Harmonized standards

This section contains all important information about Serbian standards representing the adoptions of European harmonized standards in the field of electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits.

Serbian standards for electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits are standards representing the adoptions of European harmonized standards under the Directive on Electrical Equipment Intended for Use Within Certain Voltage Limits (LVD).

Serbian standards in this field, as well as all other fields in Serbia, are adopted by the Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS). The list of Serbian standards in the field of electrical equipment representing the adoptions of European harmonized standards (hEN) is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia. The latest updated list of Serbian standards for electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits was published in the „Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia“, No. 37/19, of 31 May, 2019. See: SPISAK SRPSKIH STANDARDA LVD.pdf (privreda.gov.rs).

Application of standards from the List of Serbian Standards in the field of electrical equipment as the presumption of conformity

Electrical equipment is presumed to comply with the essential health and safety requirements of Annex 1 to the Rulebook if it is manufactured in accordance with Serbian electrical equipment standards representing the adoptions of the corresponding hEN standards. In other words, the electrical equipment is considered in conformity with the essential requirements until the contrary is proven. Such electrical equipment can be freely placed on the market and/or put into service, without any restrictions.

The manufacturer may design and manufacture electrical equipment without applying any of the standards from the list, or by applying only parts of a standard. It is also possible that there are no Serbian standards for a particular electrical equipment. In this case, the manufacturer must demonstrate through technical documentation that his technical solution fully meets all the essential safety requirements prescribed by the Rulebook within the framework of other technical specifications.

In conclusion, the use of Serbian standards from the list of standards is the simplest and fastest tool in the process of demonstrating product compliance with the essential requirements.

Harmonized standard (hEN) – The Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 on European standardization defines hEN as „a European standard adopted at the request of the European Commission for implementation within the framework of harmonised legislation of the European Union“. These harmonized European standards hEN within the framework of the LVD, whose reference is cited in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), provide a presumption of conformity for products conforming to such European standards. The largest number of these harmonized standards (hEN) supporting EU legislation are under the Directive on Electrical Equipment Intended for Use Within Certain Voltage Limits (LVD). These harmonized standards are largely developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and adopted by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC). The general objective is to fully adopt IEC standards that meet the requirements of the European Commission.

The application of harmonized standards is VOLUNTARY. Manufacturers have the option to choose any technical solution that ensures compliance with the essential requirements laid down in the directives. This is a very important clause as it guarantees the basis for technical development, which is the key when manufacturers of new or innovative products for which there are no standards yet want to certify their products in accordance with the legal European framework.

Harmonized standards (hEN) are developed in the same way as any other European standard (EN) in CENELEC, but with additional notes, i.e.:

– All harmonized standards must include an informative Annex ZZ (CENELEC), which shows the relationship between the clauses of the standard and the requirements of the legislation (this is mandatory for hEN);

– The withdrawal date from the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) has no connection with the date of withdrawal (DOW) mentioned in the preface of the hEN standard being replaced, i.e., (DOW) represents the deadline by which national standards that are in conflict with the published European standard must be withdrawn, while the withdrawal date from the OJEU represents the date on which the presumption of conformity ceases, i.e.

there is no automatic compliance between the two withdrawal dates

Specificities of hEN standards under LVD

Annex ZA – Dated and updated normative references must be clearly identified in Annex ZA.

Annex ZZ – Clauses of the standard that are relevant to the essential requirements of the LVD must be clearly identified in Annex ZZ.

If a claim is made that an essential requirement is covered by Annex ZZ, that requirement must be clearly identified in a clause/subclause of the standard.

If the standard deals with aspects that are outside the scope of EU legislation, informative Annex ZZ shall not make reference to clauses/subclauses that relate to these aspects.

In the event that the standard covers different EU directives/regulations, separate Annexes ZZ must be prepared.

Normative reference– The standards listed in clause 2 of the standard are normatively referenced in the text of the standard. Normative references in clause 2 of the EN IEC standard, as well as throughout the standard text, must be dated, active, and published. This is the role of the CENELEC Annex ZA, which links normative references from international publications to their corresponding European publications. Most often, normative references are not dated in the IEC standard, so they must be dated through Annex ZA.

Risk analysis and risk assessment – While the Machinery Directive requires risk assessment, the Low Voltage Directive requires risk analysis and risk assessment.

Manufacturers of electrical equipment must provide technical documentation that contains at least the following information:

A general description of the electrical equipment;
Design and manufacturing drawings and diagrams of components, circuits, etc.;
Drawings and diagrams that explain the operation of the electrical equipment;
A list of harmonized, international, or national standards that are applied in full or in part; Deviations from these standards must also be documented and explained. If these standards are not applied, a detailed description must be given, with supporting evidence, of the adequacy of the applied solutions to meet the safety objectives of this directive, including a list of the relevant technical specifications applied. If the standard is applied in part, the technical documentation must indicate which parts are applied.
Test results and test reports

The hazards and risks associated with the equipment must be identified, the safe operating conditions must be defined, and appropriate protective measures must be found..

Risk reduction – If a harmonized standard for a product deals with safety aspects, relevant hazards must be identified and risks must be reduced. This is particularly relevant to the Low Voltage Directive, for which the risk assessment is given together with Annex ZZ. There is no specific form for such a risk assessment, but it must be based on CENELEC Guide 32, Guidelines for Safety Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction for Low Voltage Equipment.

In Serbian standard SRPS EN ISO 12100 (Type А standard), Safety of machinery - General principles for design - Risk assessment and risk reduction, general principles for risk assessment and risk reduction are explained. Of course, the mentioned standard is from the list of Serbian standards in the field of machinery, but it can also be applied to many other fields and products.