Reading and Documenting an IEC 61010 Test Report

A safety report is used years later, by people who were not present, to decide whether a product may be sold. Its value depends on three things: whether the sample is identified precisely, whether the test configuration is described, and whether the deviations from the standard are stated.

Sample identification

Model, serial number, hardware revision, firmware version, and the date received. A report that says "one sample of model X" cannot be linked to a production unit, and a production audit will ask for that link.

Configuration and deviations

The report should state how the equipment was configured for each test, including any test fixture, any simulated load and any modification. Deviations are not failures: a clause that was not applied, with a justification, is acceptable and auditable, while a clause that was silently skipped is neither.

Keeping it current

A report covers a design state. Any change to the bill of materials, the layout, the firmware or the marking requires an assessment of whether the report still applies. Maintaining a change log that maps each change to a clause is the only practical way to answer that question when a customer or a regulator asks, and it is far cheaper than re-testing everything after the fact.

Related technical notes

• Choosing a Bench Multimeter by Safety Rating, Not by Digits