After successful registration of the product, the Main manufacturer has maximum 6 months' time to provide KNX Association with a positive test report for the following parts:
Application program
When? The test report of the application program is only required if the application program has not been certified yet.
Tested by: KNX accredited test lab
The application program of the product shall be officially tested at a KNX accredited test lab of the manufacturer's choice according to Volume 8/7/1 (Interworking & functionality tests) of the KNX Specifications. These test labs are ISO/IEC 17025 certified test labs or test labs with ISO 9001 certification (covering testing operation) and perform their testing independently of the KNX manufacturers. The list of KNX accredited test labs can be found on the KNX website.
For testing, two reference product samples have to be made available to the KNX accredited test lab. The product samples shall be in a new clean condition and ready as if to be sold on the market, i.e. identical in design and performance as the products to be marketed. Prototypes or the like are not admitted for certification. Normally the test lab returns the test samples after completion of the test as KNX Association does not oblige the KNX accredited test labs to make arrangements for proper storage of type test sample(s) for future reference purposes.
More information on the testing fees can be found here.
Stack
When? The system stack test report is only required if the stack has not been certified yet.
Tested by: KNX accredited test lab
- If the Main manufacturer has licensed an already certified stack from established KNX system providers, then it is not required to have the stack tested. This means that no stack test report has to be provided to KNX Association.
- If the Main manufacturer has developed its own stack, then the stack of this product shall be officially tested at a KNX accredited test lab which is accredited for lower layer testing according to Volume 8 of the KNX Specifications.
Hardware
What? The hardware has to comply with the requirements as mentioned in Volume 4/1 of the KNX Specifications. The compliance is given by the manufacturer by declaration in the online hardware datasheet during product registration.
Tested by: KNX manufacturer or any test lab capable of performing these tests (could also be the KNX accredited test lab if equipped for these tests).
Compliance verified by: KNX accredited test lab on the basis of declaration supplied by the manufacturer and documented in the KNX test report.
The tester at the KNX accredited test lab shall as part of the test report template check whether the manufacturer has a declaration for the corresponding hardware, in which:
- Either the EN 50491-x and/or the IEC 63044-x are quoted;
- Or a product standard is mentioned, where the manufacturer confirms that this covers the requirements of the EN50491-x and/or the IEC 63044-x.
Note: It is beneficial as a manufacturer to still quote EN50491-x as well as IEC 63044-x in the declaration, even when the product standard covers both, just to give an additional hint to the test lab to that effect.
Test reports as the basis for this declaration do not need to be submitted or evaluated by the test lab.
Consequently, the test lab needs to also require from the applicant the before-said declaration along with other needed documentation and devices for a system and/or interworking test campaign.
KNX Association recommends that the Main manufacturer makes use of the services of the KNX accredited test labs to carry out the necessary hardware tests. The hardware tests can however also be carried out at the premises of the manufacturer (if the manufacturer has the required test equipment) or at any test lab that is capable of performing hardware conformance tests according to at least the standards as specified in Volume 4/1 of the KNX Specifications.
If the KNX accredited test lab carries out the required Hardware tests (EMC, Electrical Safety, and environmental conditions) on behalf of the Main manufacturer, additional product samples may be required. Please inquire about the exact quantity at the test lab of your choice.
Specific Hardware: Basic and System components like TP Cable, KNX Connectors, TP Overvoltage protector, TP (de)centralized power supply unit, TP choke
What? For showing compliance to the requirements as set out in Volume 9/1 and Volume 9/2 for the listed components.
Tested by? KNX manufacturer and KNX accredited test lab
- The Manufacturer shall test the products according to the requirements for the specific component in Volume 9/1 and 9/2 and document the measurement results in a company internal test report;
- The KNX accredited test lab shall receive a copy of the internal company test report and check the measurement results against the requirements of the KNX Standard: compliance to the requirements is documented in a test report created by the KNX accredited test lab (the KNX accredited test lab does not have the right to again perform the tests as documented in the submitted company internal test report).
System features for which no test specifications exist
What? System features, for which no test specifications exist.
Tested by: KNX Association
Only a few tests are still carried out by KNX Association by means of product audits and not by KNX accredited test labs, i.e.:
- Tests for system features, for which no approved test specification exists (yet). Tests are done according to the draft KNX test specifications. Normally, as soon as test requirements become stable, the relevant tests will be transferred to the KNX accredited test labs.
- Approved test specifications for which no test lab has submitted a request for accreditation at KNX (yet).
Note:
- The hardware test report or the CE-declaration does not have to be provided to KNX Association. KNX Association however withholds the right to request the complete hardware test report from the manufacturer.
- Providing a pre-compliance test result is not sufficient, as it is typically used during a development process to check whether there is a good chance that the product in the end will fulfil the full compliance test. Pre-compliance tests are often used for products that are still undergoing (minor) design changes, not on final products.
- The product standard varies depending on the product type. For the selection of the exact product standard and for selling this product in a certain country, there may be additional requirements because of the product type. KNX manufacturers must investigate themselves which (additional) product standards are required.
- KNX is not listed as UL by default. A KNX member is responsible for making sure that its product(s) is/are UL certified if the product is going to be sold in the US market.