Thailand / NBTC / TS 1035-2562

NBTC now requires electrical safety testing for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices

From 1 February 2026, NBTC applications for 2.4/5 GHz radio equipment must newly include an electrical safety test report alongside the existing RF and SAR reports.
The requirement previously applied to Wi-Fi equipment only; it now covers Bluetooth, BLE, Zigbee, other short-range devices and IoT products on the same bands.
This sits on top of Thailand's existing Class A / Class B / SDoC three-tier system and its ISO 17025-accredited-lab testing requirement.

Last updated 7th October 2026 · By Vas Parshin and Anabel Amar

Thailand NBTC Type Approval 2026 — New Electrical Safety Test Requirement

1 Feb 2026New electrical safety test report requirement takes effect

3 standardsIEC 60950-1, IEC 62368-1 or TIS 1561-2556 accepted

~8 weeksReported average lead time for radio type approval

What's actually changing

NBTC Technical Standard TS 1035-2562 extends electrical safety testing to every piece of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio equipment going through Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) — Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee and other short-range devices, IoT products, and Wi-Fi transceivers and access points. Electrical safety testing under this track previously applied to Wi-Fi equipment only, under NBTC's 2019 standard TS 4001-2561; TS 1035-2562 closes that gap for the rest of the devices sharing the same bands. From 1 February 2026, an SDoC application for any of these devices must include three reports: an RF test report, a SAR report where applicable, and an electrical safety test report against IEC 60950-1, IEC 62368-1, or the Thai national standard TIS 1561-2556. Applications already lodged by 31 January 2026 are not affected.

The part worth planning around now

A manufacturer that has only ever needed RF and SAR reports for a Bluetooth or Zigbee product now needs a third report before NBTC will accept the SDoC filing — and that report has to come from an ISO 17025-accredited lab, the same accreditation bar NBTC already applies to every other test report in the process. Booking electrical safety test capacity on top of RF/SAR testing, for a product line that previously didn't need it, is new lead time that a filing plan built on the old two-report assumption won't have accounted for. Products already certified before 1 February 2026 are not required to retest, but any new submission, re-certification, or product variant filed on or after that date needs the full three-report package from day one.

Who this actually lands on

Thailand runs type approval through three tracks. Class A equipment — GMPCS terminals, microwave fixed links — is tested and certified directly by NBTC's own office. Class B equipment — high-power RFID, vehicle radar, maritime and aeronautical radio, land-mobile VHF/UHF — goes through NBTC certification too, but NBTC accepts a test report against an international standard (FCC or ETSI/EN) from an accredited lab rather than running its own testing. Most consumer radio products — WLAN, Bluetooth, low-power and short-range devices — fall under SDoC: a supplier self-declaration backed by accredited-lab test reports, without NBTC issuing a separate certificate. The new electrical safety requirement sits inside this SDoC track, so it lands hardest on exactly the consumer electronics and IoT makers who use it most. A local representative is required to hold and submit a Thai filing for a manufacturer with no Thai-registered entity.

Where we fit

Thailand's NBTC regime sits alongside a wider set of Asia-Pacific type-approval processes we track on their own separate clocks — Indonesia's SDPPI certification, Singapore's IMDA cellular rules, and Vietnam's QCVN 86 EMC requirements all move independently of Thailand's own TS 1035-2562 update. We fold the NBTC requirement into the same regional review we run for the rest of Southeast Asia, so a device programme covering more than one of these markets gets one coordinated testing and filing plan rather than a separate one per country.

Questions

What is changing with NBTC type approval in 2026?

From 1 February 2026, NBTC Technical Standard TS 1035-2562 requires an electrical safety test report alongside the existing RF test report and SAR report (where applicable) for Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) applications covering 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio equipment — Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, other short-range devices, IoT devices and Wi-Fi transceivers. Previously, electrical safety testing under this track applied only to Wi-Fi equipment; the update closes that gap for every other device sharing the same frequency bands. Applications lodged by 31 January 2026 remain exempt.

What electrical safety standards does NBTC accept?

IEC 60950-1, IEC 62368-1, or the Thai national standard TIS 1561-2556 (also written TIS 1561-2013). These are the same three standards NBTC has accepted for electrical safety since its 2019 standard NBTC TS 4001-2561.

What are Thailand's three NBTC equipment classes?

Class A equipment is tested and certified directly by NBTC's own office (for example GMPCS terminals and microwave fixed links). Class B equipment goes through the same certification route but NBTC accepts a test report from an accredited laboratory against an international standard such as FCC or ETSI/EN (for example high-power RFID, vehicle radar, maritime/aeronautical and land-mobile VHF/UHF equipment). SDoC (Supplier's Declaration of Conformity) covers most consumer radio products — WLAN, Bluetooth, short-range and low-power devices — and is a self-declaration backed by test reports from an accredited lab, without a separate NBTC certificate.

How long does NBTC type approval take and does it expire?

Industry-reported average lead time for radio type approval is around 8 weeks once testing is complete, though this varies by equipment class and NBTC's own processing load. Certificates and SDoC registrations do not expire on a fixed term, provided the approved equipment is not subsequently modified.