CE, RoHS and warranty: what an installer checks

What CE marking does and does not say

With the CE marking, the manufacturer or importer declares that a product complies with all European directives that apply to it. It is a declaration under their own responsibility: for luminaires and wiring accessories no independent testing is mandatory. CE is therefore not a quality label and says nothing about light output, lifetime or lumen maintenance. It does say that, in normal use, the product presents no risk of electric shock, fire or interference.

What you should find on the product or its packaging:

• The CE marking itself, in the prescribed proportions and at least 5 mm high.
• Name and postal address of the manufacturer and, for products from outside the EU, of the importer or authorised representative in the EU.
• Type or article number, rated voltage and frequency, power, protection class (I, II or III) and IP rating.
• For luminaires, the permitted ambient temperature (ta).

If any of these is missing, ask the supplier for clarification before you install.

Which directives and standards sit behind it

An LED luminaire normally falls under the Low Voltage Directive (electrical safety), the EMC Directive (not causing interference and being immune to it), the RoHS Directive (restricted substances) and the Ecodesign Regulation. If it contains a wireless sensor or a module with a radio, the Radio Equipment Directive applies as well.

The manufacturer demonstrates conformity using harmonised standards. The most important ones for luminaires are EN 60598-1 for the general safety of luminaires, EN 62471 for the photobiological safety of the LEDs, EN 55015 and EN 61547 for electromagnetic emission and immunity, and EN 61000-3-2 for harmonic currents. Switches and dimmers such as those in the Liregus Modern range fall under EN 60669. If in doubt, ask for the test reports: a serious supplier has them available.

RoHS: ten substances, no separate logo

RoHS restricts ten substances in electrical equipment: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, the brominated flame retardants PBB and PBDE, and four plasticisers (phthalates). The limit is 0.1 per cent by weight per homogeneous material, 0.01 per cent for cadmium. There is no separate RoHS logo: the requirement is covered by the CE marking and the declaration of conformity lists the RoHS Directive as one of the directives applied.

For LED lighting, RoHS is mainly relevant to solder, cable insulation and plastic housings. LEDs contain no mercury, unlike fluorescent tubes. Luminaires also fall under the WEEE rules for waste equipment, recognisable by the crossed-out wheelie bin. If you replace old fluorescent fittings with high bays from the ATRIA range during a refurbishment, dispose of the old tubes as hazardous waste.

The declaration of conformity: what it contains and why you keep it

The EU declaration of conformity (DoC) is the document behind the CE marking. It states the name and address of the manufacturer, the product identification (type, possibly series or batch), the directives and harmonised standards applied with their year, the place and date, and the signature of an authorised person. The manufacturer keeps the declaration and the technical file for ten years.

For you as an installer, the DoC matters for three reasons:

• Your client or the inspector may ask for it at handover; add it to the handover file alongside the inspection of the installation under the national wiring regulations (NEN 1010 in the Netherlands).
• In an insurance case after fire or damage, it proves that you used compliant material.
• In tenders, a DoC per article is often a hard requirement.

Request the declaration of conformity and the photometric files (LDT or IES) via info@lichtplein.nl, quoting the article number; we also use those files for your lighting calculation.

Warranty periods in the Lichtplein range

Warranty is something different from CE: CE is about safety, warranty is the promise that the product will keep working for a certain time. The following periods apply in our range:

• Luminaires: up to 5 years. This applies to the high bays of ATRIA, the linear luminaires of TRIVO, the street lights of VIA, the post-top luminaires of POLARIS and the explosion-proof luminaires of EXORA. Compact floodlights from the FLUX range, such as the 30 W with sensor, carry 3 years.
• Steel lighting columns from TURRIS: 5 years.
• Wiring accessories from Liregus Modern and Liregus Alfa: the period varies per article; check the product page or ask via info@lichtplein.nl.
• CityCharger charging column: 2 years.

The period is listed per article in the specifications on the product page. Lichtplein sells to businesses only; the warranty is therefore a commercial agreement, not a consumer guarantee.

Warranty covers material and manufacturing defects in use within the stated ambient temperature and IP rating. Normally excluded are damage from surges without protection, incorrect installation, an environment that is too hot or too wet for the stated rating, and modifications to the product. Do not confuse the warranty period with the lifetime: for LEDs this is stated as L70 or L80 at a number of operating hours, for example L80 at 50,000 hours. That means the luminaire is expected to still deliver 80 per cent of its original luminous flux after that time; it is not a warranty.

How a warranty claim works

A claim is handled fastest when the report is complete. Send to info@lichtplein.nl:

• Order or invoice number and the article number, for example LP-AT118.
• Number of units affected and the installation date.
• A short description of the fault: does the luminaire fail, does it flicker, is there visible damage?
• Photos of the rating label and of the fault, and for a dimmable luminaire the control signal used (1-10V or DALI).

After assessment you will hear whether the product has to be returned for examination. If the claim is accepted, the article is normally replaced or credited.

Three tips that prevent or speed up claims:

• Record per project which article numbers are installed where; if a unit fails two years on, you immediately know which delivery it belongs to.
• Outdoors, use luminaires with surge protection, such as the 10 kV of VIA, and make sure the earthing is correct; surges are a common cause of driver failure that falls outside the warranty.
• Labour and access platform hire are normally outside the product warranty; on large projects, agree in advance how you handle that with your client.

Frequently asked questions