Artifact GuideEU

EMC Directive Fixed Installation Documentation

Directive 2014/30/EU treats a fixed installation as equipment assembled and used permanently at a predefined location, with installation-specific EMC obligations.

Use this page to build the file that shows good engineering practices, component instructions, apparatus status, EMC characteristics, maintenance changes, and authority evidence.

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Author
Sorena AI
Published
May 9, 2026
Updated
May 9, 2026
Sections
4

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Primary sources
4

Cited legal and guidance references.

Publication metadata
Sorena AI
Published May 9, 2026
Updated May 9, 2026
Overview

Fixed-installation documentation is not a generic product technical file. Under the EMC Directive, the responsible person needs records that show how the permanent site was defined, how component and apparatus instructions were respected, which good engineering practices were applied, and what evidence can be produced if a national authority investigates disturbance complaints or other indications of non-compliance.

Section 1

Define the fixed installation before collecting evidence

Start the file with a boundary record. Identify the predefined location, the installation owner or operator, the responsible person under national rules, and the border between the installation and the external electromagnetic environment. A fixed installation can include apparatus and other devices, so the record should not stop at CE-marked products.

The useful boundary record names the power, control, telecom, data, radio, earthing, and physical interfaces where disturbance can enter or leave the installation. It should also state what is outside the record: the EMC Directive is concerned with the installation meeting the essential EMC requirements, not with making every internal item mutually compatible in every possible combination.

  • Record the site name, address or defined area, installation purpose, operating environment, and commissioning state.
  • Draw or attach the EMC boundary: incoming supplies, outgoing connections, cables, antennas, enclosures, earth bonding, nearby sensitive equipment, and external emitters.
  • List each major apparatus, component, sub-assembly, protective device, filter, cable type, and other device that affects emissions, coupling, radiation, or immunity.
  • Assign the person or function that can supply the documentation to national authorities while the installation remains in operation.
Sources for this answer
Directive 2014/30/EU on electromagnetic compatibility
Defines fixed installations and requires documented good engineering practices to be held for authority inspection while the installation operates.
Commission Guide for the EMCD
Explains how fixed-installation documentation can define site boundaries, interfaces, coupling paths, and the installation-specific EMC environment.
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Build an authority-ready fixed-installation evidence file

Turn the installation boundary, component instructions, good engineering practices, EMC evidence, and maintenance changes into a file that engineering, quality, legal, and site teams can keep current.

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Check EMC Directive scope, fixed-installation duties, and source citations before updating an evidence file.

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Review the installation boundary, apparatus records, maintenance logs, and authority-response packet.

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Section 2

Document good engineering practices and component instructions

Annex I requires a fixed installation to be installed using good engineering practices and respecting information on the intended use of its components. The documentation should therefore connect each EMC design choice to a site condition, component instruction, standard, code of practice, or technical assessment.

A practical evidence table should cover emissions controls, coupling and radiation controls, and immunity controls. For each control, name the disturbance source or exposure, the design measure, the installation instruction followed, the inspection or test evidence, and the residual limitation that maintenance teams must preserve.

  • Keep manufacturer installation, use, and maintenance instructions for apparatus and components that affect EMC performance.
  • Record filters, shielding, cable routing, cable length limits, segregation distances, equipotential bonding, earthing, surge or protection devices, enclosure practices, and radio or telecom interfaces where relevant.
  • Where harmonised EMC standards or technical reports are used, identify the exact standard reference, edition, scope, and installation feature it supports.
  • For a simple installation made only from conforming CE-marked apparatus, retain supplier installation, use, and maintenance instructions and show how they were applied at the site.
  • For a complex installation, add drawings, calculations, inspection records, EMC test or measurement reports, commissioning results, and unresolved risk notes.
Sources for this answer
Directive 2014/30/EU on electromagnetic compatibility
Annex I states the fixed-installation requirement to apply good engineering practices and respect component intended-use information.
Commission Guide for the EMCD
Gives examples of EMC installation practices such as filters, cable specifications, precautions, earthing, distances, screening, emissions, coupling, and immunity measures.
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1326 on EMC harmonised standards
Lists EMC harmonised-standard references published or withdrawn under Directive 2014/30/EU, useful when standards are used as evidence.
Section 3

Separate normal apparatus from specific apparatus

Do not treat every device inside a fixed installation the same way. Apparatus that has been made available on the market and may be incorporated into the fixed installation remains subject to the relevant apparatus provisions of the EMC Directive. Keep its CE marking, EU declaration of conformity, traceability, instructions, and technical-documentation references with the installation file where they support the site assessment.

Article 19 allows a narrower route for apparatus intended for incorporation into a particular fixed installation and otherwise not made available on the market. When that route is used, the accompanying documentation must identify the fixed installation, its EMC characteristics, and the precautions needed so incorporation does not compromise the installation's conformity. It must also include the required manufacturer and importer identification information.

  • For ordinary apparatus: retain supplier declarations, CE-marking evidence, installation instructions, serial or type identifiers, and the site-specific installation record.
  • For specific apparatus: record why it is for a particular fixed installation, why it is otherwise not made available on the market, and who has the direct project link to the installation.
  • In the accompanying documentation for specific apparatus, identify the installation, EMC characteristics, incorporation precautions, manufacturer name and address, and importer details where the manufacturer is outside the Union.
  • Do not use the fixed-installation route to erase apparatus obligations for commercially available products or generic equipment platforms.
Sources for this answer
Directive 2014/30/EU on electromagnetic compatibility
Article 19 distinguishes market-available apparatus from apparatus intended only for a particular fixed installation and specifies the required accompanying documentation.
Commission Guide for the EMCD
Explains the case-by-case nature of the specific-apparatus exemption and the need for a direct provider-customer link with the installation.
Section 4

Keep change, maintenance, and authority evidence usable

The documentation must remain useful for as long as the fixed installation is in operation. Treat maintenance and change control as part of the EMC file, not as separate engineering history. A later inverter, drive, cable route, radio interface, control cabinet, grounding change, firmware-controlled operating mode, or replacement apparatus can affect the evidence that originally supported the installation.

Authority readiness is also part of the file. Article 19 allows competent national authorities to request evidence of compliance where there are indications of non-compliance, especially disturbance complaints, and to initiate an evaluation. The file should therefore make it easy to provide a concise evidence pack without reconstructing the installation from memory.

  • Log commissioning, maintenance, repair, component replacement, layout changes, supplier changes, standard changes, EMC incidents, complaints, measurements, corrective actions, and retests.
  • For each change, record the affected boundary, EMC characteristic, component instruction, engineering practice, approval owner, and whether the evidence file was updated.
  • Keep an authority-response packet with the boundary record, responsible-person details, applied practices, component instructions, drawings, standards, measurements, complaints, corrective actions, and current status.
  • Use the Commission market-surveillance contact document to identify the relevant national contact channel when escalation or authority correspondence is needed.
Sources for this answer
Directive 2014/30/EU on electromagnetic compatibility
Article 19 requires documentation to be available to national authorities and allows authority evidence requests and evaluations where non-compliance is indicated.
Central Contact Points for EMC Directive market surveillance
Commission DocsRoom source for national central contact points in charge of market surveillance under Directive 2014/30/EU.
Primary sources

References and citations

Commission Guide for the EMCD
ec.europa.eu
Referenced sections
  • Explains the case-by-case nature of the specific-apparatus exemption and the need for a direct provider-customer link with the installation.
"only provided on a case-by-case basis"
Directive 2014/30/EU on electromagnetic compatibility
data.europa.eu
Referenced sections
  • Article 19 requires documentation to be available to national authorities and allows authority evidence requests and evaluations where non-compliance is indicated.
"may request evidence of compliance"
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