What voltage range does the Low Voltage Directive cover?

The LVD applies to electrical equipment designed for use with a rated input or output voltage of 50 V to 1000 V for alternating current, and 75 V to 1500 V for direct current. These are the voltages at the terminals of the equipment, not the internal voltages. Equipment that operates entirely below these floors is outside the LVD, and equipment above the ceilings falls under other rules, though it may still have to meet other Union legislation.

Does the Low Voltage Directive require a notified body?

No. The LVD offers a single conformity assessment route, module A, internal production control, set out in Annex III. The manufacturer performs the assessment in-house, compiles the technical documentation, draws up the EU Declaration of Conformity and affixes the CE marking under sole responsibility. No notified body, no third-party certificate and no four-digit number ever appears alongside the CE mark for an LVD-only product.

What is the relationship between the LVD and the EMC Directive?

They are complementary and frequently apply to the same product. The LVD covers safety hazards arising from electricity, such as electric shock, fire and mechanical or thermal injury. The EMC Directive 2014/30/EU covers electromagnetic disturbance, both emissions and immunity. A mains-powered appliance usually needs both. When a product is radio equipment, the RED 2014/53/EU absorbs the safety and EMC requirements and the standalone LVD no longer applies.

Is a low-voltage product covered by the LVD or the GPSR?

If the LVD applies, it takes precedence for the hazards it covers, and the General Product Safety Regulation 2023/988 acts as a safety net only for aspects not addressed by the sector legislation. Equipment that falls below the LVD voltage floors, such as a USB-powered 5 V gadget, is outside the LVD and the GPSR becomes the primary safety framework for consumer products.

Which harmonised standards give presumption of conformity under the LVD?

The product family decides. EN IEC 62368-1 covers audio, video, information and communication technology equipment. The EN 60335 series covers household and similar appliances. EN 61010-1 covers laboratory, measurement and control equipment. EN 60598 covers luminaires. Applying the right harmonised standard in full, in the version cited in the Official Journal, grants presumption of conformity with the essential safety objectives of Annex I.

Do I need to keep the technical documentation, and for how long?

Yes. Under Article 7 and Annex III the manufacturer must keep the technical documentation and the EU Declaration of Conformity for ten years after the equipment has been placed on the market, and make them available to market surveillance authorities on a reasoned request. The file must let an authority assess conformity, so it has to describe the design, the risk analysis and the standards applied.

Does the LVD apply to battery-powered equipment?

Only if the equipment has a rated voltage within the LVD bands at its input or output terminals. A device running from a small internal battery at, say, 12 V is below the 50 V AC and 75 V DC floors and is outside the LVD. A product with a mains input, or an output above the DC floor, is in scope even if it also contains a battery. The charger or external power supply is itself electrical equipment in scope.

Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU: a guide

Author Hugues Orgitello Last updated 28 May 2026 ~14 min read

Guide · Electrical safety directive

The Low Voltage Directive, Directive 2014/35/EU, is one of the two directives that apply to almost every mains-powered electronic product sold in the European Union, alongside the EMC Directive. It governs the electrical safety of equipment operating within defined voltage bands and is, with the EMC Directive, the most frequently cited piece of CE legislation in this site. The LVD is deliberately light on paperwork, there is no notified body, but it is demanding on substance, the equipment must be safe by design and that safety must be demonstrable in a technical file. This page sets out the scope, the voltage limits, the exclusions, the essential safety objectives, the harmonised standards that carry presumption of conformity, the module A conformity route, and the boundaries with the EMC Directive, the RED, the Machinery rules and the GPSR.

What the LVD is, in one paragraph

The LVD harmonises the laws of the Member States on the safety of electrical equipment placed on the market within certain voltage limits. It is a New Legislative Framework directive, which means it states broad essential safety objectives rather than detailed technical rules, delegates the technical detail to harmonised standards, and relies on the manufacturer to self-declare conformity. There is no electrical product that carries a "CE certificate" under the LVD, because the LVD issues no certificate. The manufacturer assesses, documents and declares. See the CE pillar for how the LVD fits inside the wider CE framework.

Scope and the voltage limits

The defining criterion of the LVD is the rated voltage at the input or output terminals of the equipment.

Current type	Lower limit	Upper limit
Alternating current (AC)	50 V	1000 V
Direct current (DC)	75 V	1500 V

Read this as a band, not a ceiling. Equipment is in scope when its rated voltage sits within the band: 50 V to 1000 V AC, or 75 V to 1500 V DC. Two consequences follow:

Below the floor. Equipment whose rated voltage is below 50 V AC and below 75 V DC is outside the LVD. A USB-powered sensor at 5 V, a 12 V LED strip, a 24 V control module, none of these is covered by the LVD on the basis of voltage alone. They may still fall under the GPSR for general consumer safety, under the EMC Directive for disturbance, or under the RED if they radiate, but the LVD itself does not bite.
Above the ceiling. Equipment with a rated voltage above 1000 V AC or 1500 V DC is outside the LVD too, and is generally handled under high-voltage installation rules and other Union or national legislation.

The voltage that matters is the rated voltage at the terminals, the nominal value declared for the equipment, not the highest internal voltage anywhere on the board. A 230 V mains appliance that internally generates several kilovolts for a display is still an LVD product, because its rated input is 230 V AC, squarely inside the band.

Worked scoping examples

Product	Rated voltage	In LVD scope?
Desktop power supply, 230 V AC input	230 V AC	Yes
External USB charger, 230 V AC input	230 V AC	Yes
Battery sensor, 3.6 V cell, no mains	3.6 V DC	No, below the floor
48 V DC telecom rectifier output	48 V DC	No, below the 75 V DC floor
Industrial drive, 400 V AC three-phase	400 V AC	Yes
LED luminaire, 230 V AC mains	230 V AC	Yes

Exclusions: Annex II

Even within the voltage band, the LVD lists categories of equipment that are explicitly excluded because they are covered by other, more specific legislation. Annex II of the directive names them. The main exclusions are:

Electrical equipment for use in an explosive atmosphere, covered by the ATEX Directive.
Electrical equipment for radiology and medical purposes, covered by the medical device legislation.
Electrical parts for goods and passenger lifts, covered by the Lifts Directive.
Electricity meters.
Plugs and socket outlets for domestic use.
Electric fence controllers.
Radio-electrical interference, addressed by the EMC Directive.
Specialised electrical equipment for use on ships, aircraft or railways that complies with the safety provisions of international bodies of which the Member States are members.

The logic is consistent across the New Legislative Framework: where a more specific directive owns a hazard, the general directive steps back. An ATEX luminaire is assessed under ATEX, not the LVD, even though it operates at mains voltage.

The essential safety objectives: Annex I

The substance of the LVD is in Annex I, the principal elements of the safety objectives for electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits. These are objectives, not test methods. They require, in summary, that:

General conditions. The equipment is constructed so that it can be used safely and in the applications for which it was made. The essential characteristics, the recognition and observance of which ensures safe use, are marked on the equipment or, where this is not possible, in an accompanying document.
Protection against hazards from the equipment itself. Persons and domestic animals are protected against the danger of physical injury or other harm from direct or indirect contact with live parts; against temperatures, arcs or radiation that could cause danger; against non-electrical dangers caused by the equipment; and the insulation is suitable for foreseeable conditions.
Protection against hazards caused by external influences. The equipment meets its expected mechanical requirements; resists non-mechanical influences in expected environmental conditions; and does not endanger persons under foreseeable overload conditions.

Translating these objectives into measurable pass or fail criteria, creepage and clearance distances, insulation resistance, dielectric strength, touch current, temperature rise, mechanical strength, is exactly what the harmonised standards do.

Harmonised standards and presumption of conformity

The LVD itself never tells you how many millimetres of clearance a 230 V circuit needs. The harmonised standards do. When a manufacturer applies a harmonised standard whose reference has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, in the version cited there, the product is granted presumption of conformity with the essential safety objectives that the standard covers. Applying the standard is voluntary, but it is by far the most efficient way to demonstrate conformity, the alternative is to argue safety from first principles, which is slower and harder to defend in a market surveillance review.

The right standard is chosen by product family. The four families below are the ones most often encountered in connected and industrial electronics.

Standard	Product family	Scope
EN 62368-1	Audio, video, ICT	Computers, networking, audio/video, most connected gear
EN 60335-1	Household appliances	Domestic and similar appliances, plus part 2 deviations
EN 61010-1	Lab and measurement	Test, measurement, control and laboratory equipment
EN 60598-1	Luminaires	Lighting fixtures, drivers and LED modules

EN IEC 62368-1, the hazard-based standard

EN 62368-1 replaced the older EN 60950-1 (IT equipment) and EN 60065 (audio/video) with a single hazard-based approach. Instead of prescribing constructions by product category, it classifies energy sources, electrical, thermal, mechanical, radiation, chemical, by the harm they can cause, and requires safeguards proportionate to that harm. It is the default safety standard for almost any modern connected product with a mains supply or an external power adapter. See the dedicated guide on IEC 62368-1 safety engineering for the energy-source model and the safeguard classes.

The EN 60335 series, household appliances

The EN 60335-1 series is the framework for household and similar electrical appliances. EN 60335-1 is the general part, completed by a large set of part 2 standards (EN 60335-2-x) that carry product-specific deviations, EN 60335-2-14 for kitchen machines, EN 60335-2-25 for microwave ovens, and so on. A household appliance is assessed against part 1 plus the relevant part 2 in combination. The dedicated guide on EN 60335 household appliance safety covers the part 1 plus part 2 structure and the type tests.

EN 61010-1, laboratory and measurement

EN 61010-1 governs electrical equipment for measurement, control and laboratory use. It introduces the measurement category concept (CAT II, III, IV) for equipment connected to mains circuits, and addresses hazards specific to the laboratory environment. See the dedicated guide on IEC 61010 laboratory and measurement safety.

EN 60598, luminaires

The EN 60598-1 series covers luminaires. As with EN 60335, a general part 1 is completed by part 2 standards for specific luminaire types, recessed, portable, emergency, and so on. The dedicated guide on EN 60598 luminaire and LED safety covers the photobiological and driver-integration aspects that matter for LED products.

Using a standard correctly

Three rules make the difference between a defensible file and a weak one:

Cite the version published in the OJEU. A standard withdrawn from the Official Journal, or a newer edition not yet cited there, does not give presumption of conformity. Lists are updated several times a year.
Apply the standard in full for the hazards it covers. Partial application leaves a gap that you must then close by your own reasoned analysis.
Combine the parts. For the 60335 and 60598 families, part 1 alone is never the whole answer; the relevant part 2 must be applied with it.

Conformity assessment: module A only

This is where the LVD is simple. The LVD offers exactly one conformity assessment procedure, module A, internal production control, described in Annex III. There is no module B, no module H, no notified body option. The manufacturer does everything in-house.

Module A has three obligations:

Technical documentation. The manufacturer establishes the technical documentation that allows an assessment of the equipment's conformity with the essential safety objectives.
Manufacturing. The manufacturer takes the measures necessary so that the manufacturing process ensures conformity of the produced equipment with the technical documentation and the directive.
Declaration and marking. The manufacturer draws up a written EU Declaration of Conformity and affixes the CE marking.

Because there is no third party, no four-digit notified body number ever appears next to the CE mark on an LVD product. If you see a number after the CE mark on an electrical product, it comes from another directive (the RED with a partial route, ATEX, medical, and so on), never from the LVD. For the wider comparison of when self-declaration suffices and when a notified body is mandatory, see self-declaration versus notified body.

What the technical documentation must contain

Annex III lists, in so far as relevant for assessment, the content of the file:

A general description of the electrical equipment.
Conceptual design and manufacturing drawings, and schemes of components, sub-assemblies and circuits.
Descriptions and explanations necessary for understanding those drawings and schemes and the operation of the equipment.
A list of the harmonised standards applied in full or in part, and where they have not been applied, descriptions of the solutions adopted to meet the safety objectives.
Results of design calculations, examinations carried out.
Test reports.

In practice the heart of the file is the safety test report against the chosen harmonised standard (for example an EN IEC 62368-1 report), the risk analysis identifying the energy sources and the safeguards, and the construction data that lets an assessor reproduce the conformity argument. The manufacturer keeps the file and the EU Declaration of Conformity for ten years after the equipment is placed on the market.

The EU Declaration of Conformity

The EU Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is the legal instrument by which the manufacturer attests, under sole responsibility, that the equipment satisfies the LVD. Annex IV of the directive sets the minimum content. An LVD DoC must identify the product, name the manufacturer (and the authorised representative if any), state that the declaration is issued under sole responsibility, reference the LVD by its full title, list the harmonised standards applied with their exact versions, and be dated and signed by an empowered person.

In real products the LVD declaration is almost never alone. A mains appliance is declared against the LVD and the EMC Directive together, often with RoHS, in a single aggregated DoC, which the Blue Guide encourages. The full structure and a copy-paste template are in the dedicated guide on the EU Declaration of Conformity.

CE marking

The CE marking is the visible result of the whole process. Under the LVD the manufacturer affixes the CE marking to the equipment, or where that is not possible to the packaging and the accompanying documents, before placing the product on the market. The marking must be visible, legible and indelible, and follow the proportions set out in the framework rules. For an LVD-only product the CE mark stands alone, with no number after it. The act of affixing it is the manufacturer's statement that the technical documentation exists, the equipment meets the essential safety objectives, and the DoC has been drawn up.

Boundaries with the other directives

The most common source of error is misjudging which directives apply alongside, or instead of, the LVD. The table below sets the boundaries.

Other rule	Relationship with the LVD
Directive 2014/30/EU (EMC)	Complementary. The LVD covers safety, the EMC Directive covers disturbance. Most mains products need both.
Directive 2014/53/EU (RED)	Mutually exclusive with the LVD. Radio equipment is assessed under the RED, which absorbs the safety (Art. 3.1(a)) and EMC requirements. A radio product does not also carry the standalone LVD.
Directive 2006/42/EC (Machinery)	A machine with electrical equipment is assessed under the Machinery Directive for machine safety; the electrical safety objectives of the LVD apply to the electrical equipment, referenced through the Machinery Directive rather than as a standalone LVD application.
Regulation 2023/988 (GPSR)	Safety net. The GPSR applies to consumer products for safety aspects not covered by sector legislation, and is the primary framework for products below the LVD voltage floors.

LVD and EMC

These are the two everyday directives. They cover different hazards on the same product. The LVD asks "can this hurt someone electrically, thermally or mechanically", the EMC Directive asks "does this emit too much disturbance, and does it keep working in the presence of disturbance". A 230 V appliance with a switched-mode power supply almost always needs both, an LVD safety report and an EMC emission and immunity report, declared together.

LVD and the RED

When a product contains an intentional radio transmitter, it becomes radio equipment and the RED applies. The RED is built to fold in the safety requirement through its Article 3.1(a), which points back to the LVD safety objectives, and the EMC requirement through Article 3.1(b). The practical consequence: a connected radio product does not carry a separate LVD declaration; its safety is declared under the RED, typically using the same harmonised safety standard (often EN IEC 62368-1). Do not double-cite the LVD on a radio product.

LVD and the Machinery rules

A product that is a machine, an assembly with moving parts driven by power, is in the scope of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC (and the Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 that succeeds it). The electrical safety of the machine still has to meet the LVD safety objectives, but it is brought in through the Machinery legislation rather than declared as a separate LVD application. The CE marking on a machine reflects the Machinery assessment.

LVD and the GPSR

The General Product Safety Regulation 2023/988 is the horizontal safety net for consumer products. Where the LVD applies, it takes precedence for the hazards it covers. The GPSR becomes the primary safety framework for consumer electrical products that fall below the LVD voltage floors, the low-voltage gadgets, USB devices and small battery products that the LVD does not reach.

A worked example

Product: a 230 V AC desktop appliance with a connected display and an external power button, no radio.

Scope. Rated input 230 V AC, inside the 50 V to 1000 V AC band, the LVD applies. The product is not radio equipment, so the RED does not apply. It is not a machine, so the Machinery Directive does not apply.
Companion directives. Being mains-powered and electronic, the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU applies in parallel, and RoHS 2011/65/EU for restricted substances.
Harmonised standard. The product is information and communication technology equipment, so the safety standard is EN 62368-1, applied in full in its OJEU-cited version. The EMC side uses the relevant emission and immunity standards under the EMC Directive.
Conformity route. Module A. No notified body. The manufacturer runs (or commissions from an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited lab) the EN IEC 62368-1 safety test, performs the risk analysis, and compiles the technical documentation per Annex III.
Declaration. A single aggregated EU Declaration of Conformity covers the LVD, the EMC Directive and RoHS, citing each directive and each harmonised standard with its exact version.
Marking. The CE marking is affixed to the product, alone, with no four-digit number, because no notified body intervened.
Retention. The file and the DoC are kept for ten years from placing on the market and made available to market surveillance on a reasoned request.

Contrast, the same hardware with a Wi-Fi module added. Adding an intentional radio turns it into radio equipment. The whole product now moves under the RED, the LVD safety is declared through Article 3.1(a) using the same EN IEC 62368-1 report, the EMC through Article 3.1(b), and there is no longer a standalone LVD declaration. The safety engineering does not change; the legal envelope does.

Common pitfalls

Treating the LVD as a "ceiling". It is a band. Forgetting the floors leads people to wrongly apply the LVD to a 12 V product, or to wrongly assume a 48 V DC product is in scope when it sits below the 75 V DC floor.
Citing a withdrawn standard version. Presumption of conformity comes only from the version cited in the Official Journal. Check the current list before signing the DoC.
Applying only part 1 of a series. For EN 60335 and EN 60598, the relevant part 2 must be combined with part 1.
Double-declaring a radio product. A radio product carries no standalone LVD declaration; the safety is folded into the RED.
Putting a number after the CE mark. No notified body number is ever valid for an LVD-only product.
Forgetting the inherited supply. An external power adapter or charger is itself electrical equipment in LVD scope and needs its own demonstration of conformity.