EU Directive · LVD
Low Voltage Directive
Directive 2014/35/EU
The Low Voltage Directive sets the safety objectives electrical equipment within its voltage ranges must meet before it can be placed on the EU market, demonstrated mainly through harmonised safety standards.
What it covers
Electrical equipment operating at 50–1000 V AC or 75–1500 V DC.
How it applies to your product
The Low Voltage Directive is demonstrated almost entirely through harmonised safety standards (such as the EN 62368-1 and EN 60335 families). There is no Notified Body route — the manufacturer self-declares conformity — but the technical file must record the safety analysis behind that declaration.
Authoritative source
Always confirm against the primary text on EUR-Lex — the official EU legal database.
Read Directive 2014/35/EU on EUR-Lex ↗See also the LVD entry in the glossary.
Guides on LVD
From the Library
reference
Official Journal monitoring for hardware compliance — a quarterly review workflow
A practical workflow for tracking EU product legislation, OJ standards citations, restrictions and transition dates, with a review record for each affected product.
guide
Spain — CE marking, language and MITECO requirements
Spanish CE marking rules — the key Reales Decretos that transpose LVD, EMC and RED, the castellano labelling requirement, MITECO environmental duties, and the legacy DIE regime.
guide
CE marking for industrial sensors and gateways
Product-specific scope and evidence checks for industrial sensors and gateways: EMC, RED, RoHS, voltage limits, ATEX, machinery transition and CRA classification.
guide
CE marking for IoT consumer products — end-to-end
End-to-end CE marking process for consumer IoT — RED, EMC, LVD, RoHS, CRA (from 11 December 2027), and GPSR — sequenced from scope to vulnerability handling.
reference
EN 62368-1 — safety for audio/video and ICT equipment
EN IEC 62368-1 (3rd ed., 2018) is the hazard-based safety standard replacing EN 60950-1 and EN 60065 — energy classes, safeguards, LVD presumption of conformity.
reference
Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU — what it covers
Plain-English walk-through of the EU Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU: scope, voltage limits, safety objectives, Module A, technical file, DoC, harmonised standards.
Check your product