A critique on traceability of EMC measurements

In a competitive global market, product quality assurance by an accredited laboratory assumes great importance for overall acceptance of the product. For electrical and electronic products, the European market has stipulated mandatory quality certification like 'CE' marking which calls for regulatory EMC testing and certification carried out at empowered laboratories. Acceptance of EMC test data from various laboratories warrants traceability of EMC measurements between various test environments. For test laboratories dealing with electrical and electronic products, ISO/IEC17025 standard provides the guidelines for accreditation, similar to ISO 9000 standards for manufacturing and service sectors. One of the most important criteria for getting accreditation for the test laboratories as per the ISO guidelines is the traceability of the test equipment which would ensure minimum inaccuracy and the required confidence level of the measured data. In this paper the authors intended to address the traceability issue related to estimated uncertainty in EMI measurements and calibration of EMC test equipment.