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Equipment Classes

The idea of Equipment Classes arises under Article 4.1 of the R&TTED ("…the Commission shall establish the equivalence between notified interfaces and assign an equipment class identifier…"). The "notified interfaces" here are the radio interfaces regulated by the Member States (follow "Interfaces" link on left).

The notified interfaces are placed in one or other of two equipment classes although, in practice, it is the equipment connected to the interfaces rather than the interfaces themselves which have been classified. Equipment Class 1 covers equipment where the notified interfaces are essentially identical in all Member States. The equipment concerned may be placed on the market and put into service without restriction in any Member State. There is no equipment class identifier assigned for Class 1.

Class 2 is the "catch-all" for all other equipment where there is some kind of restriction on placing on the market or putting into service in any Member State – even just one of them. An equipment class identifier has been assigned for Class 2 – an exclamation mark inscribed in a circle – and it must be included as part of the CE Marking (follow link on left).

The Equipment Classes are formally defined in Commission Decision (2000/299/EC) of 6 April 2000 establishing the initial classification of radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment and associated identifiers. There is an indicative list of equipment falling in Class 1 on the ERO web site. The ERO list is ordered by subclasses for different radio services. A list sorted by frequency / spectrum usage can be found here.

Although the list is indicative, some Member States interpret it as definitive and so it can sometimes be difficult to assert Class 1 status where an equipment type does not appear explicitly in the ERO list even though it meets all the technical parameters set out for the notified interface.

All fixed network telecommunications terminal equipment and all receive-only radio equipment falls in Equipment Class 1.

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