What equipment does RoHS cover?

The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Regulations cover eight categories of electrical  and electronic equipment (EEE) which have a voltage of up to 1000 volts AC or 1500 volts DC:

  1. large household appliances, such as fridges and cookers
  2. small household appliances, such as irons and electric knives
  3. IT and telecommunication equipment, such as computers, printers and telephones
  4. consumer equipment, such as radios, television sets and musical instruments
  5. some lighting equipment, including electric light bulbs and fluorescent lamps
  6. electrical and electronic tools (except large stationary industrial tools), such as electric drills and other power tools
  7. toys, leisure and sports equipment, such as electric car racing sets and video games
  8. automatic dispensers, such as drink and food vending machines.

Exemptions from the RoHS regulations

The RoHS Regulations do not apply to:

  • the reuse of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) placed on the market before 1 July 2006
  • spare parts for the repair of EEE placed on the market before 1 July 2006
  • large-scale stationary industrial tools with a voltage above 1000 volts AC or 1500 DC
  • medical devices such as radiotherapy equipment, dialysis equipment and specialist medical freezers and refrigerators
  • monitoring and control instruments including smoke detectors, heating regulators and other domestic, industrial and laboratory measuring devices
  • certain specific uses of hazardous substances, for example, substances in certain types of lamps and lead in ceramic and crystal electronic devices (check annex C of the government guidance notes below for more details).

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has produced guidance with further details and examples of equipment covered by the RoHS Regulations.

The National Measurement Office has created a RoHS decision tree. Use the decision tree to see if your products need to comply with the requirements of RoHS

In this guideline: