The Low Voltage Directive (2014/35/EU)

What it covers

The LVD applies to equipment designed for use with a voltage rating between 50 and 1000 V AC or 75 and 1500 V DC. It covers protection against electric shock, energy hazards, fire, mechanical hazards, thermal burns and radiation.

• Conformity is self-declared; no notified body involvement
• Harmonised standard EN 62368-1 covers audio/video, IT and communication technology equipment
• Product families such as measurement equipment, machinery controls and medical devices use their own standards

Does it apply to you?

Look at the input rating, not the internal rails. A 12 V product powered by an external certified adapter usually falls outside the LVD, but the adapter and the system claim still have to be right.

• Mains-powered products: yes, LVD applies
• Products powered only by battery or an external SELV supply: normally outside the LVD, but safety is still assessed under the General Product Safety Regulation and, for radio products, RED Article 3.1(a)
• Radio products: safety is declared under RED, using the same standards

What testing looks like

Safety work is as much a construction review as a test campaign. The lab reads your drawings, materials and component certificates before it powers anything up.

• Creepage and clearance verification against pollution degree and overvoltage category
• Dielectric strength, earthing continuity and touch-current measurements
• Abnormal operation and single-fault testing, including component short and open conditions
• Temperature rise under worst-case load, and enclosure flammability ratings
• Critical-component review: every safety-relevant part needs its own certificate

Common failures

• Insufficient creepage across the isolation barrier once the real PCB stack-up is measured
• Uncertified critical components, optocouplers, Y-capacitors, transformers, that have to be swapped late
• Enclosure plastic without the required flammability rating
• Missing markings or an instruction manual without the required safety information in every required language
• Temperature rise exceeding limits inside a sealed enclosure that was never thermally modelled

Next step

Safety findings are the ones that hurt after tooling. An architecture risk review before mechanical design freeze is the cheapest place to catch them.