So what exactly is a Declaration Of Conformity?

So what exactly is a Declaration of Conformity and why is given rather than a full certificate?

So these are two great questions. I'll start with the first.

What is a Declaration of Conformity? 

A Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is simply a legal statement confirming what has been tested and to what standards - a bit like the DoC you complete at the end of your technical file. From us, our DoC will state exactly what materials/components have been tested and to what standards. Current ones will need to have at least EN71-3:2019 as a minimum, some of our components may have other parts to it but that's the MINIMUM it should contain. 

So why not just give us the full certificate?

Those of you who have brought from us from the beginning of our venture will know that from the outset Tactile Treasures used to let people have the full certificates. This is because when I first started out down the CE route and needed certified products I found how hard it was. So these certificates have been left in the files in our Facebook group for peoples convenience.  As our business has grown we have learnt a lot along the way. Sadly not all of this is good. Unfortunately when the new chromium levels were introduced we found that so many people who hadn't shopped with us in quite some time (18 months plus in some cases) were asking for the updated certificates. We are only a small husband and wife business and cannot support people buying £3 worth of Kam snaps or a couple of metres of ribbon and expecting certificates that cost £100s of pounds for free. As a small business it is simply unsustainable. To combat this we charge a nominal fee for branded products (Kam, Velcro, Fine Style buttons and Berisford ribbons Etc). Its worth noting that the purchased ones are the FULL certificates. So back to the DoC - how does that help us? Quite simply if you buy from us we are happy for you to have the Declaration for your files. If you are visited by Trading Standards and they want to see your documentation they can follow the paper trail to us. We can not only show them the full test reports but we can confirm if you actually purchased from us! People who buy from us just to get the certificate then buy elsewhere may not be covered as it unlikely the products are from the same manufacturer - therefore NOT the same chemical breakdown. Our documents (unless the above mentioned branded products) are for our products and our customers only. You would be amazed at how many people ask for certificates for products they have never brought from us!  That's the down side.

There are other reasons too! The good news is we continue to expand on our ranges when we can. Those of you who have brought our teethers - Star teethers for example, will know that we initially had four colours in the range and then introduced the white. At a later date we added grey. Instead of keep adding more and more test results its much easier for you (and us) to just add all the covered items on one document. Those of you who have brought our fabrics will note that initially we only had the white Cuddlesoft and Dimple tested. We added Black and dark brown the the cuddlesoft tested tested range a while ago and have recently added Navy and Fuchsia to the Dimple so its easier to keep these additions on the one document. 

The other reason we don't give out the full certificates is on the rare occasion some manufacturers actually test their products to EN71-3 themselves! Admittedly its rare but it does happen. This means that not only is it not our documentation to share BUT no offence, we really don't want to hand you our suppliers either :-)

I hope that gives you a better understanding of why we issue DoC's and if you have any further assistance please feel free to contact me or Paul.