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Francisco, thank you for this perspective on the foundations for a smooth certification. That proactive mindset toward compliance is exactly what saves teams time and cost down the line.

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Benjamin Koziol
Marketing & Digital Specialist
Exemplar Global · ASQ
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2026 11:36 AM
From: Francisco J. Tapia Guerrero
Subject: How Do You Prepare Your Product Before the Lab?

In my experience as a management systems and product certification auditor, the biggest mistake is treating compliance as a final verification instead of a design requirement. Early risk assessment, clearly identifying applicable standards, and validating critical requirements during development save significant time and cost. Just as important is maintaining complete technical documentation and involving the certification body or testing laboratory early in the project.

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Francisco J. Tapia Guerrero
ftapia@qualitascertification.com
www.linkedin.com/in/franktapiaguerrero
------------------------------

Hello Ben, thank you for initiating this topic, I would like to share my experience managing product certification. 

Over times there are many discrepancy with both internal and external stakeholders when it comes to the product certification scope and action items.

I have a set of questions as guiding principle managing stakeholders expectation: 

- Which regulation are we referring to? 

- which harmonized standard should we adhere to?

- Which edition of the standard are we citing? 

- Which clause of the standard is describing the requirement?

- What is the threshold or limit of the said requirement?

- What is the test method of the said requirement?

Typically once we are clear with the above we are able to minimize the discrepancies with our stakeholders. 

 

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EUR ING Richard Tan Yong Jin IEng MIET NCE
Regulatory Compliance Manager
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Richard, your stakeholder questions offer a practical toolkit for keeping everyone aligned before discrepancies snowball. Put together, you've described both the "why" and the "how" of getting lab-ready.

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Benjamin Koziol
Marketing & Digital Specialist
Exemplar Global · ASQ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-29-2026 09:30 PM
From: Richard Tan Yong Jin
Subject: How Do You Prepare Your Product Before the Lab?

Hello Ben, thank you for initiating this topic, I would like to share my experience managing product certification. 

Over times there are many discrepancy with both internal and external stakeholders when it comes to the product certification scope and action items.

I have a set of questions as guiding principle managing stakeholders expectation: 

- Which regulation are we referring to? 

- which harmonized standard should we adhere to?

- Which edition of the standard are we citing? 

- Which clause of the standard is describing the requirement?

- What is the threshold or limit of the said requirement?

- What is the test method of the said requirement?

Typically once we are clear with the above we are able to minimize the discrepancies with our stakeholders. 

 

------------------------------
EUR ING Richard Tan Yong Jin IEng MIET NCE
Regulatory Compliance Manager
------------------------------