The Low Voltage Directive

All Electrical Equipment Must be Safe

This article tries to explain what needs to be done to ensure that the equipment that you manufacture and sell meets legal requirements for use within the United Kingdom and within the rest of the European Economic Area (EEA).

At this moment in time suppliers are allowed to supply electrical equipment which either:

• (a) complies fully with the provisions of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, or

• (b) complies fully with the provisions of the Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1989 provided that the equipment is placed on the market before 1st January 1997.

From 1st January 1997 all equipment that is placed on the market must fully comply with the 1994 Regulations. Only within the UK, equipment that is in the supply chain before 1st January 1997 will still be allowed into the market provided it fully complies with the 1989 Regulations; this may also be true for other countries within the EEA but this cannot be guaranteed. Since there has been ample warning of the change and the fact that the new requirements are similar to the previous ones it should only be a minority of products that will be caught by the 1st January 1997 deadline.

Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1989

The Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1989 came into force on 1st June 1989 and brought into UK law the Low Voltage Directive. The Low Voltage Directive (No. 73/23/EEC) was adopted by the EC Council of Ministers on 19th February 1973.

These Regulations are applicable to all electrical equipment (except those listed in Appendix 1) that is designed or adapted for use between 50 and 1000 Vac or 75 and 1500 Vdc.

The principles of the Regulations are: Only electrical equipment which does not jeopardise the safety of people, domestic pets and property shall be placed on the Community market.

Electrical equipment will be presumed to satisfy the requirements of the Regulations if it either:

• bears a mark distinctive of a Community certification body or is accompanied by a certificate issued by such a body, or

• a manufacturer's declaration of conformity is available.

The full text of the Regulations is set out in Statutory Instrument 1989 No. 728 obtainable from HMSO. A useful booklet is the Guide to the Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1989; this booklet is available from the DTI - Consumer Safety Unit.

Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994

The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 implement into UK law the modified Low Voltage Directive. The Regulations came into force on 9th January 1995 but will not be fully enforced until 1st January 1997. The primary legislation for this Regulation in the UK is the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the European Communities Act 1972. This 1994 Regulation supersedes the 1989 Regulation which was revoked with effect from 9th January 1995. However the 1989 Regulations will continue to be relevant for some time to cover equipment that does not comply with the 1994 Regulations (see "Introduction" above).

These Regulations are applicable to all electrical equipment (except those listed in Appendix 1) that are designed or adapted for use between 50 and 1000 Vac or 75 and 1500 Vdc and cover domestic electrical equipment and equipment that is intended for use in the workplace.

The Regulations cover "electrical equipment". Components, as such, are not covered by the Regulations unless they can also be considered as electrical equipment and sold as a separate entity. For example a power unit mounted within a piece of equipment does not, in itself, need to meet the requirements of the Regulations (the overall equipment, of course, does) however if the power unit is sold as a stand alone unit then the Regulations are applicable.

All suppliers of electrical equipment (whether they are the manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers, wholesalers, distributors or retailers) have a statutory duty to ensure that they supply only equipment which complies with the requirements of the 1994 Regulations. Any person failing to do so is liable, under summary conviction, to imprisonment, a fine or both.

The principles of the Regulations are: Only electrical equipment which does not jeopardise the safety of people, domestic pets and property shall be placed on the Community market.

Electrical equipment will be presumed to satisfy the requirements of the Regulations if:

• It complies with the safety requirements of a Harmonised Standard, generally speaking this means that the specification reference number will be prefixed by the letters "EN". Harmonised standards are valid throughout the EEA however they may include "National Deviations" for particular countries; these deviations are relatively minor but manufacturers intending to sell equipment to particular countries are advised to check for any deviations applicable to that country. or

• In the absence of a relevant harmonised standard, it complies with the safety requirements of a specification published by the International Electrotechnical Commission, the reference number of these specifications is prefixed by the letters "IEC". or

• In the absence of a relevant harmonised or international standard, it complies with the safety requirements of:

• a) a published British Standard; or

• b) a published standard of the Member State of the manufacturer and

• The equipment meets the "CE" Marking Requirements

The full text of the Regulations is set out in Statutory Instrument 1994 No. 3260 obtainable from HMSO. A useful booklet is the Electrical Equipment Guidance Notes on UK Regulations; this booklet is available from the DTI - Consumer Safety Unit.

General Requirements

To comply with European Requirements suppliers must ensure that their products are designed for use at the designated supply voltage (230Vac) and are of either Class I or Class II construction. It is an offence to supply electrical equipment which relies on protection against electric shock by means of basic insulation alone (Class 0 construction). It should be noted that some U.S. and Canadian safety specifications only require basic insulation between hazardous and low voltage circuitry and hence equipment tested against these specification are not allowed for use within the United Kingdom nor the EEA.

There is no mandatory requirement for a manufacturer to have his equipment tested by a third party test laboratory. An authorised member of the company or his authorised representative must make a Declaration of Conformity which, among other requirements, must include the specification to which the equipment complies. It would be extremely foolhardy for a company to make a declaration without carrying out stringent testing since, if the safety of the equipment was ever challenged, he would have no form of defence. If the company has the facilities to carry out full testing of the equipment to a relevant specification then it may be felt that this would be the best option however if there is any doubt on the company's ability to fully test then arranging for testing at a third party test laboratory may be more prudent. Any NAMAS approved laboratory could be used, however for full peace of mind one of the laboratories which have been designated as a UK Notified Body may be more appropriate. (A full list of these laboratories is included in the Electrical Equipment Guidance Notes on UK Regulations which is available from the DTI.)

The "CE" Marking Requirements

As stated previously it is one of the requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 that the equipment is "CE Marked". The requirements covering the CE mark consist of three parts, all of which must be satisfied, viz.:

• the affixing of the mark on the equipment;
• completing an EC Declaration of Conformity covering that equipment;
• compiling and holding Technical Documentation relating to that equipment.

The CE Mark

The CE mark is a visible declaration by the manufacturer that the equipment complies with the requirements of all relevant Directives. The manufacturer must decide which Directives are relevant to his particular equipment. Since we are discussing electrical equipment then the CE mark will cover the Low Voltage Directive, it is also likely to cover the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive but there are several other Directives that may need to be considered. Some of the other directives are listed in Appendix 2. Like the Low Voltage Directive some of the other Directives are not yet mandatory and hence there may be a transitional period. If the manufacturer chooses not to include some of the relevant Directories this information must be given in the documents, notices or instructions that accompany the equipment.

The CE mark is intended to indicate to any enforcement authorities that the equipment meets all the relevant Directives (except as stated above) and is entitled to access into EEA markets. The mark is not a European safety mark or quality symbol and should not be presented as such.

EC Declaration of Conformity

An EC Declaration of Conformity is a written declaration by the manufacturer or his authorised representative that the equipment to which the CE mark has been affixed complies with the requirements of the 1994 Regulations. The declaration must:

• identify the manufacturer or the authorised representative;
• describe the electrical equipment to which it relates;
• specify the standard(s)/specification(s) with which conformity with the safety standards is declared.

A copy of the declaration is not required to accompany every product but must be held within the EEA by the manufacturer or his authorised representative. The declaration must be available for inspection by an enforcement authority if there is reasonable grounds for suspecting that the equipment does not meet the safety requirements. Failure to provide a copy within a reasonable length of time could amount to an offence under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

Technical Documentation

The Technical Documentation provides the enforcement authorities with the means of assessing the conformity of the equipment to the requirements of the 1994 Regulations. The Documentation must:

• describe the equipment to which it relates;
• contain information about the design, manufacture and operation; of the equipment
• set out the procedures used to ensure the conformity of the equipment with the safety requirements.

It is the manufacturer's responsibility to compile the relevant documentation which must then be kept within the EEA for possible inspection purposes. The documentation must remain available for not less than ten years after the manufacture of the equipment to which it relates has ceased.

Test Specifications

A glance through the BSI Standards Catalogue will make you aware of how many British, European (harmonised) and International standards are available. Admittedly they are by no means all electrical safety specifications however there are several that do cover electrical safety. Perhaps the most popular specification covering a whole range of equipment primarily for use in the workplace is BS EN 60950:1992.

This specification was derived from IEC 950:1991 (second edition) by the Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique (CENELEC) and is entitled Safety of Information Technology Equipment, including Electrical Business Equipment. The advantage of this specification is that it is based on the International Electrotechnical Commission specification IEC950 and hence is (theoretically) recognised throughout the world. Other countries have recognised the use of this specification and have based their own national standards on this IEC specification. e.g.:

• Europe EN60950
• United Kingdom BS7002 Dual standard with BS EN 60950
• Germany VDE0805 (part 100)
• United States UL1950
• Canada CSA22.2.950 Beware of "Code 3 Deviations"
• Australia AS3260

All the above equivalents are virtually word for word the same as IEC950 although there are very minor National differences. The only exception is the Canadian specification which incorporates "Code 3 Deviations". These deviations allow Canadian products to drop down to a lower level of protection if the products cannot meet the full requirements of the specification. Equipment meeting the full requirements of CSA22.2.950 can be expected to comply with BS EN 60950 but equipment tested against the lower "Code 3

BS EN 60950 but equipment tested against the lower "Code 3 Deviations" will not, in fact their use may be illegal in the EEA.

EN60950 is a very comprehensive specification, it covers such requirements as marking, instructions, earthing, fusing, creepage and clearance, wiring, mechanical strength, resistance to fire, heating effects, electrical stress, fault conditions, connection to telecommunication networks, etc.

Appendix 1 - Exclusions from the 1989 & 1994 Regulations

The Regulations do not apply to:

• Equipment for use in an explosive atmosphere;
• Equipment for radiology and medical purposes;
• Parts of goods lifts and passenger lifts;
• Electricity supply meters;
• Plugs and sockets for domestic use;
• Fence controllers;
• Specialised electrical equipment for the use on ships, aircraft or railways, which complies with the safety provisions drawn up by international bodies in which the Member States participate
• Electrical equipment supplied for export to a country which is not a Member of the European Union or which is not a Contracting Partner to the EEA Agreement.

Appendix 2 - Directives/Regulations that may affect Electrical Equipment

ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY DIRECTIVE (89/336/EEC)

UK Law: The Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/2372)

Entry into force: 28th October 1992

Mandatory from: 1st January 1996

MACHINERY DIRECTIVE (86/392/EEC)