You probably now need to apply IEC 61000-4-14, for compliance with the EMC Directive (Merely applying the 'relevant harmonised standards' is no longer sufficient)

23 Jun 2025

Keith Armstrong, www.cherryclough.com, 11 April 2025

Since the new EMC Directive came into force in 2016, we are very likely to find ourselves having to apply test standards that we are not used to, and which might not be ‘harmonised’ by being listed in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU).

If you are still declaring EMC compliance by choosing the most relevant generic or product-family standards listed under the EMC Directive in the OJEU – then passing the tests they specify, and listing them on your Declarations of EMC Conformity – you are 5 years out of date and your products might suffer costly delays in EU and UK customs as a direct result.

Since the EMC  Directive 2014/30/EU (and the UK EMC Regulations) came into force in 2016, we have been required to perform, and document, an “adequate analysis and assessment of the risks” of our products’ complying with the Directive’s Essential Requirements.

The purpose of these “EMC risk assessments” is to specify the EMC standards, specifications, guidelines, etc., – or parts of them – to apply to our products to help ensure their EMC compliance in real life. 

Find out more about this (free) at: https://www.emcstandards.co.uk/the-new-eu-directives-which-came-into-force-in, or its (paid for) update https://www.emcstandards.co.uk/recent-emc-directives-2016.

This is especially true for issues of mains Power Quality (PQ), which are rather neglected by the generic and product-family EMC test standards. Unfortunately, PQ problems are increasing, which creates more risks to the correct operation of our products and equipment.

Indeed, many people seem to think that PQ is not an EMC issue at all – but clearly it is, because of the standards on immunity to PQ issues published in the IEC’s 61000-x series of EMC test method standards.  

IEC 61000-4-14 is a set of tests for immunity to mains voltage fluctuations, and I wrote a guidebook on it a few years ago, which you can read/download (free) at: https://www.emcstandards.co.uk/handbook-on-en-61000-4-14-mains-voltage-fluctu.

This guidebook includes discussions on how mains voltage fluctuations arise, where they should be expected, and what they can affect, to help create EMC Risk Analyses.

IEC 61000-4-14 has been updated since I wrote it, but I expect the basics described in my guide to still be relevant and helpful.   

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