FAQ — Answers to Your Questions
FAQ on CE marking, Product Compliance, EPR, PPWR, WEEE, the EU Declaration of Conformity and EU Market Access—explained clearly.
1. What does Engineering Office Guoth do and who does Guoth work for?
Engineering Office Guoth is your independent, discreet expert for EU market access, CE marking, risk assessments (ISO 12100), and strategic product compliance.
We assist manufacturers, importers, distributors, and operators in efficiently implementing technical, legal, and organizational requirements and in bringing products to the EU market quickly and in compliance with the law.
2. How does Engineering Office Guoth support EPR, PPWR, WEEE etc.?
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) holds manufacturers and parties placing products on the market responsible for the entire life cycle of their products—from production to recycling.
This is exactly how we can advise and support our customers: from classifying the product idea through development and production, sales, use and disposal.
Instructions, advertising (= consumer information) and packaging are parts of the actual product offered for sale and are treated accordingly.
For disposal, registration and quantity reporting, a Europe-wide network of national representatives is available.
After clarification, individual tasks within the life cycle can also be taken on.
3. What role do UX and UI play at Engineering Office Guoth?
User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are modern buzzwords.
In fact, many UX and UI details, such as markings, terms and colours, are prescribed by law or standards.
We derive additional UX and UI requirements from our own investigations, where appropriate in cooperation with our partners.
This creates products that can succeed in consumer tests.
The direct benefits of our UX/UI: instructions become simpler, advertising becomes simpler, and the product becomes intuitive.
4. What does certification cost and how long does it take?
Costs and duration vary depending on the product, the preparatory work and cooperation of the customer, as well as external costs and waiting times.
To develop an understanding of costs and time required, the following approach has proven useful:
Free initial assessment of the situation.
Determine the current situation and review the existing documentation.
Current-state assessment and gap analysis as the basis for decisions on the certification strategy, where appropriate with options that can be prioritized.
The cost of the gap analysis is agreed in advance depending on the product and scope of the analysis.
Ideally, the current situation is already sufficient and the project can be successfully completed at this point. Otherwise, fixed prices and deliverables for the planned steps can be agreed.
5. What is integrated CE management?
Traditional CE services focus on the formal conformity assessment procedure at the time of assessment:
- Check directives and standards,
- prepare risk analysis,
- complete technical documentation,
- issue the declaration of conformity.
The result is a formally correct CE procedure—project-specific, an isolated, standalone solution, and of limited benefit. Consequently, CE marking is reduced to a mere cost factor.
In addition to technical product requirements, CE legislation imposes broader requirements on manufacturers, trade, social responsibility and more. Our integrated CE management takes these requirements into account comprehensively.
6. We already have a CE test certificate from TÜV. Is that sufficient?
No. An inspection or TÜV certificate can be helpful, but it does not replace the legally required EU Declaration of Conformity (DoC). You may only affix the CE mark once you have this declaration.
7. We have a declaration of conformity. Does that make us market-ready?
No. In addition to the declaration of conformity, some directives require your company to demonstrate a suitable quality management system.
8. Does Engineering Office Guoth also work for companies from non-EU member states?
Yes, we work worldwide. We recommend that companies outside the EU appoint an Authorized EU Representative, which we can provide on request.
9. Is Engineering Office Guoth accredited or sworn?
No. We are neither accredited nor sworn; we work as a discreet part of your company exclusively on your behalf.
10. Where does Engineering Office Guoth provide its services?
Our team generally works remotely (covering the Dortmund–Düsseldorf–Cologne–Aachen–Luxembourg region) as well as on-site worldwide.
11. Is Engineering Office Guoth the right partner for us?
An enquiry is always worthwhile. As part of our compliance principles, we reject trading in goods, political work/lobbying and conflicts of interest.