Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU

Last reviewed: October 2026 · Sources listed at the end of this page.

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 — commonly the "Low Voltage Directive" or LVD — applies to electrical equipment with a voltage rating between 50 V and 1000 V for alternating current and between 75 V and 1500 V for direct current. It replaced Directive 2006/95/EC and has applied since 20 April 2016. The Directive was published in the Official Journal as OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, p. 357. It remains the principal EU law on the basic safety of in-scope electrical equipment.

Legal status and timeline

• Adoption: 26 February 2014.
• Publication in the OJEU: 29 March 2014.
• Entry into force: 18 April 2014.
• Date of application: 20 April 2016.
• Repeal of predecessor (Directive 2006/95/EC): 20 April 2016.
• Status in October 2026: applies, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/2749 (emergency procedures, applicable from 30 May 2026); no replacement act. The “Omnibus IV” digitalisation package, provisionally agreed in June 2026, would allow digital declarations under this and other product acts; it had not been found in the Official Journal at this review, so it is not yet law. The Commission’s planned European Product Act would revise the New Legislative Framework; no proposal had been published at this review.

The LVD is one of the foundational New Legislative Framework directives. Its provisions on economic operators, conformity assessment, and CE marking mirror the templates of Decision 768/2008/EC.

Scope: products covered

Article 1 of the Directive applies it to "electrical equipment designed for use with a voltage rating of between 50 and 1000 V for alternating current and between 75 and 1500 V for direct current", other than the equipment and phenomena listed in Annex II. The voltage rating refers to the input or output voltage of the equipment, not to any internal voltages.

Annex II — equipment excluded

Annex II lists categories of equipment outside the LVD's scope, principally because they are covered by other Union legislation:

• Electrical equipment for use in explosive atmospheres (covered by ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU);
• Electrical equipment for radiology and medical purposes (covered by Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745);
• Electrical parts for goods and passenger lifts (covered by Lifts Directive 2014/33/EU);
• Electricity meters (covered by Measuring Instruments Directive 2014/32/EU);
• Plugs and socket-outlets for domestic use;
• Electric fence controllers;
• Radio-electrical interference (covered by EMC Directive 2014/30/EU and Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU);
• Specialised electrical equipment for use on ships, aircraft, or railways complying with safety provisions drawn up by international bodies in which Member States participate;
• Custom-built evaluation kits destined for professionals to be used solely at research and development facilities for such purposes.

Voltage below 50 V AC / 75 V DC

Equipment operating below the lower voltage thresholds is not in scope of the LVD. Battery-powered consumer electronics, USB-powered devices, and similar low-voltage equipment fall outside the LVD even though they may be in scope of the EMC Directive, RoHS, the Radio Equipment Directive, the Battery Regulation, and — for consumer products — the General Product Safety Regulation. The safety of below-50V equipment is therefore not addressed by the LVD but by the act under which the product is in scope (typically the RED for wireless devices, or the GPSR for consumer products outside any harmonisation act).

Essential requirements: safety objectives

Article 3 and Annex I of the Directive express the LVD's requirements as "safety objectives" rather than detailed technical requirements. The equipment must be:

• Constructed in accordance with good engineering practice in safety matters in force in the Union, so that it does not endanger the health and safety of persons and domestic animals, or property, when properly installed and maintained and used in the applications for which it was made;
• Marked with its essential characteristics or, where this is not possible, accompanied by a document giving them;
• Made so that it can be safely and properly assembled and connected.

Annex I, point 2, covers hazards arising from the equipment: physical injury or other harm from direct or indirect contact; dangerous temperatures, arcs or radiation; non-electrical dangers revealed by experience; and insulation suitable for foreseeable conditions. Point 3 covers hazards from external influences: expected mechanical requirements, resistance to non-mechanical influences in expected environmental conditions, and foreseeable overload.

The LVD does not specify technical solutions. Conformity can be shown by applying harmonised standards (presumption of conformity, Article 12), or, where none exist, international or national standards under Articles 13 and 14, or by other technical means documented in the technical file.

Conformity assessment

The LVD applies a single conformity assessment route: Module A — internal production control, under Annex III of the Directive (which corresponds to Module A of Annex II of Decision 768/2008/EC). There is no Notified Body involvement. The manufacturer:

• Performs a safety analysis to identify hazards arising from the design and use of the equipment;
• Compiles the technical documentation in accordance with Annex III, point 2;
• Manufactures in conformity with the documentation;
• Affixes the CE marking (no Notified Body identification number applies);
• Draws up the EU Declaration of Conformity (Annex IV).

The four-digit Notified Body identification number does not appear next to the CE marking for LVD-only products. Where a product is also subject to an act under which a Notified Body takes part in the production phase, any number next to the CE marking relates to that act, not to the LVD.

Technical documentation

Annex III, point 2, requires the technical documentation to "make it possible to assess the electrical equipment's conformity to the relevant requirements" and contain, as applicable:

• A general description of the electrical equipment;
• Conceptual design and manufacturing drawings and schemes of components, sub-assemblies, circuits;
• Descriptions and explanations necessary to understand those drawings and the operation of the equipment;
• A list of the harmonised standards applied in full or in part, with references as published in the OJEU, and a description of solutions adopted to address safety objectives where harmonised standards have not been applied;
• Results of design calculations made, examinations carried out;
• Test reports.

Annex III, point 2, also requires the technical documentation to include “an adequate analysis and assessment of the risk(s)”. See technical documentation and risk assessment for CE marking.

The documentation must be retained for ten years from the date the equipment was placed on the market (Article 6(3)).

EU Declaration of Conformity

Annex IV sets the contents of the Declaration: identification of the manufacturer and equipment, reference to the LVD and any other applicable Union acts, references to the harmonised standards applied with dated editions, identification of the signatory, and place and date of issue. The Declaration must be translated into the language(s) required by the Member State where the equipment is made available (Article 15(2)), and a single Declaration covers all applicable Union acts (Article 15(3)). See EU Declaration of Conformity.

Marking and labelling

Article 17 requires the CE marking to be affixed visibly, legibly, and indelibly to the equipment or its data plate or, where that is not possible or warranted, to the packaging and the accompanying documents. Article 16 applies the general principles in Article 30 of Regulation 765/2008. The equipment must bear:

• The type, batch, or serial number, or other element allowing identification (Article 6(5));
• The name, registered trade name or trade mark, and postal address of the manufacturer (Article 6(6));
• Where applicable, the importer's name, trade name or trade mark, and postal address (Article 8(3));
• Safety information and instructions for use in the language easily understood by consumers, as required by the Member State concerned (Article 6(7)).

Harmonised standards

The LVD has a very large set of harmonised standards. The principal families:

• EN 60335 series — household and similar electrical appliances. EN 60335-1 contains general requirements; the EN 60335-2-XX series covers particular categories (vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, washing machines, ovens, kettles, hair clippers, etc.).
• EN 61010 series — safety requirements for electrical equipment for measurement, control, and laboratory use.
• EN 60204-1 — safety of machinery — electrical equipment of machines (also a Machinery Directive / Regulation harmonised standard).
• EN 60598 series — luminaires.
• EN 62368-1 — audio/video, information and communication technology equipment, the successor to EN 60065 and EN 60950-1. Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2723 cites EN 62368-1:2014 with its corrigendum, not a 2020 edition.
• EN 61347 series — control gear for lamps.
• EN 60519 series — safety in installations for electroheating and electromagnetic processing.

The current references are in Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2723 as amended, with further decisions listed on the Commission's harmonised standards page for the LVD. Check the exact edition and amendments cited: the listing for EN 60335-1:2012, for example, includes amendments A11, A13, A1, A14, A2 and A15. Use of harmonised standards is voluntary; see harmonised standards.

Recent and upcoming changes

The only amendment since 2016 is Directive (EU) 2024/2749. It inserts Articles 22a to 22c on emergency procedures, which operate only when an internal market emergency is activated under Regulation (EU) 2024/2747 (applicable from 30 May 2026). The safety objectives, scope and Module A route are unchanged. Other developments:

• Harmonised standards. Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2723 consolidated the LVD list and has been amended several times, most recently in 2025.
• Ecodesign. Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 sets requirements on products that may also be LVD products; the two regimes apply in parallel.
• Omnibus IV. Provisionally agreed in June 2026 and not yet law at this review. Until it applies, the Article 15 and Annex IV rules on the Declaration stand as written.
• Brexit. UK conformity assessment bodies lost EU status from 1 January 2021. As the LVD requires no Notified Body, the direct effect was limited. Test reports from any laboratory can be used as evidence, but the EU manufacturer or importer remains responsible for the declaration.

Related legislation

LVD products are typically also in scope of:

• EMC Directive 2014/30/EU — for electromagnetic compatibility.
• RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU — for restriction of hazardous substances in EEE.
• Ecodesign Regulation 2024/1781 — for energy-related products subject to specific delegated acts.
• Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 — for machinery from 20 January 2027 (Directive 2006/42/EC until then). Annex III section 1.5.1 applies the LVD safety objectives to machinery, but conformity assessment for electrical risks is governed solely by machinery law. Article 2(2)(p) of the Regulation excludes a defined list of products within the LVD or RED (household appliances, audio and video, IT, ordinary office machinery, low-voltage switchgear and control gear, electric motors).
• Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU — for radio equipment, which has absorbed the LVD's safety objectives within its own essential requirements; products in scope of the RED are not separately in scope of the LVD.
• Battery Regulation 2023/1542 — for products incorporating batteries.

Common conformity assessment errors

• Treating "no Notified Body" as "no documentation". Module A still requires a complete technical file and safety analysis. The absence of third-party assessment shifts more documentary burden onto the manufacturer, not less.
• Citing EN 60335-1 without the relevant Part 2 standard. EN 60335-1 alone does not cover product-specific requirements. The product-specific Part 2 standard (EN 60335-2-XX) must be applied where one exists.
• Misidentifying scope. Battery-powered products below 50 V AC / 75 V DC are not in scope of the LVD. Applying the LVD by default to all electrical products misrepresents the legal basis of conformity.
• Failing to address products outside harmonised standards. Where no Part 2 standard exists for a novel product category, the manufacturer must demonstrate conformity by alternative means and document the analysis.
• Affixing a Notified Body number to LVD products. No NB is involved; affixing a four-digit number next to the CE mark misrepresents the assessment route.

Sources

• Directive 2014/35/EU of 26 February 2014 (Low Voltage) — EUR-Lex.
• European Commission — Low Voltage Directive sector page.
• European Commission — Harmonised standards for the LVD.
• Directive 2014/35/EU, consolidated text of 30 May 2026 — EUR-Lex; Directive (EU) 2024/2749 — EUR-Lex.
• Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2723 — EUR-Lex.
• Commission Notice — Blue Guide 2022 — EUR-Lex.
• Decision No 768/2008/EC, Annex II Module A and Annex III — EUR-Lex.