What is a certificate of conformity?

We discuss what a certificate of conformity is, what it should include, the importance of it, and the benefits of having a certificate of conformity.

Shark Finesse
April 23, 2024
Articles

Certificates of conformity play a crucial part in building trust between manufacturers or other authorised parties and the customer. We discuss what exactly a certificate of conformity is, what it should include, the importance of it, and the benefits of having a certificate of conformity.

What is a certificate of conformity?

A certificate of conformity, issued by an authorised party, is provided to customers to confirm that the product they're purchasing meets required production, technical, and safety standards.

Not all products require this certificate, and its standards and specifications vary, depending on the product and country. Typically, products such as vehicles, aircraft, electrical equipment, and certain children’s toys are among those that often require a certificate of conformity.

Key parts of a certificate of conformity

Some products require a certificate of conformity to gain approval before being sold in a specific market, either by you or your customer. The certificate typically includes several key elements that must be listed. These include:

  • Product identification: Describing the product detailed in the certificate of conformity.
  • Importer or manufacturer identification: Full name, address, and contact telephone number.
  • Manufacturing location and date.
  • Safety regulations: Listing all regulations detailing the required tests and pass criteria.
  • Previous certificates: List of awarded certificates to the manufacturer, dates, and locations.
  • Third-party testing: Identification of third-party manufacturers, including name, address, and contact telephone number, if applicable.

Benefits of a certificate of conformity

There are several advantages to a product having a certificate of conformity. Firstly, it ensures that defective goods don't reach the marketplace, as each product undergoes proper testing and documentation, minimising issues for customers upon receiving their goods. Another benefit is that it assures customers that the products they're purchasing meet regulatory standards. Additionally, in case of any issues post-purchase, customers have the necessary details to pursue legal action if needed, providing them with protection. This not only increases customer confidence but also enhances the reputation of your brand. When customers know they can rely on the products they're purchasing, they're more likely to buy from you again and recommend your brand to others.

What we do

At Shark Finesse we have developed an enterprise-grade cloud application to help businesses standardise and simplify their value engagements across the entire customer journey.

Shark, a business value engagement platform used by 1000’s of customer-facing teams globally (e.g. pre-sales, sales, value teams, and customer success) is easy to use, intuitive and usable directly with the customer to negotiate the likely business returns from investing in a solution.

By adopting the Shark approach you will fundamentally transform conversations with new and existing customers, close more business, and differentiate from the competition.