Certificates & Compliance Documents Explained

The document set at a glance

The three documents everyone confuses

Certificate of conformance, material certificate and test report are not interchangeable, and the difference matters precisely when something has gone wrong.

Specific versus non-specific inspection

The European standard EN 10204 provides useful vocabulary that transfers directly to magnets, even though it was written for metallic products. It is worth borrowing because it makes the ambiguity explicit:

Magnetic, coating and dimensional certification

Magnetic property certification

Generated on a hysteresisgraph, which drives a standard-geometry sample through a full magnetization cycle in a closed circuit and reads the demagnetization curve directly. Measurement method is commonly referenced to IEC 60404-5.

• It is a lot-level, material-level test. It confirms the alloy meets the grade; it does not confirm that your specific parts were fully magnetized or correctly sized.
• Request the curve, not just the numbers, where demagnetization risk is a design concern — and request it at elevated temperature for high-temperature programs, so you can see where the knee sits in your operating region.
• Part-level verification is a different test. Helmholtz coil total moment confirms that the individual parts are the right size, right grade and fully saturated. Both documents have a role; neither substitutes for the other. The instruments and their limits are covered in how magnets are tested.

Coating and plating certification

• Coating system and thickness per layer. For nickel-copper-nickel, report each layer — X-ray fluorescence resolves them individually. A single total figure conceals a thin outer nickel layer.
• Corrosion test result, typically salt spray hours per ASTM B117 with the acceptance basis stated — no red rust, no blistering.
• Adhesion result where the magnet will be adhesively bonded or press-fitted. Cross-hatch tape testing and thermal shock cycling are the usual methods.
• Note whether qualification or per-lot. Salt spray is normally a qualification test performed once on a coating system, not a per-lot test. A supplier reporting fresh salt spray data with every shipment is either running an unusual program or reproducing an old report.

Dimensional reporting

• State the coating basis. Before or after plating — the difference is 10–50 µm and it decides whether a press fit works.
• Ballooned drawing with each dimension numbered and reported against it. Ad hoc dimensional lists are difficult to audit and easy to misread.
• Sample size and method stated, with the measurement equipment identified. Non-magnetic or demagnetization-safe tooling should be used near magnetized parts.

RoHS, REACH and substance restrictions

RoHS

EU Directive 2011/65/EU, as amended, restricts ten substances in electrical and electronic equipment: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE flame retardants, and four phthalates (DEHP, BBP, DBP, DIBP). Thresholds are 0.1% by weight in homogeneous material, except cadmium at 0.01%.

• Magnets are generally straightforward. Sintered NdFeB, SmCo, alnico and ferrite do not intentionally contain restricted substances, and standard nickel, zinc and epoxy coatings are compliant.
• The historical exception was hexavalent chromium in older chromate conversion coatings. Modern zinc coatings use trivalent chromium passivation. If you are qualifying a legacy part or an unfamiliar supplier, ask specifically.
• Homogeneous material is the test unit, not the assembled part. Each coating layer is assessed separately from the magnet body.
• A declaration is a supplier statement, normally supported by supply chain data and periodic analytical testing rather than testing of every lot. That is the accepted practice; asking for per-lot XRF screening of every shipment is disproportionate for most magnet applications.

REACH

EU Regulation 1907/2006. For magnets the relevant mechanism is the candidate list of substances of very high concern. Magnets are “articles” under REACH, which means the obligations are communication obligations rather than registration obligations.

• Above 0.1% w/w of a candidate list substance in an article, information must be passed down the supply chain, and for articles placed on the EU market a SCIP database notification applies.
• The candidate list is updated roughly twice a year. A REACH statement is a snapshot — ask for the candidate list version it was assessed against, and re-request periodically on long-running programs.
• Cobalt compounds are the item to watch on samarium cobalt magnets, several cobalt salts being listed. Metallic cobalt in an alloy and cobalt compounds are treated differently, which is exactly why the declaration should state the assessment basis rather than simply saying “compliant.”
• Rare earth elements themselves are not currently SVHCs. Neodymium, dysprosium and terbium in a sintered alloy do not trigger candidate list obligations on that basis.

California Proposition 65

The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act creates a warning obligation for products that expose people in California to listed substances above safe harbour levels. Two points are specific to magnets:

• Nickel and nickel compounds are listed. Nickel-plated magnets are the most common magnet product with a potential exposure pathway, particularly consumer-facing items involving skin contact.
• Cobalt and certain cobalt compounds are listed, relevant to samarium cobalt.

The obligation attaches to exposure, not to content. A nickel-plated magnet sealed inside an industrial housing presents a different case from one handled directly by a consumer. Establish who in your supply chain carries the warning obligation and on what analysis — the answer usually sits with whoever sells the finished product, not with the magnet supplier.

Conflict minerals and forced labour due diligence

Conflict minerals — and the misconception

Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires SEC-reporting companies to conduct due diligence on 3TG — tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold — originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries. Requests cascade down supply chains well beyond the reporting companies themselves, which is why magnet suppliers receive them routinely.

Forced labour and the UFLPA

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act establishes a rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or by entities on the UFLPA Entity List, are made with forced labour and are prohibited from entry into the United States. The presumption applies to inputs at any tier, not only to the finished article.

This is relevant to magnets because rare earth mining, separation and processing is concentrated in China, and because upstream inputs are several tiers removed from a finished magnet — which is exactly the situation the statute is aimed at. Detention decisions rest on supply chain traceability evidence, and the burden of rebuttal sits with the importer.

Practically, this raises the value of buying from domestic inventory that has already cleared customs, and of suppliers who can name their mills rather than describing them as “qualified partners.” The related tariff and origin mechanics are in tariffs and country of origin.

Quality system certificates in the document set

Quality system certificates arrive alongside product documents and are routinely filed as though they were the same kind of evidence. They are not, and the distinction is worth being precise about.

The standards you will encounter, in brief: ISO 9001 for general quality management, IATF 16949 adding automotive discipline including PPAP and control plans, AS9100 adding aerospace configuration management and counterfeit prevention, ISO 13485 adding medical device design controls and traceability, and ISO 14001 covering environmental management rather than product quality. Which one your application actually requires — and how to assess whether the certificate means anything — is covered in quality standards and supplier audit.

PPAP and first article inspection

Both are qualification events rather than recurring documents. PPAP, defined by AIAG, requires documented evidence that the process can consistently produce conforming parts — process flow, PFMEA, control plan, measurement system analysis, capability data and a part submission warrant. FAI per AS9102 serves an equivalent role in aerospace with a different structure. For magnets, the elements that carry real weight are the control plan’s magnetic property controls, the measurement system analysis on the flux measurement equipment, and capability data on the critical dimensions.

Requesting documents without stalling the order

Documentation requirements delay shipments when they arrive late and cost nothing when they arrive early. The difference is entirely in when they are specified.

Put it in the specification

A documentation clause on the drawing or in the purchase order terms, naming each required document, its content, and whether it is per-lot or one-time. For example:

Match the package to the actual requirement

Radial Magnets maintains a compliance document center for standing declarations, and ships material and plating certification with every production lot. Where a program needs a document set defined from scratch, our quality team will work from your customer’s flow-down requirements rather than guessing at them.