Back on the 1st January 2010 the New Legislative Framework (NLF) entered into force and it signaled the European Commission’s move to the next chapter of European Product Legislation.

The aim of the NLF was to strengthen and streamline the CE marking conformity process for manufacturers who place products and machines on the the European market.  In order for the new framework to take affect, the existing CE Marking Directives had to be reviewed and revised, which means that the existing Directives will be replaced and manufacturers will need to ensure that they keep up to date with changes in legislation that affects their products.

The majority of these Directives will be coming into force from the 20th April 2016 (with the exceptions of the Pyrotechnical Articles Directive coming into force on 1st July 2015 and PED coming into force on 19th July 2016).

To help you prepare for the changes,  we have generated an extended article on the New Legislative Framework, and we will also be publishing articles on the specific changes to each Directive over the next few months!

To accompany the articles we will also be providing workshops which will explore the Directives and their changes in greater detail. If you are interested in attending a workshop please contact us to find out more information.

If you need any support with CE marking and the forthcoming changes, then please call us on 01527 595066.

The following lists of harmonised standards referenced on the European Commission’s Official Journal have been updated  in May and June 2014:

– Machinery Directive

– Medical Devices Directive

– Eco Design – Energy Labelling for Household Tumble Driers

– Low Voltage Directive

– Safety of Toys Directive

The Eco Design Directive (2009/125/EC) has been gradually introducing new measures that set out new eco design and CE Marking requirements for Energy related Products (ErP). The Official Journal page for Energy related Products is being kept up to date with the current implementing measures, and as of the 1st July 2014, there are new implementing measures for computers and computer servers.

Commission Regulation (EU) No. 617/2013 came into force on the 17th July 2013 and applies to mains powered computers, including desktops, notebooks, tablet computers and workstations, as well as small-scale and computer servers (as defined with the Regulation). The Regulation is being implemented in 3 phases and in the first set, manufacturers were required to incorporate a power management (or similar) function into their systems and were also required to meet the eco design requirements for the lowest power state.

The second phase, which came into force on the 1st July 2014, covers energy consumptions, sleep and off modes, internal power supply efficiency and power management functions, as well as information to be supplied. The final set, is due to come into force on the 1st January 2016, which sees the requirements for energy consumptions reduced. For example, from 1st July 2014 the total energy consumption for a category A computer shall not exceed 133,00 kWh/year, which will be reduced to 94,00 kWh/year from 1st January 2016 onwards.

Manufacturers must demonstrate conformity by following either the ‘Internal Design Control’ module or the ‘Management Systems’ module, both described within Annex IV and Annex V within the Eco Design Directive (2009/125/EC).
Before the products can be placed on the market the manufacturer must complete a Declaration of Conformity and affix the CE mark onto the product. In reality, since computers and computer servers are already covered by other CE marking Legislation, this is more likely to be a task of updating existing Declarations and technical files to also cover these new eco requirements.

Should you need assistance with CE marking computers or computer servers, then please contact the CE Marking Association on 01527 595066.

A new report has been recently published that investigates temperature limits of non-functional hot surfaces of CE Marked household appliances that are covered by European product standard EN 60335-2-9. This standard applies to household electric portable appliances that have a cooking function. The standard goes on to list a range of examples, however the report only focuses of products belonging to the following groups; mini ovens, raclette, toasters, contract grills, sandwich toasters and waffle irons.

The report, which has been generated by the LVD ADCO (Low Voltage Directive Administration Cooperation), investigates the safety problem concerning temperatures of hot surfaces that are likely to be touched and whether EN 60335-2-9 adequately addresses this potential hazard. The report explains that testing was undertaken by 11 countries on 196 products (of which 191 were unique) and found that 76% were not in compliance with the temperature limits of the standard. Further to this only 27% of the products featured a warning label, of which over half of these products were found to be incorrectly labelled.

The report concludes that CENELEC should revisit standard to align the standard to CENELEC Guide 29 and to investigate removing loopholes within the standard. It also advises that warnings should only be used as a last resort and not be used as a common escape clause within the standard. Finally it recommends that manufacturers pay more attention to the temperature limits, as the number of products found to have a serious non-compliance (where the temperature rise is more than 50K above the allowed upper limit) was far too high.

The full report can be downloaded from the European Commission’s website.

The following lists of harmonised standards referenced on the European Commission’s Official Journal have been updated between February to April 2014:

– The ElectroMagnetic Compatibility Directive

– The ATEX Directive

– Recreational Crafts Directive

– Machinery Directive

– Energy Labelling of Air Conditioners

– Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Directive

– Lifts Directives