Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2016
What this means for your business
- Enforced by
- OPSS
- Applies to
- United Kingdom
- On this page
- 35 compliance obligations, 2 practical guides across 2 topics
What you must do
35 compliance obligations under this legislation — 5 can result in imprisonment.
Appointments 1
Appoint a UK authorised representative (if needed)
If you manufacture equipment that falls under the EMC Regulations, you can choose to appoint a UK‑based authorised representative to act for you on certain tasks. The appointment must be in writing, allowing the representative to keep the technical file, issue the declaration of conformity and provide information or co‑operate with authorities, but it must not give them duties that only the manufacturer can perform. You remain ultimately responsible for those duties.
Risk assessment 3
Carry out conformity assessment and prepare technical documentation
Before you sell any electronic equipment, you must either conduct the required conformity assessment yourself or have it done by an approved body. You also need to compile the technical files set out in the relevant schedules to prove the product meets the essential EMC requirements. This work has to be finished before the first item is placed on the UK market.
Carry out conformity assessment for EMC requirements
If you manufacture electrical or electronic equipment, you must prove that each product meets the essential electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements. You can do this either by using internal production control (Module A) or by having a type‑examination followed by internal production control (Modules B and C). You may combine the two methods, but any requirements not covered by the type‑examination must be checked with internal production control.
Only place imported apparatus on the market if it meets EMC requirements
If you import electrical or electronic equipment, you must make sure it complies with the essential electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements before you sell or otherwise make it available in the UK market. You cannot put non‑conforming items on the market, even temporarily.
Management duties 20
Correct, withdraw or recall non‑conforming equipment
3 months imprisonmentIf you are a distributor and you think a product you have put on the market does not meet the EMC rules, you must act straight away to fix it, take it off the market or recall it. If the product could be hazardous, you also have to tell the market‑surveillance authority what the problem is and what you have done about it.
Document and retain engineering practices for fixed installations
If you install a fixed installation (e.g. plant, wiring, equipment) you must keep written records of the engineering practices you used, retain those records for as long as the installation is in service, and be ready to show them to regulators if they ask. You also remain responsible for making sure the installation continues to meet the essential electromagnetic‑compatibility requirements.
Do not place non‑conforming apparatus on the market and report risks
If you import electrical equipment, you must be sure it meets the EMC essential requirements. If you suspect it doesn’t, you must not sell it. And if you think the equipment could cause a safety or interference risk, you must inform the manufacturer and the market‑surveillance authority.
Do not sell non‑conforming equipment and report any safety risks
3 months imprisonmentIf you act as a distributor, you must stop selling any product you think does not meet the required EMC standards. If you believe a product could be unsafe, you also have to tell the manufacturer and the market‑surveillance authority straight away.
Ensure EMC compliance through internal production control
If you manufacture electrical or electronic equipment, you must assess its electromagnetic compatibility, create a full technical file, control the production process to match that file, affix the UK marking, and keep a declaration of conformity for ten years. You can delegate the marking and declaration to an authorised representative, but the responsibility remains with you.
Ensure equipment meets essential EMC requirements before sale
If you manufacture any electrical or electronic device, you must make sure it is designed and built to meet the essential electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements before you put it on the UK market. This means carrying out the relevant tests, assessments and keeping the necessary paperwork in place before you start selling the product. Failing to do so can lead to enforcement action.
Ensure imported equipment meets EMC compliance before sale
Before you, as an importer, put any electrical or electronic equipment on the UK market you must make sure the maker has carried out a conformity assessment, produced the technical file, fitted the UK EMC mark and supplied all the paperwork required by regulation 13. In short, you cannot sell the product until those steps are documented and verified.
Ensure market‑placed equipment meets EMC conformity
When you put any electrical or electronic product on the market, you must take reasonable steps to make sure it complies with the electromagnetic compatibility rules (Part 2 of the Regulations). In practice this means checking the product, keeping the necessary test reports and declarations, and only selling it if it meets the standards.
Ensure safe storage and transport of equipment
If your business supplies (distributes) electronic equipment, you must make sure that the way you store or move it does not damage its compliance with the essential EMC requirements. In practice this means checking that temperature, humidity, handling and packaging are suitable and that you keep records to prove it.
Ensure storage and transport maintain product conformity
If you import electrical or electronic equipment, you must make sure that the way you store or move it does not damage its compliance with the EMC regulations. Put in place suitable packaging, handling, temperature, humidity and other controls and keep an eye on them so the product stays within the required standards.
Fix, withdraw or recall non‑conforming risky products
Unlimited fineIf an enforcement authority finds that one of your products does not meet the electromagnetic‑compatibility rules and poses a risk, you must either correct it, withdraw it from sale or recall it within the time‑frame they set. You also have to inform the approved conformity‑assessment body and, where required, the Secretary of State. Failure to act can lead to market bans and prosecution.
Maintain independence, competence and integrity as a conformity assessment body
If your company provides conformity assessment (testing, certification) for electromagnetic compatibility, you must be set up as an independent third‑party body, have qualified staff, documented procedures and policies, adequate insurance and confidentiality controls, and must avoid any conflicts of interest. In practice this means proving you are legally based in the UK or a CPTPP territory, keeping your management and assessors separate from the manufacturers or users of the equipment you test, and having the right resources and records in place.
Mark products with manufacturer identification details
If you manufacture any electrical or electronic equipment, you must clearly show who made it. Before you sell the product you need to put a type/batch/serial number, your company name or trade mark, and a single contact address on the item itself – or on its packaging or an accompanying document if the item is too small. The name and address must be easy to read and written in plain English.
Obtain Type Examination and keep product conformity for EMC‑regulated goods
If you make equipment that falls under the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations, you must apply for a Type Examination with an approved body, supply full technical documentation, keep the certificate and supporting files for 10 years, tell the body about any design changes, affix the UK marking to each product and have a written declaration of conformity ready for inspection.
Perform approved conformity assessments and provide an appeal route
If your business is an approved body under the EMC Regulations, you may only carry out the conformity‑assessment activities you have been approved for, must follow the detailed procedures in Schedule 6, and must have a process that lets manufacturers appeal any refusal to issue a type‑examination certificate.
Set up compliance procedures for series‑produced equipment
If you manufacture electronic or electrical products in batches, you must have a system in place that checks each item will meet the EMC requirements before you sell it. The system must be updated whenever you change the design or when the relevant standards are revised, so every product you put on the market stays compliant.
Take corrective action and notify authority for non‑compliant products
If you as a manufacturer discover—or have reason to suspect—that a product you have put on the market does not meet the electromagnetic compatibility requirements, you must act straight away to fix it, withdraw it or recall it. If the product could pose a safety risk you also have to inform the market‑surveillance authority with details of the problem and what you have done.
Take corrective action and report risk for non‑conforming imported equipment
If you import equipment and discover—or have reason to suspect—that it does not meet the EMC regulations, you must act straight away to fix it, withdraw it from sale, or recall it. If the product also poses a safety risk, you must immediately tell the market surveillance authority what’s wrong and what you have done.
Use the UK marking correctly on your products
You can only put the UK (UKCA) marking on a product if you are the manufacturer and have shown that the product meets the essential requirements through the proper conformity assessment. You must not add any other mark that claims the product meets those requirements, nor use any sign or label that could mislead people about the UK marking or make the UK marking hard to see.
Verify EMC compliance before selling equipment
Before you put any electrical or electronic product on the UK market, you must make sure it meets the EMC rules. This means checking the product carries the UK mark, comes with the required documents and clear English instructions, and confirming the manufacturer and importer have fulfilled their identification duties.
Other requirements 4
Affix UK(NI) indication on products sold in Northern Ireland
If you place a product on the Northern Ireland market that carries the CE mark based on a UK‑issued certificate, you must also put a UK(NI) label on the product. The label has to be visible, legible and permanent, and appear together with the CE mark before the product is sold. Manufacturers (or their authorised representatives) must do this, and importers must check that the manufacturer has complied.
Provide clear English instructions and information with imported apparatus
If you import electrical or electronic equipment and put it on the UK market, you must make sure the product is supplied with user instructions and usage information that are clear, legible and written in plain, easily‑understood English.
Provide clear English instructions with your apparatus
When you put any electronic or electrical product on the market, you must supply it with user instructions and any other information required by the EMC Regulations. Those documents must be clear, easy to read and written in understandable English. This means checking the wording and layout before the product is sold.
Provide required safety and usage information with your equipment
If you sell or put electrical equipment on the UK market, you must include clear information with the product about any special precautions needed during assembly, installation, maintenance or use, any limits on using it in homes, and instructions for its intended purpose. Where needed, the same residential‑area restrictions must also appear on the packaging.
Offences and prohibitions 2
Be liable for another's electromagnetic compliance offence
3 months imprisonmentIf a person in your business does something, or fails to act, that causes another person to breach the electromagnetic compatibility regulations (regulation 61), you can be prosecuted even if you are not the principal offender. This applies to directors, managers, secretaries, partners or any similar officer who consents, connives, or is negligent. Conviction brings the same penalties that apply to the original offence.
Fail to comply with EMC requirements or recall notice
3 months imprisonmentIf your business places electrical or electronic equipment on the market without meeting the technical requirements set out in the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations (or ignores a withdrawal/recall notice issued by the enforcement authority), you commit a criminal offence. Conviction can lead to a fine and, in the most serious cases, imprisonment. The exact penalties are laid out in the Regulations’ penalty provisions (s.62).
Record keeping 5
Create and maintain Declaration of Conformity and UK marking
If you manufacture equipment that must meet the EMC requirements, you have to produce a Declaration of Conformity confirming the product meets those standards and affix the UKCA marking before the product is sold. You must keep that declaration current, and if more than one piece of legislation applies you can use a single declaration that lists each law.
Keep technical files and EU declaration for 10 years
If you import machinery or equipment, you must hold onto the technical documentation and the EU Declaration of Conformity for that product for ten years from the day it is first sold or otherwise placed on the market. This means you need a system for storing these papers (or digital copies) and checking that they remain available for the whole period.
Prepare a Declaration of Conformity for each apparatus
3 months imprisonmentWhen you put electrical or electronic equipment on the UK market, you must produce a Declaration of Conformity. This document must confirm the essential EMC requirements have been met, list the conformity‑assessment steps you followed, and use the exact template set out in Schedule 4 of the Regulations.
Provide the EU declaration of conformity in the required language
Before you sell or make any electrical/electronic equipment available, you must have the EU declaration of conformity written in, or translated into, the language that the country requires. For sales to Northern Ireland the declaration must be in English.
Retain technical documentation and EU declaration for 10 years
If you manufacture any equipment that falls under the EMC Regulations, you must keep the technical file and the EU declaration of conformity for that product for ten years from the day you first put it on the market. This means the records must be stored safely and be ready to show to authorities if they ask.
Penalties for non-compliance
6 penalties under this legislation. 5 can result in imprisonment. 6 carry an unlimited fine.
Correct, withdraw or recall non‑conforming equipment
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Do not sell non‑conforming equipment and report any safety risks
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Be liable for another's electromagnetic compliance offence
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Fail to comply with EMC requirements or recall notice
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Prepare a Declaration of Conformity for each apparatus
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Fix, withdraw or recall non‑conforming risky products
Unlimited fine
Practical guidance
Our guides explain how to comply with the requirements above.
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Sections and provisions
84 classified provisions from this legislation.
Duties 43
- Schedule 2 Module A: internal production control
- Schedule 3 Applicable conformity assessment procedures
- Schedule 5 Requirements for notified approved bodies
- s.8 Duty to ensure apparatus complies with the essential requirements a manufacturer
- s.9 Technical documentation and conformity assessment
- s.10 Declaration of conformity and UK marking
- s.11 Retention of technical documentation and EU declaration of conformity
- s.12 Compliance procedures for series production
- s.13 Information identifying manufacturer
- s.14 Instructions and information a manufacturer
- s.15 Manufacturer's duty to take action in respect of apparatus placed on the market which is considered not to be in conformity
- s.17 Prohibition on placing apparatus on the market which is not in conformity
- s.18 Requirements that must be satisfied before an importer places apparatus on the market documents that are required
- s.19 Duty not to place non-conforming apparatus on the market
- s.21 Instructions and information an importer
- s.22 Storage and transport the importer
- s.23 Importer's duty to take action in respect of apparatus placed on the market which is considered not to be in conformity
- s.24 Retention of technical documentation and EU declaration of conformity
- s.26 Duty to act with due care
- s.27 Making available on the market documents that are required
- ... and 23 more duties
Offences and penalties 6
Powers 12
- Schedule 7 Enforcement and investigatory powers conferred on the enforcing authority and the market surveillance authority
- s.16 Provision of information and co-operation
- s.25 Provision of information and co-operation
- s.31 Provision of information and co-operation
- s.33 Identification of economic operators
- s.44 Approval of conformity assessment bodies
- s.47 Restriction, suspension or withdrawal of approval
- s.51 UK national accreditation body
- s.54 Enforcement powers
- s.67 Action by enforcing authority
- s.71 Compensation
- Designated standard Designated standard
Definitions 5
- s.6 Making available or putting into service
- s.32 Cases in which the obligations of manufacturers apply to importers and distributors
- s.43 Approved bodies notified body approved body requirements
- s.49 Subsidiaries and contractors subsidiary
- Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods technical documentation CE marking qualifying Northern Ireland goods
Exemptions 8
- s.20 Information identifying importer
- s.42 UK marking
- s.59 Enforcement action in respect of formal non-compliance
- s.63 Defence of due diligence
- Disapplication where more specific obligations app Disapplication where more specific obligations apply
- Further use of the UK marking Further use of the UK marking
- Obligations which are met by complying with obliga Obligations which are met by complying with obligations in the Directive
- Transitional provision in relation to EU Exit Transitional provision in relation to EU Exit