ISO4210 & EN15194 UK test house by LaVita

If you are a UK manufacturer, there are no test houses in the UK for ISO4210 and EN15194 meaning UK manufacturers have to ship to Portugal or Germany, costing around £10,000 per frame. LaVita are pleased to announce substantially lower cost testing in the UK.

We want to support UK manufacturing so there are be special low prices for UK low volume frame manufacturers, who previously would have had no option but to self-certify their frames or spend a large amount of money sending them overseas.

Sections covered

• Lifetime frame testing; (EN15194:2017 - 4.3.7).
• Road-test of a fully-assembled EPAC (EN15194:2017 - 4.3.18). We can conduct or advise on successful completion of this test.
• Electrical requirements (EN15194 4.2). Where you are looking for compliance for an e-bike (rather than a bicycle through ISO4210). This is offered for LaVita Boost products only which are type approved separately to the bicycle under test.

Advised sections

These areas are conducted by the sub assembly manufacturers e.g Shimano, Campagnolo, etc. For overall compliance you should collect the compliance certificates from the parts manufacturer.

• Brakes (EN15194:2017 - 4.3.5). If you are a brake manufacturer we do not offer these services; frame & bike manufacturers should use quality already approved braking systems (Shimano, Tektro, etc.) to meet this requirement.
• Steering (EN15194:2017 - 4.3.6). Strength testing of handlebars, grips & stems will be performed by part manufacturers - check with your manufacturer.
• Front fork (EN15194:2017 - 4.3.8). We may introduce fork testing depending on demand. Forks are specialist parts and generally type approved by high volume manufacturers. We can test front forks as part of Section 4.3.7 frame lifetime testing (fitting your fork instead of a dummy fork).

• Wheels and wheel/tyre assembly (EN15194:2017 - 4.3.9). Wheels and tyres are generally type approved by a high volume manufacturer. If you are a wheel builder please contact us to discuss wheel strength testing. This is a service we may introduce.

• Rims, tyres & tubes (EN15194:2017 - 4.3.10). This is a specialist area for rim manufacturers and we are unlikely to offer testing in this area. If you're a bike manufacturer, choose quality type approved parts.
• 4.3.11 - Front mudguards. 4.3.12 - Pedals & drive system. 4.3.13 - Drive-chain and drive belt. 4.3.14 - Chain-wheel & belt drive protective device.
• 4.3.15 - Saddles & seat posts. The manufacturers of these parts should be able to provided certification.
• 4.3.16 - Spoke protector. 4.3.17 - Luggage carriers. 4.3.18 - Lighting systems & reflectors. 4.3.20 - Warning device. 4.3.21 - Thermal hazards. 

Notes

Testing & compliance is a risk-based activity; some testing is better than none and high volume suppliers will require higher levels of due diligence.

For practical cost effective testing that allows low volume manufacturers to safely sell products on the market, we take the approach that if sub-assemblies have been type approved, and where the sub assembly requirement makes no reference to differences in testing standard due to the frame design, that providing the certification of the sub assembly is sufficient.

For example, a bike crank has a specific independent standard for strength and longevity. This is irrespective of the frame to which it is attached; so, if the manufacturer of the crank in question can provide certification and the crank is installed in the manner that the manufacturer instructs, it may not be necessary to retest the whole bike to re-certify that component.