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Artifact GuideEU

EMC Directive Fixed Installation Documentation

Directive 2014/30/EU treats a fixed installation as equipment assembled, installed, and intended for permanent use at a predefined location, with installation-specific EMC obligations.

This page helps build the file that shows , component instructions, apparatus status, EMC characteristics, maintenance changes, and authority evidence.

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Author
Sorena AI
Published
May 9, 2026
Updated
Oct 15, 2026
4 sections4 primary sources
Overview

Directive 2014/30/EU has applied since 20 April 2016. A fixed installation does not receive CE marking or an EU declaration of conformity as one installation under the Directive. It must meet the Annex I essential requirements, be installed using documented , and respect component intended-use information. Member State rules identify the person or persons responsible for compliance; those records must remain available to national authorities while the installation operates.

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 include more than CE-marked products.

Name the power, control, telecom, data, radio, earthing, and physical interfaces where disturbance can enter or leave the installation. Also state what is outside the record. The EMC Directive concerns the installation's essential EMC requirements; it does not require proof that every internal item is mutually compatible in every possible combination.

The Commission guide, which is non-binding application guidance, gives examples such as industrial plants, power plants, power-supply networks, telecommunication networks, cable-TV networks, and computer networks. The legal definition still controls: the actual combination must be assembled, installed, and intended for permanent use at a predefined location.

  • 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.
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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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Section 2

Document good engineering practices and component instructions

Annex I requires a fixed installation to be installed using 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.
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. Its CE marking and EU declaration apply to that apparatus, not to the fixed installation as a whole. Keep its declaration, 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.

A notified body under the EMC Directive assesses apparatus through the Annex III route, not the fixed installation as a whole. Commission guidance may help structure the installation file, but neither a notified-body certificate for one apparatus nor CE marking on incorporated products proves conformity of the complete installation.

  • 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.
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, earthing 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 record 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.
Primary sources

References and citations

Directive 2014/30/EU on electromagnetic compatibility
data.europa.eu5 citations
Referenced sections
  • Primary legal source for fixed-installation definition, Article 19 documentation duties, Annex I good engineering practices, authority evidence requests, and operation-long retention.
  • Defines fixed installations and requires documented good engineering practices to be held for authority inspection while the installation operates.
  • Annex I states the fixed-installation requirement to apply good engineering practices and respect component intended-use information.
Show 2 more
  • Article 19 distinguishes market-available apparatus from apparatus intended only for a particular fixed installation and specifies the required accompanying documentation.
  • 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"
More quoted passages
"assembled, installed and intended to be used permanently at a predefined location"
"installed applying good engineering practices"
"intended for incorporation into a particular fixed installation"
Commission Guide for the EMCD
ec.europa.eu4 citations
Referenced sections
  • Commission guidance source for practical fixed-installation documentation detail, including boundaries, component instructions, good engineering practices, and specific apparatus.
  • Explains how fixed-installation documentation can define site boundaries, interfaces, coupling paths, and the installation-specific EMC environment.
  • Gives examples of EMC installation practices such as filters, cable specifications, precautions, earthing, distances, screening, emissions, coupling, and immunity measures.
Show 1 more
  • Explains the case-by-case nature of the specific-apparatus exemption and the need for a direct provider-customer link with the installation.
"define the borderlines/geographical limits of this fixed installation"
More quoted passages
"all the EMC instructions given by the manufacturer"
"only provided on a case-by-case basis"
Central Contact Points for EMC Directive market surveillance
ec.europa.eu2 citations
Referenced sections
  • Commission source for market-surveillance contact points under Directive 2014/30/EU, useful for authority correspondence and escalation records.
  • Commission DocsRoom source for national central contact points in charge of market surveillance under Directive 2014/30/EU.
"Market Surveillance under Directive 2014/30/EU"
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1326 on EMC harmonised standards
data.europa.eu2 citations
Referenced sections
  • Official source for EMC harmonised-standard references used when standards evidence supports an installation or component assessment.
  • Lists EMC harmonised-standard references published or withdrawn under Directive 2014/30/EU, useful when standards are used as evidence.
"harmonised standards for electromagnetic compatibility"

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