As I am always interested to read and hear more about CE marking, I ordered a book a few weeks ago.

The book is named 'Write it Yourself! CE Marking Documentation' by J. Peter Nowe. The title really grabbed me: by all means, CE Marking is a self-certification process so why not write it yourself?

The page directly after the title page, says the book is a guide for small and big companies to document their devices (electronics, Low Voltage Devices and Machinery) in compliance with the European Directives for CE Marking. The sounds even more awesome.

I started reading.

After a short description of what CE Marking actually is and what the benefits are, the author sums up the Directives that are referenced in the book:

• Directive 2006/42/EC - Machinery
• Directive 2004/108/EC - Electromagnetic Compatibility
• Directive 2006/95/EC - Low Voltage Equipment

For the geeks: the second and third directives have been replaced by their 2014 successors! This makes the book completely useless!

Another story...

A week later, I was having a beer with someone being specialised in CE marking. While sipping our beers and chatting about this and that, the expert points at the glass. What I never understood, he says, is why there is a CE mark on certain glasses and why some glasses do not bear the CE mark.

I fell into silence.

I won't say that I know everything about CE marking, but I found it weird that I had to explain to him, that when a glass is used as a measuring instrument (e.g. a pint) the glass falls under the scope of the Measuring Instruments Directive.

 

 

There is a lot of incorrect and outdated information out there. Take care of the fake news!