European Commission’s New LVD Guide Offers Clarification on the Directive’s Scope

In August, the European Commission published an updated set of guidelines to accompany the Low Voltage Directive (LVD). This superseded the provisional guidance that had been published in the wake of the LVD’s 2014 recast, also the guidelines from 2007 that accompanied the now redundant 2006 version of the LVD.

Abbreviated in name to “the LVD Guide”, it is important to note that while the Commission’s guidelines are not legally binding they do constitute a source of official interpretation when it comes to the application of the LVD. Central to the application of any law is consideration of what it applies to – in other words, its scope. While the LVD includes a specific article – Article 1 – on legislative scope, this is not entirely without ambiguity. The new LVD Guide assists in this respect, offering clarification on a number of issues likely to be of interest to those involved in placing electrical equipment on the EU market.

Before getting into a discussion on the LVD Guide’s advice on scope, it is worth considering what Article 1 of the LVD says. This is as follows:

The purpose of this Directive is to ensure that electrical equipment on the market fulfils the requirements providing for a high level of protection of health and safety of persons, and of domestic animals and property, while guaranteeing the functioning of the internal market.

This Directive shall apply to electrical equipment designed for use with a voltage rating of between 50 and 1 000 V for alternating current and between 75 and 1 500 V for direct current, other than the equipment and phenomena listed in Annex II.

The new LVD Guide seeks to clarify these two statements with the following advice:

• The voltage rating is for voltage of the electrical input or output, and not to voltages that may appear inside the equipment. The Article I term “designed for use with a voltage rating” is interpreted as electrical equipment having either a rated input voltage or rated output voltage (or both) inside this voltage range. Higher voltages may occur internally, but this is separate from the voltage rating stated in Article 1.
• The extent to which electrical components are within the scope of the LVD requires careful consideration. The LVD Guide explains that, as a first principle, the LVD applies both to electrical equipment intended for incorporation into other equipment and to equipment intended to be used directly without being incorporated. However, when the safety of components largely depends on how these components are integrated into final products and what the characteristics of the products are, the LVD Guide states that component manufacturers may be unable to perform safety risk assessments (as safety will be influenced by later uses of components that the manufacturers may not be able to foresee). In these circumstances, the LVD Guide considers that the components are “not covered as such by the LVD” and should not be CE marked unless other CE marking legislation applies to the components. The guidance provides indicative examples of basic components (e.g. integrated circuits, capacitors, resistors) which fall outside of the scope of the LVD, and components, some being of a more complex nature, considered to be in scope of the LVD such as lamps, starters, fuses, switches for household use, and elements of electrical installations.
• Unless the battery provides a DC power supply between 75 and 1 500 V, battery operated electrical equipment falls outside the scope of the LVD. However, the LVD Guide makes the point that “…any accompanying battery-charger as well as equipment with integrated power supply unit within the voltage ranges of the LVD are in scope of the LVD”. A good example in this regard is the power supply that might be provided with a laptop; if the LVD’s voltage range applies then it will be in scope of the Directive. Note that this is true for mains chargers, but not for USB chargers.
• The LVD applies to all forms of supplying electrical equipment intended to be placed on the EU market, regardless of the selling technique. “Regardless of the selling technique” is the key phrase here. It means that even if you supply the EU market via distance selling or electronic means you will still have obligations under the LVD. For instance, if it is your branded electrical equipment then you are a manufacturer under the LVD and will need to meet the obligations found in Article 6 of the Directive. As another example, if you have an EU manufacturer’s branded electrical equipment in your sales channel and are circulating it to users then you are a distributor under the LVD and will need to meet Article 9 obligations.

Advice is also given on the CE marking of power cord sets. When these have not been placed on the EU market as individual items but bundled with electrical equipment in scope of the LVD, there is no need to affix the CE marking to the power cord. However, the manufacturer (or manufacturer’s authorised representative) remains responsible for demonstrating that both the power cord set and the electrical equipment that it accompanies comply with the LVD’s Annex I safety objectives. The electrical equipment is to be CE marked.

Of further note is the LVD Guide’s Annex VII, Section A. This lists circa 30 example products within or outside the scope of the LVD. The table below provides a summary of this.

The new LVD Guide is accessible from: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/31221.

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