UK Legal requirements for equipment

Countries United Kingdom
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Hi all, I think we need to get the UK legal requirements for TTN equipment nailed down. Mark Stanley appears active with Ofcom, and Steve Kennedy is informed.

Can we get best advice summary?

Just throwing up gateways is not a sound idea.

This is what I understand from looking in fourms:

  1. All publicly used equipment must be CE certified - so Raspberry Pi gateways are not legal
  2. The controlling acts of law are:
    The Radio Directive (June 2016) http://www.conformance.co.uk/adirectives/doku.php?id=rtte
  • “The Directive represents a further liberalisation of the requirements for telecom products”
  • and
  • “Custom built evaluation kits destined for professionals to be used solely at research and development facilities for such purposes is explicitly excluded”
  • Also
  • Exclusions
  • Certain equipment is specifically excluded from the Directive. These are:
  • Radio equipment for radio amateurs

Wireless Telegraphy Act - forum entry by https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/users/stevekennedyuk
The Wireless Telegraphy Act is stupidly punitive, and breaking it is not a good idea (can be fined or go to jail for a long time or both).
NOTE: The Act was introduced in the early 1900’s and it was easier to catch spies for having illegal radio broadcasting or receiving equipment than prove they were a spy. There’s no such thing as unlicensed spectrum in the UK, it’s all license except, which means Ofcom (the regulator) have published a Standard Instrument (which is really an Act of Parliament) which specifies the technical and usage conditions of use, if you stick to the SI you don’t need a specific license (which Ofcom would unlikely grant in ISM bands) and if you don’t you’re breaking the law. In terms of 868MHz one requirement is all equipment MUST be CE marked

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Thanks for the summary.

I still don’t understand very well what happens if I buy two separate pieces of CE certified equipment -
the Raspberry Pi and the RisingHF RHF0M301 LoRa gateway board are both CE certified - and put them together myself (not sold as a single new product)

Surely that’s OK since no vendor is supplying non-certified equipment?

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My understanding is the combination of devices requires recertification. But your question is entirely why we need this thread and authoritative guidance.

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I’m really struggling to make sense of why.

If I buy a CE certified WiFi USB dongle for my CE certified computer I don’t need to recertify my now WiFi enabled PC. That’s exactly what I’m doing with the Pi + RisingHF package.

But I understand… sometimes the law doesn’t make sense.

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CE marking is a declaration made by a manufacturer for sale: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ce-marking

Extrapolating from that, I understand it as:

  • if you were to combine two items that are individually CE marked for sale, you would have to re-certify the new combined item to sell in the EU market (you would be a manufacturer), but the process might be easier, because you might be able use the certification documentation provided by the original component manufacturers,
  • If you are a consumer, you can use the CE marked items in whatever way you’d like (although there may be some additional, rules on how you can use or modify the equipment — especially around radio).

Anyone got a better explanation of this?

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That is correct. Combining two CE certified parts into a new product requires recertification. If you buy a wifi dongle that is certified as a product and you use it on a computer that is certified as a product, you are not making a new product. You are using it in the way it was certified.

If you put a CE certified RHF0M301 or RN2483 on a custom board and connect it to a CE certified RasPi, you are making a new product. If you connect a CE certified antenna to a CE certified gateway, you are making a new product.

The gotcha is that parts like RHF0M301 of RN2483 are only certified as radios, and not as the end product we want to use them for. If they want to be CE certified as products, they need to sell the radios and the antennas used during certification (and, if applicable, soldered on the PCB they used) all together as one package. Most manufacturers clearly state that their CE certification is only for the component itself, not for the application it will be in and that it is the responsibility of the integrator to certify the end product as a whole.

E.g. a wifi router is only certified if you use it with the antennas it came with. If you swap antennas, you have made a new product (even if those antennas are CE certified) and need to do new certification.

I have stated on several occasions that the lack of certification, be it CE, FCC or LoraWan Alliance, is the Achilles heel of TTN. People are taking this issue way to lighthearted, e.g. in this thread, just running aloft with totally uncertified radio modules, protocol stacks, antennas, transmit power, duty cycles etc. I’m pretty sure that it would only take one cease & desist letter from a major telco to shut the whole thing down, even if TTN is not the ultimate responsible party. TTN may have a small war chest from the kickstarter, but it is in no way able to pit legal fees against a telco.

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exactly… thats why 99% of the nodes (and gateways) out there are uncertified.
and its not for free too.
https://www.lora-alliance.org/Products/Certification-Overview

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I did find this document from the UK government.

Having had a quick read through, it talks about products manufactured for sale.

A few years ago I wanted to sell hand made customised table lamps. I read that they would need CE checking, IF I wanted to sell them commercially, but not if I was not selling them, i.e giving them away.

We are not selling a commercial product, so what are your thoughts / understanding about a PI based gateway?

I also seem to remember reading a CE site run by a German professor , who said that companies could ‘self certify’, if competant / confident to do, however could be prosecuted if found to not meet requirements, such as electromagnetic interference.

I am sure we have enough skills amongst us to design gateways with sufficient screening etc.

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That’s doesn’t really match the information I have. You’re allowed to use the certification for any antenna as long as it matches the type (Chip, Dipole, etc) and the gain is the same or less than the one used in certification.

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The problem is you have to be able to present proof (the “technical file”) on request and the proof of course would have to be lab testing done with certified equipment.

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While each builder would be creating their own technical file, and would be the liable party if there was a problem with the equipment, it may be possible to self-certify; especially if any relevant parts that must have had 3rd party testing has already been carried out by the original equipment manufacturer as that documentation can form part of the builder’s technical file.

It particularly looks like the RED, has moved R&TTE further towards self-certification. The Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive doesn’t make testing mandatory, and the Low Voltage directive (eg. for the mains adaptor) can be self-certified.

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[quote=“craig, post:8, topic:6239, full:true”]A few years ago I wanted to sell hand made customised table lamps. I read that they would need CE checking, IF I wanted to sell them commercially, but not if I was not selling them, i.e giving them away.

We are not selling a commercial product, so what are your thoughts / understanding about a PI based gateway?[/quote]
It’s not only if your are selling them. If you are giving them away and unaware people will use them on a regular basis, it has to be certified as well (especially if it will be connected to live voltage). The only exception is demonstration/evaluation and lab use, which should be limited in time and done by people who know what they are doing.

[quote]I also seem to remember reading a CE site run by a German professor , who said that companies could ‘self certify’, if competant / confident to do, however could be prosecuted if found to not meet requirements, such as electromagnetic interference.

I am sure we have enough skills amongst us to design gateways with sufficient screening etc.[/quote]
For most LV (low voltage) applications self-certification is indeed the normal way to go. For our own TTN products this is fairly easy under the right conditions. These conditions are that you buy a precertified RF module (e.g. the RN2483 for a node), integrate it strictly to the guidelines as detailed by the manufacturer and only use the same antenna as used for RF certification. This way you don’t need to do RF certification anymore, only the LV certification which you can do yourself. It’s just a lot of paperwork.

Mind you that CE is always self certification in the sense that it is just a claim by the manufacturer that the device conforms to the applicable legislation. But for LV applications there are almost no specific rules. As long as you use a CE power supply, a CE RF module and do your paperwork, you ought to be just fine.

[quote=“jmarcelino, post:9, topic:6239, full:true”]That’s doesn’t really match the information I have. You’re allowed to use the certification for any antenna as long as it matches the type (Chip, Dipole, etc) and the gain is the same or less than the one used in certification.
[/quote]
You’re absolutely right. You need to use an electrical identical antenna as used for the certification.

I think I posted this primer in a previous thread, it kinda summarizes CE for RF.

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So in short, layman’s terms. When deploying TTN beyond your own ‘research site’ you must be using appropriately certified equipment to avoid legal prosecution. CE, FCC and LoRaWAN Alliance certifications required on gateways and sensor nodes.

During development, on a research site, uncertified development devices can be used during development of a solution. It is then a requirement before deployment beyond the ‘research site’ to obtain certification for the sensor node.

In following the above, we are operating within the law.

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Yes, but there are two conditions:

  • what exactly is a demonstration site
  • what is the duration of the demonstration.

If you interfere with regular (commercial) transmissions that use the same frequency band and modulation, I don’t think your are operating within a zoned demonstration site. And if you don’t have a defined time schedule to start and end the demonstration, I think that will be a problem too. You can’t really put up a gateway and unilaterally declare it a demonstration site, especially if there are already other operators in the same zone.

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I would phrase it differently: whether you’re on a “research site” or not, whether you’re a commercial operator or not, you must make sure you do not interfere with other users of the radio spectrum. Period. That include not radiating outside of the band you want to radiate in (beware of harmonics), and following the rules of the band you’re radiating in.

When you assemble your own radio equipment, you should learn basic radio stuff (technical and legal), be careful about what modules you use, how you decouple/shield them. And, when you’re pretty sure it’s working right, you should borrow/rent a spectrum analyzer to make sure you’re not radiating garbage all over the spectrum.

If you interfere, knowingly or not, you will probably be identified (some people are reaaaaaaally good at finding the source of radio signals), and you might be prosecuted. The CE stuff is only a mean to achieved the goal: not interfering.

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On a sidenote, it means that if you live in a cabin, surrounded by a large space you own, you can experiment and radiate a lot of garbage while staying 100% legal because you won’t interfere with anyone around.

If OTOH you live is a dense city, experimenting with low power stuff and replacing all antennas with 50 Ohm non-radiating loads (everybody should own one) might still get you in trouble.

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The use of ‘research’ doesn’t allow for for something like TTN it is for testing say a radio in a VERY constrained environment - I believe it’s also limited to less than 100 meters between devices.

In the UK it’s also illegal to give or sell equipment that the end user can’t user in a legal manner, therefore a Pi with some form of radio attached is not certified and both the provider of the kit and the end user can be prosecuted.

That’s why most sites selling stuff will state only for use in R&D or in incorporating into a device that will be certified.

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Hi all,

Sorry to drag up an old conversation but this is now really quite worrying for me!

The Gateways I am creating (IC880A+R-Pi) are not being sold to anyone, we are deploying them ourselves on sites that have been volunteered by the people that own them.

The end device “things” will be sold/distributed as kits to various organisations in an un-assembled state (part of what we’re doing is teaching people about how to solder etc.) - my understanding was that because they are kits, CE is not required. If I’m wrong, then I’ll need to rethink a number of projects and fast! :smiley:

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Hi,

So my understanding and the reason I started this thread, is that yes kits don’t need CE certification if not installed in a public space. BUT we’re using radios here which have very specific laws governing their use and basically require the devices to not interfere with other radio users. The way to demonstrate that your device does not interfere is to have it tested for CE certification. Noting that the IC880A may work as expected until you install it in your enclosure which may cause other issues such as harmonics.

So in summary. Your kit doesn’t need CE certification UNTIL YOU TURN IT ON. Then it is a radio and that needs to comply with UK laws (Wireless blah 1900, and June 2016 Radio Directives Act).

I have three of the gateways you are building and I am replacing them with Mutlitech Conduit’s as these devices (appear) correctly certified and can be suitably installed by qualified people to limit liability.

The belief that the 868mhz spectrum is unregulated and can be used by any old device you assemble is wrong and you are open to prosecution in using such devices.

My advice is to not proceed with your IC880A plans.

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Wow, ok, thanks. I guess I need to rethink how I plan this then!