Guidelines on the requirements of Directive 73/23/EEC

SCOPE OF THE DIRECTIVE

The Directive applies to all 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. Voltage ratings refer to the voltage of the electrical input or output, not to voltages, which may appear inside the equipment.

Battery operated equipment outside the voltage rating is obviously outside the scope of the LVD. Nevertheless, the accompanying battery-charger as well as equipment with integrated power supply unit within the voltage ranges of the Directive are in the scope of the LVD. This applies also, in the case of battery-operated equipment with supply voltage rating under 50 V AC and 75 V DC, for their accompanying power supply unit (e.g. Notebooks).

However, the following are excluded from the scope of the "Low Voltage" Directive:

• Electrical equipment for use in a potentially explosive atmosphere
• Electrical equipment for radiology and medical purposes
• Electrical parts for lifts
• Electricity meters,

which are covered by other Community directives, and

• Plugs and socket outlets for domestic use
• Electric fence controllers
• Specialised electrical equipment, for use on ships, aircraft or railways which complies with the safety provisions drawn up by international bodies in which the Member States participate,

 which so far are not covered by any Community directive and therefore must not be CE marked.

Broadly, the Directive covers consumer and capital goods designed to operate within those voltage limits, including in particular electrical appliances, lighting equipment including ballasts, switchgear and controlgear, electric wiring, appliance couplers and cord sets, electrical installation equipment, etc