Identifying and understanding legal and other product standards for your product is key to your business.  How can you do it?

1.  Consumer Products Safety Commission Website (CPSC) - This site is the main source for USA product standards.  Visit them and use the search feature to search your product type and related terms.**

2.  Consult with a 3rd party quality company/consultant - At this point there is no substitute for enlisting a product standard and testing specialist to report back to you on exactly what standards your product must meet.  For a relatively low fee you can request that such a company provide you a full product testing and requirement standard page which will provide a lot of clarity.

3.  Standards and Quality Association Websites - Organizations that are often government related, and whose published standards are often considered binding - See the Resources section’s first 15 links for an introduction to these sites.  Use the “search” feature on their pages to get good results.

4.  Ask your factory - This often the simplest and most effective way to get standards data on your product.  Ask the factory if they have any previous lab testing reports that they can share with you.  This can represent testing on their materials or finished products.  These documents will often contain product standards as the basis for the testing.  Click Here for an example of a material testing report that a factory may provide.  I have indicated on this report how you will often see product standards here.

5.  Industry Association Websites - Surfing industry association sites, and chatting with others in your industry, is fascinating and can quickly enlighten you to product standards.  Here are some examples of such sites:

Center for Auto Safety (CAS)

US-based organization for auto safety

American Petroleum Industries (API)

Petroleum industry association

Cookware Manufacturer Association

US-based organization that provides information, statistics, standards and more for cookware, bakeware and kitchenware

Craft and Hobby Association (CHA)

US-based industry leading organization for the hobby and craft industry

This post is written by a quality control expert in China. For more information, please see our Alibaba Company Profile.

QualityGuru wrote:

Identifying and understanding legal and other product standards for your product is key to your business.  How can you do it?

1.  Consumer Products Safety Commission Website (CPSC) - This site is the main source for USA product standards.  Visit them and use the search feature to search your product type and related terms.**

2.  Consult with a 3rd party quality company/consultant - At this point there is no substitute for enlisting a product standard and testing specialist to report back to you on exactly what standards your product must meet.  For a relatively low fee you can request that such a company provide you a full product testing and requirement standard page which will provide a lot of clarity.

3.  Standards and Quality Association Websites - Organizations that are often government related, and whose published standards are often considered binding - See the Resources section’s first 15 links for an introduction to these sites.  Use the “search” feature on their pages to get good results.

4.  Ask your factory - This often the simplest and most effective way to get standards data on your product.  Ask the factory if they have any previous lab testing reports that they can share with you.  This can represent testing on their materials or finished products.  These documents will often contain product standards as the basis for the testing.  Click Here for an example of a material testing report that a factory may provide.  I have indicated on this report how you will often see product standards here.

5.  Industry Association Websites - Surfing industry association sites, and chatting with others in your industry, is fascinating and can quickly enlighten you to product standards.  Here are some examples of such sites:

Center for Auto Safety (CAS)

US-based organization for auto safety

American Petroleum Industries (API)

Petroleum industry association

Cookware Manufacturer Association

US-based organization that provides information, statistics, standards and more for cookware, bakeware and kitchenware

Craft and Hobby Association (CHA)

US-based industry leading organization for the hobby and craft industry

This post is written by a quality control expert in China. For more information, please see our Alibaba Company Profile.