Noise Emissions for Outdoor Equipment

The Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, amended by the Directive 2005/88/EC, sets out both noise limits and labelling requirements for a number of types of machines intended for use outdoors. It covers 57 types of equipment used outdoors:- for 22 of them, it sets noise limits in terms of A-weighted overall sound power;- for 35 additional types of equipment, only a noise declaration is required.

With a view to progressively reducing the noise limits, the Directive has introduced two phases. The first stage became mandatory on 3 January 2002; the second will come into force on 3 January 2006.

A Corrigendum to Directive 2005/88/EC was published in the OJEU L 165 of 17 June 2006 (p. 35). It solely concerns the value for welding and power generators (all language versions).
A series of guidance notes have been issued by the European Commission services to assist in the application of Directive 2000/14/EC:
- Guide on application of the Directive
- Corrigendum to guide
- Guide to EC Declaration of Conformity
- Study on the available technology offering noise reduction for lawnmowers as presented to the European Union market
The European Commission services have developed:- the Noise Database according to Article 16(4) of Directive 2000/14/EC- a dedicated on-line tool for manufacturers, or their authorised representatives established in the EU, to generate electronically their copies of the EC Declarations of Conformity.