# Technical File vs Test Report: What's the Difference and Why It Matters

Many hardware founders treat a test report as their compliance document. It isn't. The test report is a piece of evidence within a much larger technical file — and it's the technical file that market surveillance authorities ask for when they investigate your product. Understanding this distinction changes how you build your compliance documentation from day one.


## Transcript

### The test report is evidence. The technical file is the case.

When a market surveillance authority investigates a CE-marked product, they don't ask for the test report — they ask for the technical file. The report proves you ran the tests. The file proves you have a defensible Declaration of Conformity.

### What a technical file must contain

A technical file needs: a product description, design and manufacturing documentation, a risk assessment, the standards applied, test reports, the Declaration of Conformity, and user instructions. Keep it ten years after the last sale. Authorities can demand it within ten working days.

### Building the technical file from day one

Start your technical file at the beginning of design, not after test reports arrive. The risk assessment is a design-stage activity — it determines which standards you test against. By the lab stage, your file should already be nearly complete.

Tags: technical file, test report, CE marking, compliance documentation, market surveillance