Toys

Technical documentation

The toy’s manufacturer prepares the technical documentation. The technical documentation specifies which requirements apply to the toy. With them, you should be able to assess the toy’s compliance with legal requirements, and they should describe the design, manufacture and functioning of the toy to the extent relevant for the assessment of conformity.

Wherever applicable, the technical documentation must contain at least:

• details about product design and manufacture, including a list of the components and materials used, and a chemical safety data sheet
• a risk assessment
• description of the conformity assessment procedure
• a copy of the EC declaration of conformity
• manufacture and storage location addresses
• test reports and description of the methods used by the manufacturer to ensure conformity with harmonised standards
• a colour picture of the toy
• copies of the documents that the manufacturer has submitted to the notified body if it is involved in the process and a copy of the type examination certificate* with appendices.

After the manufacturer has prepared the technical documentation and verified that the toy complies with the applicable requirements with the conformity assessment procedure, the manufacturer must devise and sign the EC declaration of conformity.

The technical documentation must be kept for 10 years from the date on which the toy was placed on the market**. This is the responsibility of the manufacturer or its authorised representative established within the EU. Since the concept of placing on the market refers to a single toy, the deadline must be calculated from the moment when the “last” single product covered by the technical documentation was placed on the market.

* EC-type examination is a procedure carried out on a new type of toy whose conformity is difficult to verify. The EC-type examination is performed by the notified body which examines the technical design of the toy and verifies and ensures that the technical design of the toy meets the requirements of the regulations applied to it.

** In the Toy Act, placing a toy on the market means making it available on the market for the first time in the European Economic Area so that the toy can be purchased or otherwise acquired for distribution, for example.

Image: Details of the toy’s product design and manufacture can be displayed on a material card, for example.

Additional information on technical documentation: I Know My Product webinar: Technical documentation (in Finnish)