Where can I buy standards without breaking the bank?

As a medtech coach, I get asked the same questions over and over. So I'm turning the most frequent ones into a post series - starting with a question that I get asked from almost every early-stage founder.

Where can I buy standards without breaking the bank?

The moment most start-ups search for their first standards, their eyes go wide. Standards are expensive - sometimes shockingly so. But, here’s a tip I share with every founder I coach: the price varies significantly depending on where you buy.

EVS, Estonia's national standards body, sells the same harmonized European and international standards as DIN, BSI, or SNV, but at noticeably lower prices. We're talking 30 to 60% cheaper per document. Across a full compliance project, that can easily save you several hundred Swiss Francs. Here’s the link to the EVS: https://www.evs.ee/en/ 

And yes – as a Swiss start-up it is absolutely fine to buy standards in Estonia. European harmonized standards are developed once by CEN/CENELEC and adopted identically by all national member bodies. Smaller bodies, like EVS, have lower overhead and tend to price more competitively to attract international buyers. There is no legal or regulatory difference whatsoever - as long as you have the correct version and edition, you're good.

A few more things to consider

• Check your ecosystem first. If you're a university spin-out or in an accelerator, they may already have access to standards - usually the cheapest option of all.

• Some national bodies offer start-up discounts. Prices vary across national bodies, and some offer start-up discounts. However, most of the time, EVS is cheapest – so not always worthwhile to spend the time on lengthy research and negotiation.

• Buy only what you need now. Standards get revised regularly - don't stockpile documents you might have to repurchase later.

• Use a free standards monitoring service. It alerts you when a standard is updated, which is genuinely useful once you're in active compliance work. EVS offers this too.

What's your burning question? Let me know — it might become the next post.

Nila

A blog post by Nila-Pia Rähle in the series "Good Questions - From CE marking to circularity"