An accredited laboratory can provide important testing evidence, but hiring one does not automatically establish complete CE compliance. Start with the product’s applicable requirements, then decide which tests and assessments are needed. This avoids buying a package of reports that fails to answer the relevant questions.
Identify the required assessment route
CE marking applies only where the relevant EU product legislation requires it. The manufacturer remains responsible for conformity, even when work is subcontracted. Depending on the legislation and product, assessment may be performed by the manufacturer or require a notified body.
A laboratory’s accreditation and a body’s notification are different matters. If a notified body is required, verify its authorised scope in the official NANDO system linked from the EU’s CE guidance. An accreditation logo alone does not establish that authorisation.
Check the laboratory’s actual scope
Accreditation relates to specified activities. For a Spanish laboratory, ENAC provides an official search and validity checks. Compare the current accreditation scope with the material, method and test you need; do not rely solely on a general claim that the laboratory is “ISO certified”.
- Identify the legal entity and laboratory location.
- Match the requested test to the published scope.
- Ask whether any proposed work is outside that scope.
- Clarify whether testing will be subcontracted and to whom.
- Agree how the report will identify methods, samples and limitations.
Give the laboratory a useful brief
Provide the model and version, intended use, relevant configurations and the question each test must answer. Ask how many samples are needed and whether testing may damage them. Request a quotation that separates testing, interpretation, repeat work and additional assessment.
For a hypothetical electronic device, changing its enclosure after testing may affect how the earlier evidence applies. Ask the responsible specialist to assess that change rather than assuming the previous report covers it.
Review the evidence before relying on it
Check that the delivered report matches the ordered work and tested product. Resolve unexplained exclusions or failed results. Keep the evidence within the product’s technical documentation and complete the other applicable steps; a test report is not a universal CE certificate.
The EU warns that voluntary certificates may have no validity for CE marking. Confirm the assessment route before purchasing a document sold as a shortcut.
See our guide to checking standards references and assessment evidence.
Editorial correction: the earlier guarantees that accredited testing ensures full compliance have been removed. This guide does not approve a particular laboratory or product.
Header image: AI-generated editorial illustration; it does not depict a real company, test or certificate.
Sources consulted on 23 September 2026: Your Europe: CE marking; Your Europe: conformity assessment; ENAC: accreditation and scope; ENAC: accredited-entity search.
