Business sectors

Standardization work on the safety of household appliances is under the responsibility of CLC/TC 61 ‘Safety of household and similar electrical appliances’. This Technical Committee, in close cooperation with its international counterpart IEC/TC 61, develops standards containing safety requirements for more than 100 electrical appliances intended primarily for household use. European Standards on the safety of household and similar electrical appliances (part of the EN 60335 series) are continuously adapted to align with state-of-the-art technological changes. Most of these standards are candidates for harmonization in support of European legislation.

In 2026, CLC/TC 61 will continue developing harmonized standard deliverables, aligning with European legislations, with particular attention to the Low Voltage Directive (LVD, 2014/35/EU, M/511), the Radio Equipment Directive (RED, 2014/53/EU, M/536), the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC, M/396), and the Machinery Regulation (2023/1230/EU, M/605). CLC/TC 61 will also continue adopting the latest IEC standards developed by its mirror committee IEC/TC 61 with focus on remote operation/communication and cybersecurity. Several standards are expected for publication in 2026 after successful harmonization, including but not limited to the following subjects: tumble dryers; warming plates and similar appliances; microwave ovens, including combination microwave ovens; skin exposure to optical radiation; range hoods and other cooking fume extractors; commercial electric cooking ranges, ovens, hobs and hob elements; electrical heat pumps, air-conditioners, and dehumidifiers; pumps; oral hygiene appliances; surface-cleaning appliances for household use employing liquids or steam; electrical appliances for use with aquariums and garden ponds; fixed immersion heaters; portable immersion heaters; outdoor barbecues; fabric steamers; commercial microwave ovens; and commercial microwave appliances with insertion or contacting applicators.

CLC/TC 61 will continue the revision of EN IEC 62115 ‘Electric toys – Safety’ which specifies safety requirements for electric toys that have at least one function dependent on electricity, electric toys being any product designed or intended, whether exclusively or not, for use in play by children under 14 years of age. The standard and its European Common Modifications are aimed to implement the requirements of the EU Decision of 24 October 2022 in support of Directive 2009/48/EC. The Edition 2.1 is expected to be published in 2026. On the IEC level, the development of a new edition will continue in 2026, including but not limited to some LED safety changes for compliance with the upcoming M/589 Amd1 (‘Safety of Toys’).

Finally, based on a transfer agreement with CEN/TC 197 ‘Pumps’, CLC/TC 61 will support the revision of the EN 1829 series on ‘High pressure water jet machines’. The objective is to develop this series without IEC-lead in Europe. CLC/TC 61 will wait for this series to be published on the IEC level and then start the adoption and harmonization work to comply with the Machinery Regulation in support of 2023/1230/EU (M/605). In the meantime, CLC/TC 61 will support its mirror committee on this development on the international level.

Household and other appliances 

CLC/TC 59X ‘Performance of household and similar electrical appliances’ develops European Standards on methods of measurement to help determine the performance of electrical appliances for household and commercial use.

Most of the products covered by CLC/TC 59X fall under the scope of several Ecodesign and Energy Labelling legislations adopted by the European Commission.

As the number of electrical appliances is constantly growing, implementing an efficient power consumption management system makes sense to avoid wasting a significant amount of energy. The Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2023/826 is meant to regulate this aspect when products are not in use. In 2026, CLC/TC 59X will continue the work with IEC on prEN 62301 ‘Household electrical appliances – Measurement of standby power for appliances and equipment’ in support of Regulation (EU) 2023/826 that covers off mode, standby mode, and networked standby energy consumption. This standard outlines an improved method for measuring power in non-active modes of electrical appliances, such as off mode and standby. This deliverable is intended as a widely applicable horizontal publication. The revision will replace EN 50564:2011 ‘Electrical and electronic household and office equipment – Measurement of low power consumption’ and aims to enhance the accuracy and reproducibility of measurements. The deliverable is foreseen to be harmonized and cited in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

For the implementation of the recent Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), CLC/TC 59X identified the need to cover material efficiency aspects in cooperation with other TCs that already have experience in material efficiency and to use the existing standards as a foundation. A clear assessment of the product characteristics should be pursued to identify the parameters for each specific product. Therefore, it should be ensured that for each selected product aspect, reliable, repeatable, reproducible, affordable, and enforceable measurement methods that reflect the real-life use of the product are available or can be developed (based on a Standardization Request issued by the European Commission).

The following standards will be developed in 2026:

• prEN 50753 ‘General methods for the assessment of the ability to repair of electric instantaneous water heaters (EIWH)’
• prEN IEC 62885-14 ‘Surface cleaning appliances – Part 14: Cleaning machines for commercial use – Requirements for conducting a life cycle assessment (LCA)’

A set of standards is in progress supporting the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC, related to pending acts, including in support of EU 2024/1103 Ecodesign requirements for local space heaters and separate related controls, as soon as the Standardization Request is ready:

• EN 60531:2000/prAB:2025     ‘Household electric thermal storage room heaters – Methods for measuring performance’
• EN 60675:1995/prAB:2025     ‘Household electric direct-acting room heaters – Methods for measuring performance’
• EN 50559:2013/prA2  ‘Electric room heating, underfloor heating, characteristics of performance – Definitions, method of testing, sizing and formula symbols’

Gas appliances

The European Commission sent a mandate to CEN and CENELEC through the Standardization Request M/595 (Gas Appliances & Fittings), which was accepted in 2023. 14 Technical Committees are involved and will continue to work on a set of 78 standards to be delivered by mid-2027.

CEN-CLC/JTC 17 ‘Gas Appliances with Combined Heat and Power’ has been working on EN 62282-3-400 ‘Gas appliances – Combined heat and power appliance of nominal heat input inferior or equal to 70 kW’ as this document has been requested through M/595, and the JTC expects to finalize it in the first part of 2026.

This standard is intended to replace the homegrown standard EN 50465. It is fundamentally based on the international standard IEC 62282-3-400. However, as the latter covers fuel cell technology exclusively, aspects relating to internal combustion and Stirling engines have been developed and incorporated.

This comprehensive standard summarizes the requirements for the safety and performance of combined heat and power plants with a nominal heat input of up to 70 kW, typically used to supply households with electric and thermal energy. These include requirements for construction and operational safety, as well as for marking, installation, and operating instructions.

CEN/TC 238 ‘Test gases, test pressures, appliance categories and gas appliance types’ will continue the revision of EN 437 ‘Test gases – Test pressures – Appliance categories’ which is a reference standard for the whole gas industry as it has a direct impact on a lot of processes and end-use appliances.

The ongoing revision of EN 437:2021 aims to align the content of the standard to comply with the essential requirements set by Regulation (EU) 2016/426, the Gas Appliances Regulation (GAR). The objective for 2026 is to have EN 437 published and cited in the Official Journal of the European Union, with users benefitting from having the presumption of conformity to the Regulation when applying the standard. This work will be prepared under standardization request M/595.

The revision of EN 437 will be complemented in 2026 by the development of a new Technical Specification to cover hydrogen admixture up to 20%. In the longer term, CEN/TC 238 is planning to develop a second Technical Specification to deal with 100% of hydrogen and with other renewable gases, including the emerging renewable dimethyl ether (r-DME), among others.

CEN/TC 181 ‘Appliances and leisure vehicle installations using liquefied petroleum gas and appliances using natural gas for outdoor use’ is contributing to the work related to the expected standards in support of M/595. CEN/TC 181 will continue to to improve the quality of their standards with a special focus on the safe use of appliances, ensured by providing a proper response to the essential requirements set in the Gas Appliances Regulation (EU) 2016/426. In 2026, the TC will focus on the following standards to integrate the return on experience in a continuous improvement approach:

• EN 17476:2021+A1:2022 ‘Specifications for dedicated liquefied petroleum gas appliances – LPG vapour pressure appliances incorporating a horizontal cartridge in the chassis’ will be adapted to reword assembly and cleaning requirements, to integrate additional safety tests on a slope of 10° for heaters, and insert a specific warning dealing with the risk of using accessories that are not validated by the manufacturer. Requirements for user assembly will also be strengthened.
• EN 497:2022 ‘Specification for dedicated liquefied petroleum gas appliances – Multi purpose boiling burners for outdoor use – Cooking vessels with a diameter greater than 300 mm’ will be reviewed to avoid accidents due to uncontrolled gas leakage of unburnt gas. Requirements will be strengthened, and further wind resistance tests will be added.

Some of the technical solutions proposed for the two standards mentioned above are considered to also be relevant for other product standards. For consistency, CEN/TC 181 will evaluate to what extent it has to be implemented in the following standards currently being revised under M/595:

• EN 484 ‘Specification for dedicated liquefied petroleum gas appliances – Independent stoves, including those incorporating a grill for outdoor use’
• EN 521 ‘Specifications for dedicated liquefied petroleum gas appliances – Portable vapor pressure liquefied petroleum gas appliances’

As agreed in M/595 Gas Appliances and Fittings, CEN/TC 106 ‘Large kitchen appliances using gaseous fuels’ has been working on the revision of the EN 203 series ‘Gas heated catering equipment’, with some parts recently cited by the European Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union. CEN/TC 106 will continue to work on its program for the remaining parts in 2026 and beyond:

• EN 203-2-3 ‘Gas heated catering equipment – Part 2-3: Specific requirements – Boiling pans and pasta cookers’
• EN 203-2-7 ‘Gas heated catering equipment – Part 2-7: Specific requirements – Salamanders and rotisseries’
• EN 203-2-8 ‘Gas heated catering equipment – Part 2-8: Specific requirements – Brat pans’
• EN 203-2-9 ‘Gas heated catering equipment – Part 2-9: Specific requirements – Solid tops, warming plates and griddles’

CEN/TC 299 ‘Gas-fired sorption appliances, indirect fired sorption appliances, gas-fired endothermic engine heat pumps and domestic gas-fired washing and drying appliances’ is one of the 14 TCs in charge of delivering standards under M/595. Moreover, the appliances in question are also in the scope of the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC.

CEN/TC 299 typically develops harmonized standards for products covered by both the Gas Appliance Regulation (EU) 2016/426 and one or several Ecodesign Product Regulations. In 2026, CEN/TC 299 will continue the revision of the two following ‘multi-legislation’ standards:

• EN 12309-2 ‘Gas-fired sorption appliances for heating and/or cooling with a net heat input not exceeding 70 kW – Part 2: Safety’ in support of Regulation (EU) 2016/426 and Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 813/2013 for space heaters and combination heaters
• EN 16905-2 ‘Gas-fired endothermic engine driven heat pumps – Part 2: Safety’ in support of the GAR Regulation (EU) 2016/426, Ecodesign Regulations (EU) 813/2013, and (EU) 2016/2281

In both cases, the developments are done in the framework of standardization requests M/535 and M/595, and the objective is to have the standards cited in the Official Journal of the European Union for each individual regulation.

CEN/TC 58 ‘Safety and control devices for burners and appliances burning gaseous or liquid fuels’ will revise its umbrella standard EN 13611 ‘Safety and control devices for burners and appliances burning gaseous and/or liquid fuels – General requirements’.

For more clarity, CEN/TC 58 decided to split the work in two separate projects: EN 13611 will manage the compliance with the Gas Appliance Regulation (GAR), and a new standard, ‘Pressure accessories for burners and appliances burning gaseous fuels’, will deal with pressure accessories as defined by the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED).

Household appliances and HVAC 

In terms of performance, household appliances and HVAC standards are supposed to be drafted in support of the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC and the corresponding Energy Labelling Regulation (EU) 2017/1369. The primary legislations give the general framework to ensure a high energy efficiency when using Energy-related Products (ErP), and they are complemented by a set of about 55 individual Product Legislations.

CEN/TC 44 ‘Commercial and Professional Refrigerating Appliances and Systems, Performance and Energy Consumption’ is in charge of developing technical elements for the refrigeration system used by professionals. In 2026, the TC will continue the development of two standards that concern the vast majority of consumers, if not all:

• A revision of EN ISO 22043:2020 ‘Ice-cream freezers – Classification, requirements and test conditions’ will be done in support of both Ecodesign (EU) 2019/2024 and Energy Labelling (EU) 2019/2018;
• EN ISO 22044:2022 ‘Commercial beverage coolers – Classification, requirements and test conditions’ will be revised to support the same legislations.

Both standards will be developed in response to the Standardization Request M/582 ‘Ecodesign and energy labelling requirements for refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function’. The TC aims for a citation in the Official Journal of the European Union.

In addition, CEN/TC 44 will continue to work on:

• EN 18151 ‘Refrigerators and freezers for laboratory and medical applications – Terminology, requirements, testing’:  The standard provides requirements and recommendations for blood bank refrigerators, refrigerators for medicinal products (such as vaccines) and laboratory use, freezers for laboratory use, plasma storage freezers, ultra-low freezers, and cryogenic freezers, and it intends to encourage the industry to improve its products and thus curb the proliferation of substandard products in the public health sector.

EN ISO 19424 ‘Refrigerated food lockers – Thermal and energy performance, ratings, environmental test conditions and associated testing methods’.