IEC 62619 and UN 38.3: What Each Document Proves

Published 8 November 2026 · SH Energy editorial

1. Two documents, two different questions

In an enquiry file these two documents often arrive together, which makes them look like one package. They are not. Each answers a question the other does not touch.

• IEC 62619 — the safety standard for industrial lithium cells and batteries. It speaks to how the battery behaves in use: the kind of question that matters to an installer, an insurer and a site owner.
• UN 38.3 — a test in the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, applied to the cells and batteries before carriage. It is what a freight forwarder and an airline want to see before the box moves.

A battery can hold one and not the other. A model with a full safety file can still be blocked at the airport; a model with a clean transport pack can have no product safety assessment at all. When a supplier says "all certificates available", the first useful question is: which certificates, and for which model.

2. What a "verification of compliance" actually is

This is the part buyers most often misread, so it is worth being blunt about.

A verification of compliance is issued by a testing laboratory. It states that a named model was assessed against a named standard. It is not an accreditation certificate from a certification body, it does not carry that body's mark, and it should not be described as one. The difference is not pedantry: if your customer's compliance officer reads "certified" and then finds a laboratory verification, the supplier looks like it overstated — even though the underlying testing may be perfectly sound.

What to check on the page itself:

• The model string — it must be the model you are buying, not the family.
• The standard, with its year — see the next section.
• Who issued it — laboratory name, not the brand's own letterhead.
• Who holds it — the manufacturer named in the pack, which matters if you ever need a replacement report.

What is often not on the page: an expiry date. Some documents print one; many do not. "There is no expiry printed" is an honest answer. "It is valid indefinitely" is not something the document says, so do not repeat it — ask the manufacturer to confirm validity in writing.

3. The year in the standard number is not decoration

Writing EN IEC 62619:2022 instead of "IEC 62619" is the difference between a precise claim and a loose one. The edition identifies which version of the standard was applied, and a technical buyer auditing the file will look for it.

This cuts both ways. If you are the buyer, ask for the number exactly as printed on the document. If you are the seller, quote it exactly — a supplier who writes the year is telling you they have read their own file.

4. What no certificate will tell you

Four things sit outside both documents, and buyers routinely expect them inside:

• Capacity and power. The document names the model. Energy in kWh and power in kW belong on the datasheet. A certificate that appears to state a capacity is usually a datasheet value someone typed next to it.
• Cycle life or warranty. Neither standard is a durability promise for your site.
• Grid-connection approval. That is decided by the local authority and a registered electrician, with the distributor or municipality running its own process. Documents support the application; they do not replace it.
• Compatibility with your inverter. A safety file says nothing about whether the pair will communicate. That is a protocol and firmware question with its own evidence trail.

5. The transport set travels separately

For carriage, the file a forwarder asks for is usually three items: the UN 38.3 test summary, the MSDS, and — for sea freight — a transport appraisal for the dangerous-goods declaration. These are shipment-level documents. They are re-checked per shipment, and the carrier has the final say on what it will accept.

For the full transport picture, including what changes between sea, air and road, see shipping lithium battery storage.

6. Where we actually stand, model by model

Stated the way we would want it stated to us:

• SH-Home-10 and SH-Home-16 — we hold an EN IEC 62619:2022 verification of compliance, issued by a testing laboratory, plus the UN 38.3 test summary, the MSDS and the sea-transport appraisal. The document identifies the model; the capacity comes from the datasheet. No expiry date is printed on it, so validity is confirmed with the manufacturer when a buyer asks.
• SH-Stack-5 and SH-Go-P2500 — Not held. No IEC or EN product certification. The transport pack is provided per shipment. We write this rather than let a family name imply cover.

The full per-model table, including the inverter line, is on the documents centre.

7. Five questions to send any supplier

Any supplier who can answer those five without going away to check is either very organised or has read their own file recently. Both are good signs.

8. Why this matters commercially

A tender or an insurance review will eventually ask for the document, not the claim. When the answer is "we hold an EN IEC 62619:2022 verification of compliance for this model, issued by a testing laboratory, and here it is", the conversation moves forward. When the answer is "yes, IEC certified" and the file does not match the words, the whole submission gets re-read — and everything else the supplier said is discounted with it.

Precision is cheaper than re-submission.

FAQ

Where this fits

Model-level status is on the documents centre; the residential range is on SH-Home. If you are assembling a tender file, start from the partner desk and we will send the exact pack for the model you are quoting.

Ask for the file, not the claim

Send the model and the destination to jimmy@sunhongenergy.com, or message the desk on WhatsApp.