Electrical equipment designed for use

within certain voltage limits

(LVD GUIDE)

August 2018
 INTRODUCTION

1. These Low Voltage Directive Guidelines (LVD Guide) are intended to be a

manual for all parties directly or indirectly affected by the Low Voltage
Directive 2014/35/EU1 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the LVD’), applicable from
20 April 2016, replacing the previous Directive 2006/95/EC2.

2. This guide updates the first version of the “guidelines on the application of
Directive 2014/35/EU” of November 2016, that superseded the “guidelines on
the application of Directive 2006/95/EC” of August 2007 in the last
modification version of January 2012 This guide refers only to the
application of the LVD (Directive 2014/35/EU) unless otherwise indicated.

3. Readers’ attention is drawn to the fact that this guide is intended only to
facilitate the application of the LVD and it is the text of the LVD and the
national laws transposing the LVD that are legally binding. However, this
document does represent a reference for ensuring consistent and
harmonised application of the LVD by all stakeholders.

4. This guide is intended not only for the use of Member States’ competent
authorities, but also by the main economic operators concerned, such as
manufacturers, importers and distributors and their trade associations;
bodies in charge of the preparation of standards as well as those involved in
the conformity assessment procedures.

5. This guide is not exhaustive; it focuses on certain issues only, which, in the
light of the experience, are of direct and specific interest for the application of
the LVD. This guide should be used in conjunction with the LVD itself and
with the European Commission’s document “The Blue Guide on the
implementation of EU product rules”3, which further explains concepts such
as “placing on the market” and “economic operators”.

6. The structure of the LVD guide follows the structure of the LVD itself.
Comments and explanations are given to each Article and Annex of the LVD.
It also provides additional clarifications and information in Annexes VII-XI of
this guide.4 For comprehensive guidance on horizontal terms and principles

1
Directive 2014/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the
harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of electrical
equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (recast) (OJEU L 96, 29.3.2014)

2
Directive 2006/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the
harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain
voltage limits (codified version) (OJEU L 374, 27.12.2006)

3
European Commission’s « The 'Blue Guide' on the implementation of EU product rules» is a comprehensive
guidance on the implementation of EU product rules, available on:
http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/12661

4
Annexes VII-XI of this guide are not annexes of the LVD.
2
 of EU product rules, the readers should refer to the “The 'Blue Guide' on the
implementation of EU product rules”, as advised in these guidelines.

7. This guide has been prepared by the competent services of the Directorate-
General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW)
of the European Commission in cooperation with Member States, European
standardisation bodies, European industry, European consumer
organisations and other relevant sectoral stakeholders.

8. This information is:

- of a general nature only and is not intended to address the specific

circumstances of any particular individual or entity;

- not necessarily complete, accurate or up-to-date;

- sometimes refers to external information for which the Commission

assumes no responsibility.

9. This version replaces the previous version of November 2016.

3
 THE LOW VOLTAGE DIRECTIVE (LVD)

LVD is a "New Approach" Directive concerning electrical equipment designed for

use within certain voltage limits. It became applicable on 20 April 2016,
replacing the previous Directive 2006/95/EC, which was applicable until 19th
April 2016.

The LVD is mainly based on the principle elements of the previous Directive
2006/95/EC i.e. the scope and the safety objectives remain the same. It was
revised to align the horizontal provisions of the New Legislative Framework
(NLF), configured as the improvement and update of the regulatory method
known as the “New Approach to technical harmonisation and standards”. The
set of legislative acts of the NLF includes the Regulation (EC) No 765/20085 and
the Decision No 768/2008/EC6. These acts aim to create a more coherent legal
framework for the marketing of products in the European Union.

LVD is termed as a recast of Directive 2006/95/EC since the modifications are

presented in the form of a new Directive.

The new content in LVD, relating to – among others – definitions and obligations
of economic operators, reinforced activities of market surveillance authorities
and the creation of a new Committee comes directly from the NLF Decision, as
additions and/or terminology adaptation.

Like the previous Directive 2006/95/EC, the LVD is a “total harmonised safety
Directive” in the sense that it covers all safety aspects of electrical equipment,
not just the electrical risks. It supersedes any existing national legislation in the
field covered.

Wider information on the whole system, including the New Legislative

Framework can be found in the latest version of “The ‘Blue Guide’ on the
implementation of EU product rules”, available on:
http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/12661

All parties concerned should be aware that requirements of other EU acts may
also apply to electrical equipment falling under the scope of the LVD (e.g. EMC
Directive, Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive etc.) to be

5
Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of The Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the
requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing
Regulation (EEC) No 339/93 (OJ L 218 of 13.08.2008, pages 30-47 )

6
Decision No 768/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of The Council of 9 July 2008 on a common
framework for the marketing of products, and repealing Council Decision 93/465/EEC (OJ L218 of
13.08.2008, pages 82-128.
4
placed on the EU market. This guide refers to the application of the LVD and
clarifies the relationship between that Directive (LVD) and other EU acts.

Further information references including guidance, general policy issues related

to the management and implementation of the new LVD and market surveillance
matters, can be found in Annex X.

Any query can be addressed to the GROW LVD functional mailbox:

GROW-DIR-LV@ec.europa.eu