Directive 2014/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council - dated 26 February 2014 and implemented in Italy by Legislative Decree no. 86 of 19 May 2016 - harmonizes the legislation of the Member States in relation to electrical equipment intended to be used within specific voltage limits. The directive is aimed at ensuring that the electrical equipment involved has adequate protection against electrical dangers of various kinds. Referring to IEC/ISO EN technical standards - which manufacturers of electrical products must comply with - the Directive explains the expected risks for health and safety, defining the parameters for which the devices are safe with respect to their intended use.
This directive falls within the legislative framework for the free movement and marketing of products in the European community. Its ultimate aim is to avoid the risks associated with a product or phenomenon, thus defending a common interest of European citizens and companies.
The English name for this directive is: Low Voltage Directive;
Its abbreviated acronym is: LVD;
Its code is: 2014/35/EU;
The previous directives on this topic, which are no longer in force today are: 2006/95/EC, 73/23/EEC.
It is useful to know the references of the old directives because they are often found in the documentation of products or components, but also in European laws and regulations if they have not been recently updated.
Field of application: Directive 2014/35/EU (LVD) concerns alternating current and direct current electrical equipment with nominal voltage between 50 and 1000 V and between 75 and 1500 V respectively.
Essential requirements: the products involved in the scope of the directive, to be placed on the European market, must comply with the essential requirements described in Annex 1 of the directive. Generally speaking, the essential requirements of the Directive concern a high level of protection of the health and safety of people, domestic animals and property, while ensuring the functioning of the internal market.
Main contents of the directive
- Premises
- Field of application
- Definitions
- Essential requirements
- Manufacturer's obligations
- Obligations of other economic operators
- Free movement
- Presumption of conformity and harmonized standards
- Conformity assessment
- Notified bodies
- CE marking
Premises
The motivations that led to the writing of the directive itself are understood as "Premises".
Field of application
The scope defines the categories of products or phenomena regulated by the directive. Often a general criterion is expressed accompanied by explicit lists of products/phenomena that are subject to the directive and of products/phenomena that are excluded from the directive in order to clarify particular situations.
Definitions
The "Definitions" section includes all specific explanations of the main terms used in the directive, useful for fully understanding the field of application.
Essential requirements
The essential requirements are the requirements with which the product must comply in order to be placed on the market. Often the essential requirements are found in Annex I of the Directive.
Manufacturer's obligations
The manufacturer (or his authorized representative in the European Community) is primarily responsible for placing a product on the market. This chapter describes the obligations and procedures that he must follow, referring to the annexes of the directive for more detailed explanations and regulations.
Obligations of other economic operators
Distributors and retailers are also responsible and liable if they trade in items that do not comply with European directives. They must check that the manufacturer has had the electrical safety test carried out, that the product has the EU declaration of conformity and that it bears the CE mark.
The potential importer must ensure that the procedures for verifying the conformity of the product have been carried out, must verify the presence of the CE marking and ensure that the technical documentation of the product is available to the competent national authorities.
Free movement
Member States must presume that products bearing the CE marking comply with all provisions of the applicable directives requiring its affixing. They cannot therefore prohibit, limit or prevent the placing on the market and putting into service on their territory of products bearing the CE marking, unless the provisions relating to CE marking have been applied improperly.
Presumption of conformity and harmonized standards
The directives of our interest are associated with a list of harmonized standards which is published in the European Official Journal. Harmonized standards make it much easier to verify the conformity of a product with the requirements of a directive. These standards describe in detail how the tests or other types of assessment necessary for electrical safety verification must be carried out.
If harmonized standards are available for a product to cover all the requirements of the directive - if these standards are applied in a complete manner and the product passes all the tests required by the standards themselves - then it can be assumed that the product complies with the safety requirements. that directive. In the absence of harmonized standards suitable for the product, the path is more complicated and expensive.
Equipping a suitable laboratory to carry out the tests required by the Harmonized Standards is quite expensive. For this reason, manufacturers often rely on external testing laboratories for electrical safety testing.
Notified bodies
In Europe it is the body that can carry out a conformity assessment by acting as a third party or evaluate whether the one carried out by the manufacturer and its trusted laboratories is correct. In most cases, however, the use of a notified body is not foreseen or in any case not necessary.
CE marking
Products that comply with all provisions of the applicable directives requiring the CE marking must bear it. This marking is, in particular, an indication that the products comply with the essential requirements of all applicable directives and that they have undergone a conformity assessment procedure provided for by the directives themselves. Member States are also required to take the necessary measures to protect the CE marking.
Sicom Testing with its vast experience offers a wide range of services for electrical safety testing.
To request further information on this topic, write to info@sicomtesting.com
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What standards must an energy analyzer meet?
Good morning,
With reference to the Low Voltage Directive (LVD), the standards applicable to an energy analyzer are EN 61010-1 and EN 61010-2-30.
Furthermore, if it is applied as an industrial control, EN 61010-2-201 is also applicable, while if it has the function of a switch and is used in building automation, the standards of the EN 60669 series are applicable.
Best regards
Sicom Test
What standards apply to my Wi-Fi monitoring camera?
1. Works at 12V DC, 3A, 36W, USB Type-C PD, powered by charger and USB Type-C cable.
2. 2.4GHz & 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi with 2 modules.
3. Built-in 10000mAh battery.
Good morning,
In order to be placed on the European market, your product must be tested according to the following standards:
EN 300 328
EN 301 893
EN 301 489-1/-17
EN 62368-1
EN 62311 (if it can be held in the hand during use, SAR tests must be performed)
Furthermore, compliance with the RoHS directive and the Cyber-security regulation (mandatory from 1/8/2025) must be assessed.
If the battery is not already CE marked, it will also be necessary to evaluate the safety of the battery.
Best regards
Sicom Test
Thank you for the detailed information on compliance requirements.
The battery used in our product is already CE marked.
A couple of clarifications:
Is the upcoming cybersecurity regulation applicable to the product specifically or to the manufacturer as a whole?
During use, the product may be close to a person (for example, as with a laptop) but is typically not handheld. Given this usage scenario, would the EN 62311 standard still require SAR testing?
Good morning,
Cybersecurity must be applied to the product.
The SAR applies if the product is continuously used at a distance of less than 20 cm from the human body.
Best regards
Sicom Test
Good morning,
Does the Ecodesign Directive also apply to products developed under an open license? A product similar to a network card.
The second question is: if the customer wants a different plugin, should it be tested together with the entire system?
Good morning,
The ecodesign directive applies to products connected to the electricity grid. If there is no specific regulation for a type of product, it is still necessary to verify, in the case of domestic and office products, that consumption in stand-by (or off but connected to the grid) ) is lower than the prescribed limits. If the product is a plug-in product that connects to a mains-powered system, the ecodesign applies to the complete system.
Best regards
Sicom Test
Good evening. Please, I would like to know if LVD test reports are mandatory for circuit breakers and require the intervention of a notified body. Same question for Christmas lights. Thank you
Good morning,
Circuit breakers fall under LVD, so test reports are required to demonstrate compliance; the intervention of a notified body is not necessary since according to premise (9) of the LVD Directive: "This Directive does not provide for any conformity assessment procedure that requires the intervention of a notified body."
As regards Christmas lights, they fall under the LVD if intended to be used at a nominal voltage between 50 and 1,000 V in alternating current and between 75 and 1,500 V in direct current, otherwise they fall under the general safety directive of products (2001/95/EC); furthermore, if several Christmas lights are used to create an installation, the latter (in Italy) must also comply with the regulation on installations.
Best regards
Sicom Test
What guidelines should I follow for a 39V and 10.8A DC balcony photovoltaic panel... with a 350W micro-inverter at 230Volt AC connected to the home network in parallel with the distributor (plugged in)? We would be talking about a final power with 1 panel of 350W while with 2 in parallel of 700W in AC.
Good morning,
The individual modules must comply with the requirements of the directives:
-Low voltage
-Electromagnetic compatibility
-RoHS
Best regards
Sicom Test
But shouldn't the "panel+inverter+box with protections+plug" assembly have a single CE marking as a whole, even though the individual components already have the marking?
Good morning,
If the assembled "panel+inverter+box with protections+plug" is sold to the end user as a single product, yes, it must have a single marking, the applicable directives are the same.
Best regards
Sicom Test