S.I. No. 319/1997 - European Communities (Energy Labelling of Household Combined Washer Dryers) Regulations, 1997.

S.I. No. 319 of 1997.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (ENERGY LABELLING OF HOUSEHOLD COMBINED WASHER DRYERS) REGULATIONS, 1997.

 I, Mary O'Rourke, Minister for Public Enterprise, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1992 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purposes of giving effect to Commission Directive 96/60 of 19th September 1996¹ and to Council Directive 92/75/EEC of 22nd September 1992², in so far as it applies to household appliances to which the Commission Directive aforesaid applies, hereby make the following Regulations:

¹ OJ. No. L266, 18-10-1996, p1.

² O.J. No. L297, 13-10-1992, p16.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Energy Labelling of Household Combined Washer Dryers) Regulations, 1997.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of August, 1997.

2. (1) In these Regulations

"appliance" has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 3;

"authorised officer" shall be construed in accordance with Regulation 9(1);

"dealer" means a retailer or other person who sells, hires, offers for hire purchase or displays appliances to endures;

"fiche" means a product fiche complying with Schedule 2 and the Directives;

"label" means a label complying with Schedule I and the Directives but does not include a rating plate or its equivalent affixed for safety purposes to an appliance;

"supplier" means the manufacturer of an appliance or his authorised representative in the Community or the person who places an appliance on the Community market;

"the Commission Directive" means Commission Directive 96/60 of 19 September, 1996;

"the Council Directive" means Council Directive 92/75/EEC of 22 September, 1992;

"the Directives" means the Commission Directive and the Council Directive;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Public Enterprise.

(2) A word or expression that is used in the Council Directive or the Commission Directive and is also used in these Regulations shall, unless the contrary intention appears, have in these Regulations the meaning that it has in the Council Directive or the Commission Directive, as the case may be.

(3) In these Regulations—

( a ) a reference to a Regulation is to a Regulation of these Regulations;

( b ) a reference to a paragraph is to a paragraph of the Regulation in which the reference occurs;

( c ) a reference to a Schedule is to a Schedule of these Regulations.

3. In these Regulations "appliance" means an electric mains operated household combined washer dryer but does not include

( a ) an appliance that can also use other energy sources.

( b ) a second-hand appliance, or

( c ) an appliance of which production ceased before the 1st day of August, 1997.

4. (1) A supplier shall not place an appliance on the market unless—

( a ) either

 (i) he provides a fiche in a product brochure with the appliance, or

 (ii) he supplies a fiche with other literature provided with the appliance,

( b ) he supplies a label with the appliance, and

( c ) he has established technical documentation in the English language version in relation to the appliance sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information contained in the label and the fiche to be assessed.

(2) The technical documentation referred to in paragraph (1) shall include—

( a ) the name and address of the supplier,

( b ) a general description of the model, sufficient for it to be uniquely identified,

( c ) information (including any relevant drawings) on the main design features of the model and, in particular, items that appreciably affect its energy consumption,

( d ) reports of any relevant measurement tests carried out on the model under the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1.2 of the Commission Directive,

( e ) instructions, if any, for operating the appliance.

(3) A supplier shall make the documentation specified in paragraph (2) available to authorised officers for the purpose of their functions for a period of 5 years after the last appliance concerned was manufactured.

(4) A supplier may, for the purpose of establishing the documentation aforesaid, use documentation already required on the basis of relevant Community legislation.

(5) A supplier shall be deemed to have given his consent to the publication of the information given on a label or fiche supplied by him.

(6) A supplier shall ensure that—

( a ) the information on a label or fiche supplied by him is accurate, and

( b ) when the supply by him of labels is requested by a dealer for the purpose of the display of appliances, that the labels are delivered promptly to the dealer.

(7) A supplier shall supply free of charge to a dealer labels required by the dealer for the purpose of the display of appliances.

(8) A supplier may choose his own system for the delivery of labels to dealers.

5. A dealer shall not offer an appliance for sale, hire or hire purchase or display it to end users unless—

( a ) a label, in the English language version, has been placed on the outside of the front or top of the appliance in such a way as to be clearly visible and not obscured,

( b ) a fiche, in the English language version, is supplied with the appliance and is available for inspection by endures before a sale or an agreement for hire or hire purchase is concluded.

6. (1) Where a dealer offers an appliance for sale, hire or hire purchase by means of a printed communication, such as a mail order or other catalogue, or in circumstances that imply that the potential customer cannot be expected to see the appliance displayed, the dealer shall ensure that the printed communication complies with Schedule 3, is in the English language version and complies with the Directives.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in relation to an appliance offered for sale, hire or hire purchase by a dealer during the period ending on the 31st day of January, 1998.

7. A label or fiche shall be deemed to comply with these Regulations and the Directives unless there is evidence to the contrary,

8. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person who displays labels, marks, symbols or inscriptions relating to energy consumption which do not comply with the requirements of the Council Directive (in so far as it relates to appliances) or the Commission Directive shall be guilty of an offence if the display is likely to mislead or confuse.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to displays for the purpose of Community or national environmental labelling schemes.

9. (1) The Minister may appoint such and so many persons as he may determine to be authorised officers for the purposes of these Regulations and a person so appointed is referred to in these Regulations as "an authorised officer".

(2) An authorised officer may, at all reasonable times, on production, if so requested by any person affected, of his warrant of appointment

( a ) enter any premises or other place or any vehicle if he reasonably believes that an appliance is kept therein or thereon for the purpose of being placed on the market;

( b ) inspect the premises or other place or the vehicle;

( c ) carry out or have carried out such examinations, tests, inspections and checks of any appliances found there as he reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of his functions and, if he so thinks fit, remove or have removed from there any appliance and retain the appliance for a reasonable period to facilitate such testing;

( d ) require any person on or at the premises or other place or the vehicle to give to the officer any information in the person's power or control that the officer may reasonably require and to produce to him any records (in whatever form kept) or books or documents (including labels and fiches) that are in the person's power or control,

( e ) inspect and copy or extract information from any data (within the meaning of the Data Protection Act, 1988 ) found by or produced to the officer under this Regulation,

( f ) inspect and take copies of, or of extracts from, any records (in whatever form kept), books or documents (including labels and fiches) found by or produced to the officer under this Regulation.

(3) If an authorised officer has reason to suspect that the information on a label or fiche is inaccurate, he may require the supplier concerned to furnish evidence (including technical documentation referred to in Regulation 4(1)) concerning its accuracy.

(4) A person who obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of a power or, without reasonable excuse, does not comply with a requirement of an authorised officer under these Regulations or who, in purported compliance with such a requirement, gives information to an authorised officer that he knows to be false or misleading in a material respect shall be guilty of an offence.

10. (1) A person who contravenes a provision of these Regulations or the Directives shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to—

( a ) a fine not exceeding IR £1,500, or

( b ) imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both.

(3) Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer, of such a body, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

11. Proceedings for an offence under these Regulations may be brought by the Minister.

12. These Regulations shall not apply to the placing on the market, the commercialisation or the display of appliances before the 1st day of January, 1998.

SCHEDULE 1

The Label

Notes concerning the label

2. The following notes define the information to be included:

Note:

I. Supplier's name or trade mark.

II. Supplier's model identifier.

III. The energy efficiency class of the model shall be determined in accordance with Schedule 4. This letter shall be placed at the same level as the relevant arrow.

IV. Without prejudice to any requirements under the Community Ecolabel scheme, where an appliance has been granted a Community Ecolabel pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 880/92 of 23 March 1992¹, a copy of the Ecolabel may be added here. The 'washer drier label design guide' referred to below, explains how the Ecolabel mark may be included in the label.

¹ O.J. No. L 99, 11.4.92, p. 1

V. Energy consumption in kWh per complete operating (washing, spinning and drying) cycle using standard 60 °C cotton cycle and 'dry cotton' drying cycle, determined in accordance with the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

VI. Energy consumption in kWh per washing (washing and spinning only) cycle using standard 60 °C cotton cycle, determined in accordance with the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

VII. Washing performance class as determined by Schedule 4.

VIII.Maximum spin speed attained for standard 60°C cotton cycle, determined in accordance with the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

IX. Capacity (in kg) of appliance for standard 60°C cotton cycle (without drying), determined in accordance with the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

X. Capacity (in kg) of appliance for 'dry cotton' (drying) cycle, determined in accordance with the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

XI. Water consumption, in litres, per complete operating (washing, spinning and drying) cycle using standard 60°C cotton washing cycle and 'dry cotton' drying cycle, determined in accordance with the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

XII. Where applicable, noise during washing, spinning and drying cycles using standard 60°C cotton washing cycle and 'dry cotton' drying cycle, determined in accordance with Council Directive 86/594/EEC ²

² O.J. No. L344, 6.12.86, p. 24. The relevant noise measurement standards are EN 6070424 for washing and spinning, and EN 60704—2-6 for drying and EN 60704-3.

Colours used:

CMYK - cyan, magenta, yellow, black.

For example: 07X0: 0% cyan, 70% magenta, 100% yellow, 0% black.

Arrows:

- A: X0X0

- B: 70X0

- C: 30X0

- D: 00X0

- E: 03X0

- F: 07X0

- G: 0XX0

Outline colour: X070

All text is in black. The background is white.

Complete printing information is contained in a ' washer drier energy label design guide', which is for information only, obtainable from:

The Secretary of the Committee on energy labelling and standard product information for household appliances,

Directorate General for Energy XVII,

European Commission,

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200,

B-1049 Brussels.

SCHEDULE 2

THE FICHE

The fiche shall contain the following information. The information may be given in the form of a table covering a number of models supplied by the same supplier, in which case it shall be given in the order specified below unless it is contained in a more general description of the appliance.

1. Supplier's trade mark.

2. Supplier's model identifier.

3. The energy efficiency class of the model as defined in Schedule 4. Expressed as 'Energy efficiency class on a scale of A (most efficient) to G (less efficient)'. Where this information is provided in a table, this may be expressed by other means provided it is clear that the scale is from A (most efficient) to G (less efficient).

4. Where the information is provided in a table, and where some of the appliances listed in the table have been granted a 'Community Eco-label' pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 880/92, this information may be included here. In this case the row heading shall state 'Community Eco-label', and the entry shall consist of a copy of the Eco-label mark. This provision is without prejudice to any requirements under the EU Eco-label scheme.

5. Energy consumption for washing, spinning, and drying, in kWh per complete operating cycle as defined in Schedule I note V.

6. Energy consumption for washing and spinning only, in kWh per washing cycle as defined in Schedule I note VI.

7. Washing performance class determined in accordance with Schedule 4. Expressed as 'Washing performance class . on a scale of A (higher) to G (lower)'. This may be expressed by other means provided it is clear that the scale is from A (higher) to G (lower).

8. Water extraction efficiency for a standard 60°C cotton washing cycle, determined in accordance with the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive. Expressed as 'Water remaining after spin .% (as a proportion of dry weight of wash)'.

9. Maximum spin speed attained as defined in Schedule I note VIII.

10. Washing capacity of appliance for a standard 60°C cotton washing cycle, as defined in Schedule I note IX.

11. Drying capacity of appliance for a standard 'dry cotton' drying cycle, as defined in Schedule I note X.

12. Water consumption for washing, spinning and drying, in litres per complete operating cycle as defined in Schedule I note XI.

13. Water consumption for washing and spinning only, in litres, per standard 60°C cotton washing (and spinning) cycle determined in accordance with the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

14. Washing and drying time. Programme time for complete operating cycle (60°C cotton washing and 'dry cotton' drying), for rated washing capacity, determined in accordance with the test procedures of the harmonised standards referred to in Article 1(2) of the Commission Directive.

15. Suppliers may include information under points 5 to 14 above in respect of other wash and/or drying cycles.

16. The consumption of energy and water equal to 200 times the consumption expressed in points 5 (energy) and 12 (water). This shall be expressed as 'estimated annual consumption for a four person household, always using the drier (200 cycles)'.

17. The consumption of energy and water equal to 200 times the consumption expressed in points 6 (energy) and 13 (water). This shall be expressed as 'estimated annual consumption for four person household, never using the drier (200 cycles)',

18. Where applicable, noise during washing, spinning and drying cycles using standard 60°C cotton washing cycle and 'dry cotton' drying cycle, in accordance with Directive 86/594/EEC.

The information on the label may be given in the form of a representation of the label in colour or in black and white.

SCHEDULE 3

MAIL ORDER AND OTHER DISTANCE SELLING

Mail order catalogues and other printed communications referred to in Article 2(4) of the Commission Directive shall contain the following information, given in the order specified:

1. Energy efficiency class (Schedule 2 point 3)

2. Energy consumption (washing, spinning and drying) (Schedule 2 point 5)

3. Energy consumption (washing and spinning only) (Schedule 2 point 6)

4. Washing performance class (Schedule 2 point 7)

5. Water extraction efficiency (Schedule 2 point 8)

6. Maximum spin speed (Schedule 2 point 9)

7. Capacity (washing) (Schedule 2 point 10)

8. Capacity (drying) (Schedule 2 point 11)

9. Water consumption (washing, spinning and drying) (Schedule 2 point 12)

10. Water consumption (washing and spinning only) (Schedule 2 point 13)

11. Estimated annual consumption for a four person household, always using the drier (200 cycles) (Schedule 2 point 16)

12. Estimated annual consumption for a four person household, never using the drier (200 cycles) (Schedule 2 point 17)

13. Noise, where applicable (Schedule 2 point 18)

Where other information contained in the fiche is provided, it shall be in the form specified in Schedule 2 and shall be included in the above table in the order defined for the fiche.

SCHEDULE 4

ENERGY EFFICIENCY CLASS

1. The energy efficiency class of an appliance shall be determined in accordance with the following table 1:

Table 1

2. The washing performance class of an appliance shall be determined by the following table 2:

Table 2

Given under my Official Seal, this 21 day of July, 1997.

Mary O'Rourke

Minister for Public Enterprise

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of the Regulations is to give legal effect to Commission Directive 96/60 of 19th September, 1996 and Council Directive 92/75/EEC of 22nd September, 1992 in so far as they relate to combined washer dryers.

These Regulations apply to combined washer dryers. Combined washer dryers that may also use other energy sources, second-hand combined washer dryers, combined washer dryers of which production has ceased before 1st August, 1997, are excluded.

The Regulations prohibit the placing on the market, for sale, hire or reward, of combined washer dryers unless accompanied by information relating to the consumption of electric energy in addition to some supplementary information. This information is to be conveyed to the customer by means of a specified label and an associated fiche (product information notice). The Regulations place the onus for the accuracy of the labels and fiches on the suppliers, who will also be required to establish technical documentation sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information contained in the labels and the fiches to be assessed.

Provision is made for the appointment and powers of authorised officers and penalties for offences under the Regulations, in addition to a transitional period to facilitate those who have been unable or have not had a reasonable opportunity to comply with the Regulations.

These Regulations may be purchased from the Government Publications Sales Office, Molesworth Street.

Dublin 2.