SABS certification in South Africa

The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) was established in accordance with the National Standards Act of 1945 and is subordinate to the South African Ministry of Trade and Industry. SABS is a neutral third-party certification body in South Africa, responsible for system certification and product certification in South Africa. In addition to the responsibility of formulating standards, SABS also represents the national management regulations and standards, and grants the right to use the logo for products that meet the specifications. SABS Mark has been widely used in various fields and has become a symbol of product quality assurance.·

Certificate description

1. There are two kinds of certification in South Africa: the first is the application of LOA and COC, which is mandatory for South Africa’s import, and this certification procedure is not allowed to label the SASB trademark on the label of the product, and this application does not require factory inspection; The second application is based on the first application, which can be applied for the use of SABS Mark again. The use of this sign requires a series of factory inspection procedures, which costs a lot. Each year, a certain amount of annual fees and factory inspection fees must be paid as the right to use the sign.
2. COC is an EMI test, and LOA is recognized by the Letter of Authority agent, which directly applies to South Africa.

Certification scope

SABS certification is divided into product certification and system certification, and SABS product certification mainly includes the following eight categories: chemical products, biological products, fiber products and clothing, mechanical products, safety equipment, electrical products, civil and construction products and automotive products. Among them, the building materials and products involved include: stone products, concrete products, roof materials, cement, lime, cement mixture, natural building stone, safety glass, steel structure, wood and wood products, brick, tile, paint, paint, sealant, etc.

Application process

1. Application form completed by the manufacturer
2. If the factory has more than one factory building, you need to fill in another application form. Each product within the scope of certification is required to be reflected in the application form. In addition, the factory also needs to fill in the application form for the credit of the person in charge, who should guarantee the first examination fee and other certification fees;
3. After receiving the application form, SABS will send a review quotation;
4. On the premise that the quotation is approved, SABS will conduct factory review;
5. If the above review is passed, SABS will prepare an annual supervision contract;
6. Each year, two auditors will conduct random review, and the annual supervision, review and test costs will be specified in the contract;
7. Two auditors will take the samples back to the laboratory;
8. For future test samples, the South African Bureau of Standards will take samples from the South African seller’s goods. If the batch of goods is less than 4 times a year, the insufficient samples will be sent from the factory, and the cost will be borne by the factory;
9. If the test result is unqualified, the cost of sample and retest will be borne by the factory;
10. The validity period of the certificate will be three years, unless the certificate is cancelled for other reasons.

Description of South African Certification Authority

1. NRCS: It is the issuing authority of LOA certificate.
2. SABS: It is the issuing authority of COC certificate and SABS mark certification. South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)
   Responsible for braking South African standards, and also engaged in certification and testing.
3. LOA certification: letter of authority, for security.
4. COC certification: certificate of compliance for EMC.
5. SABS certification: This certification is voluntary. The requirements are relatively strict, and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) needs to arrange factory inspection and testing, and there will be two annual reviews after the certification.

matters needing attention

1. First of all, the enterprise must appoint an agent, and the agent will declare that it is responsible for all data information, after-sales and other matters. The South African Road Traffic Law (Act 93:1996) requires importers to register with the local Ministry of Transport;
2. South Africa is a British country and belongs to a right-handed member country. At the same time, it can continue to test and submit documents to SABS only after successful registration;
3. All test items shall be completed in strict accordance with the relevant standards of South Africa and technical documents such as the report meeting the NRCS shall be submitted;
4. The whole certification process includes two parts: test report review and sample consistency check; (Note: sample inspection can be arranged in China or South Africa according to the needs of the enterprise)
5. Once all data and samples have passed the review and evaluation of NRCS, NRCS will issue a certificate. Generally, the whole audit process shall not exceed 15 working days.
6. Date of validity of the certificate: as long as the applicable standards and regulations are not changed and the sample is not modified, the certificate will continue to be valid;
7. NRCS will be responsible for the control of production conformity, and has the right to withdraw the certificate if the sample model is found to be inconsistent.
8. In order to ensure production consistency, NRCS may conduct factory review after a period of time after certificate application.

Comparison between NRCS and SABS