How do we ask for a design-for-compliance review before ordering tooling?

Main answer · Wecent Editorial Team

Short answer: A design-for-compliance review is a short check of your drawings and bill of materials by an experienced engineer or test lab before tooling is cut. It looks for safety distances, material ratings, markings and layout problems that are costly to fix after the mould exists. Ask for it in writing, with a clear package of documents and a date.

Why before tooling

A mould is expensive and slow to change. If a test later shows that a shell dimension, plug position or label area does not meet the standard, the fix may be a mould change. A review before steel is cut costs little by comparison.

What a reviewer looks at

• Distances. The clearances and creepage between mains and output parts, and between parts and the housing.
• Materials. Flame and temperature ratings of the plastics and insulating parts.
• Plug dimensions. The blade positions, sizes and housing around them.
• Markings. Space for rating labels, symbols and certification marks.
• Construction. Screw bosses, ventilation, ultrasonic weld lines and parts that carry mains voltage.
• Test points. Access for lab probes and for production testing.

What to send

1. The 2D drawings and 3D model of the shell.
2. The schematic and bill of materials.
3. The material datasheets for the plastics and insulation.
4. A draft rating label with all the text and marks.
5. The target markets and the standards you plan to certify against.

How to ask

Write a short request: the product, the markets, the standards, the documents attached and the date you need feedback. Ask for a written list of findings, ranked by how costly they are to fix later. Ask whether the lab or the factory will do it, and whether it is chargeable.

Choosing the reviewer

• Your test lab or certifier, which will judge it as they would at test.
• An independent consultant with experience in chargers.
• The factory’s own compliance engineer, as a first check, though it is not independent.

After the review

Update the drawings and ask the reviewer to confirm that the changes address the findings. Freeze the design only then.

Keep the record

File the review, the changes and the date. It helps in a later audit and when making revisions.

Where this answer says to confirm with Wecent, the detail is not published on the product page and has to come from the datasheet or the factory. General facts come from the regulators, standards bodies or device makers named in the text.