Protective Case Certifications: What Is Actually Required

Direct answer: Most buyers ask for "certificates" without knowing which ones matter. There are three different families, and confusing them wastes money. Material compliance (REACH, RoHS) covers the plastic itself. Performance testing (IP67/IP68, MIL-STD-810H) covers the finished case. Transit validation (ISTA) covers the packaged shipment. A case can pass all three, or fail one while holding the others — and they are not substitutes for each other.

Material compliance: REACH and RoHS

REACH (EU Regulation 1907/2006) restricts SVHC — substances of very high concern — in articles. RoHS restricts hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, and applies indirectly when a case ships as part of a device.

What this means commercially: the supplier should be able to state which SVHC screening they run, with what test method, and over what concentration limit. A declaration without a test method is a piece of paper. At Kexin we provide REACH and RoHS declarations for the resins we use, naming the grade and the test basis.

Performance: IP67, IP68 and MIL-STD-810H

An IP rating is a water test: dust-tight enclosure plus protection against immersion (IP67 = 30 minutes at 1 m; IP68 = a manufacturer-agreed deeper or longer immersion). It says nothing about drops.

MIL-STD-810H is a suite of US military environmental methods, each separate: Method 516.8 for drop, 514.5 for vibration, 501.7 for temperature, 500.6 for humidity, 512.4 for immersion. When a supplier says "tested to MIL-STD-810H", ask which method and which height. A case certified only for temperature is useless for a field-service buyer who drops cases off tailgates.

• Our 8-series is tested to IP67/IP68 and MIL-STD-810H Method 516.8 at 1.2 m.
• Reports name the model, the laboratory and the method — not just the standard.

Transit: ISTA and what it does not cover

ISTA test procedures (1A for small parcels, 3A for parcel shipments) validate the packaging system, not the case in isolation. A case that passes drop testing can still arrive damaged if the carton around it is weak. ISTA 3A is the usual reference for sea-freight shipments.

Note what ISTA does not do: it does not certify the product, and it does not replace a product-specific drop test. Buyers who only ask for "ISTA" and no product test are testing the box, not the case.

Writing it into the contract

Three clauses worth having, in this order of importance:

• Named model. "Tested to MIL-STD-810H" is weak. "Model WL8-3815 tested to MIL-STD-810H Method 516.8 at 1.2 m, report [number], laboratory [name]" is enforceable.
• Which documents are due, and when. Declarations with the proforma invoice, test reports before the first production run, and a conformance statement with the shipment.
• Who verifies. Reserve the right to confirm the report number with the issuing laboratory. We support that without objection.

How to verify a certificate in five minutes

1. Check the report names your exact model, not just a series.
2. Look up the report number with the laboratory directly, not through the supplier PDF.
3. Check the date is inside your qualification window — a five-year-old report may predate a resin change.
4. Check the test method matches your actual risk: a water test is not a drop test.
5. Check the report is a report, not a declaration. Reports have a number, a date and a sample description.

Cheap checks catch most of what matters. At Kexin, 8-series reports name model, laboratory and method, and we quote EXW Guangdong or FOB Shenzhen/Ningbo so the commercial terms stay yours.