Performance certification for environmental monitoring instruments verifies and certifies that an instrument meets prescribed performance criteria. Unlike type approval, which grants market-entry eligibility, performance certification focuses on confirming that the instrument's actual measuring performance meets the required level. This guide sets out, as a step-by-step checklist, the procedure manufacturers and operators should follow when preparing for performance certification.

1. Performance Certification vs Type Approval — What Differs

The two are often confused, but their purposes differ. Type approval is a market-entry system that lets a specific model be supplied and installed once it meets statutory criteria, whereas performance certification verifies that the instrument's measuring performance itself meets the required level. The two are complementary, so first determine which your product needs — or whether it needs both. (See our separate guide for the type-approval procedure.)

2. Application Requirements

Basic requirements to confirm before applying are as follows.

• A clear definition of the target parameter, model and measuring range
• Technical documents such as the specification and the measuring principle and resolution
• In-house performance test data and an established calibration procedure

If the application unit (parameter, model) is scoped incorrectly, supplementation requests recur during review and greatly extend the lead time, so it is important to fix the scope precisely at the requirement-definition stage.

3. Test Items and Criteria

Performance testing evaluates repeatability, linearity, response time, accuracy, zero/span stability and interference effects against prescribed reference values. Stability under real operating conditions (changing temperature and sample matrix), not just laboratory conditions, matters, so prepare verification data that reflects field conditions. Testing is carried out at a designated laboratory, and scheduling depends on the laboratory's queue, so early booking is advantageous.

4. Maintaining the Certification

Certification does not end with acquisition. A validity period, periodic inspection and re-certification requirements apply, and a substantive change to core components or firmware may require a change notification or re-certification. Link the certification status to design-change management so that a change is not mistaken for a "minor update" and left unreported.

5. Document Checklist

• Definition of target parameter, model and measuring range
• Instrument specification, structural diagram and software version information
• In-house performance test results and calibration procedures
• Test-laboratory booking and sample/installation conditions
• Certification-maintenance and change-management procedure documents

Need Help?

Sechang supports both performance certification and type approval for environmental monitoring instruments. If you need consultation across the whole preparation process — selecting target parameters, preparing for performance testing, checking document completeness — please reach out below.

▶ Contact Sechang about performance certification and monitoring instruments