EU Low Voltage Directive exclusion triage workflow

Start with the electrical equipment as it will be made available on the EU market. Record the model, intended use, user population, rated input voltage, rated output voltage, power supply arrangement, accessories supplied with it, and whether the item is a finished product, component, evaluation kit, machinery, or radio equipment.

The LVD applies to electrical equipment designed for use with a voltage rating between 50 and 1000 V AC or between 75 and 1500 V DC, unless an Annex II exclusion applies. The LVD Guide bases the check on rated input or output, not voltages appearing only inside the equipment. For multiple input or output ratings, it applies the highest-rating rule; a lower selectable mode must not be used to keep equipment whose highest rating exceeds the upper limit inside LVD scope.

If the product is inside the voltage band, check Annex II before assigning an LVD conformity path. Annex II is a closed list of equipment and phenomena outside the LVD scope, so similarity to an excluded product is not enough.

Route the product out of the LVD only when its facts match the wording and conditions of a listed exclusion. Record the alternate legal route separately. Exclusion from the LVD does not by itself mean that no EU product law applies or that the product must not bear CE marking under another applicable act.

For components, ask whether the item's safety can be assessed on its own. The Commission LVD Guide treats basic components whose safety depends heavily on final integration as outside LVD scope as such, while components such as transformers and electric motors can be LVD equipment when their own risk assessment can be performed.

For boundary products, do not duplicate declarations merely as a precaution. Radio equipment within the RED is not subject to the LVD as a separate directive, even though RED Article 3 applies health and safety requirements corresponding to the LVD objectives without the LVD voltage limit. Until Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies on 20 January 2027, the machinery boundary is governed by Directive 2006/42/EC; electrical hazards of machinery within that regime follow its conformity route rather than a separate LVD declaration.

Close the triage with a short record that a reviewer can test against the product. Show the facts behind an 'excluded' or 'LVD applies' result and identify the EU product law used for any alternate route.

If the LVD applies, the record should move into Article 6 and Annex III evidence: technical documentation, risk analysis and assessment, applicable standards or other technical solutions, test reports, EU declaration, CE marking, and production-control evidence. If the LVD does not apply, keep enough evidence to explain why the LVD declaration and CE marking route was not used for that product.