Anyone designing, testing or commissioning a UV system soon runs into the question of which set of rules actually applies. The answer depends on two things: the application – drinking water, penetrant inspection, curing, weathering – and the task: whether it is about limits, a test procedure, the measurement, or requirements for the device. The finder combines the two and names the relevant documents, each with a short summary of what it contains.
Every entry is given with its full designation, including the edition wherever that has been verified. Where none is given, none is documented.
The selection is deliberately not exhaustive. It covers the rules regularly needed in UV measurement – not every document mentioned somewhere once. Opsytec Dr. Gröbel contributes to the DIN standards committee FNL 7 “Optical Radiation” and to the DVGW project group on UV disinfection; the classification comes out of that work.
The finder is not a normative reference. It names the relevant rules and saves you the search – what counts is always the currently valid edition in the original text. Editions change, standards are withdrawn and replaced; the issuing bodies (DIN, ISO, IEC, DVGW, ASTM) and the Beuth publishing house are authoritative. For statements of conformity, process releases and risk assessments the original text must be consulted.
All rules at a glance
The finder above filters; here is the same body in full – 40 rules, ordered by issuing body. What counts is always the currently valid edition in the original text.
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| DIN 19294-1:2020-08 Standard | UV devices for disinfection in water supply — Part 1: Requirements for construction, function and operation UV disinfection of water · Requirements for devices · Germany | The basic requirements for UV systems in drinking water: construction, operation and the required radiant exposure. The starting point of the whole series; the other parts build on it. |
| DIN 19294-2:2026-04 Standard | UV devices for disinfection in water supply — Part 2: Medium-pressure systems UV disinfection of water · Requirements for devices · Germany | The counterpart to Part 1 for medium-pressure lamps, whose broadband spectrum places different demands on design and monitoring. |
| DIN 19294-3:2020-08 Standard | UV devices for disinfection in water supply — Part 3: Measuring windows and sensors, requirements and testing (low pressure) UV disinfection of water · Measurement and calibration, Requirements for devices · Germany | Governs how UV irradiance is monitored in low-pressure systems: requirements for measuring windows, sensors and their testing. The standard behind the DVGW reference radiometer. |
| DIN 19294-4:2026-04 Standard | UV devices for disinfection in water supply — Part 4: Measuring windows and sensors for medium-pressure systems UV disinfection of water · Measurement and calibration, Requirements for devices · Germany | Like Part 3, but for medium-pressure systems. There the spectral weighting of the sensor is the real difficulty, because the source emits across the whole UV range. |
| DIN 5031-7:1984 (withdrawn) Standard | Radiation physics in the optical range and lighting engineering — Part 7: Designation of wavelength ranges Lighting and colorimetry · Terms and quantities · Germany | Defined the boundaries of UV-C, UV-B, UV-A, visible radiation and infrared and is the source of the widespread claim that the visible range begins at 380 nm. The standard has been withdrawn; what counts today is CIE S 017 (ILV), which also gives 315 to 400 nm for UV-A but deliberately no sharp lower limit for the visible range — a span of 360 to 400 nm instead. The 5031-7 is still widely cited; anyone quoting it should say that it is withdrawn. |
| DIN EN 14255-1:2005-06 Standard | Measurement and assessment of personal exposure to incoherent optical radiation — Part 1: UV radiation from artificial sources in the workplace UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Air and surfaces · Limits and occupational safety, Measurement and calibration · Europe, Germany | States how UV exposure at the workplace is to be measured and assessed: spectrally weighted with the actinic action spectrum and referred to the person, not to the source. A broadband reading without weighting is not sufficient here. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| DIN EN ISO 15858:2017-01 (ISO 15858:2016) Standard | UV-C devices — Safety information — Permissible human exposure Air and surfaces · Limits and occupational safety, Requirements for devices · International, Europe | Safety information for UVC devices used to disinfect air and surfaces, in particular the permissible exposure of people during operation. |
| DIN EN ISO 3059 (ISO 3059:2012) Standard | Non-destructive testing — Penetrant testing and magnetic particle testing — Viewing conditions Fluorescent and penetrant inspection · Test procedures, Measurement and calibration · International, Europe, Germany | Defines the viewing conditions for fluorescent inspection: UV-A irradiance at the point of inspection, permissible ambient light and the inspector's adaptation time. The standard every inspection booth is measured against. The valid edition is ISO 3059:2012, third edition, confirmed in 2018. A fourth edition is under development as ISO/AWI 3059 but is not yet in force. |
| DIN EN ISO 4892, Teile 1 bis 4 (2013 bis 2024) Standard | Plastics — Methods of exposure to laboratory light sources Weathering and ageing · Test procedures · International | Governs artificial weathering: light sources, filters, irradiances and cycles, separated by xenon arc, fluorescent lamps and open-flame carbon arc. The basis of accelerated ageing tests. Editions of the parts: part 1:2024 (corrected version 2026-02), part 2:2013 with amendment 1:2021, part 3:2024, part 4:2024. A fourth edition of part 2 is under development. |
| DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018-03 Standard | General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories UV disinfection of water, UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Lighting and colorimetry, Medicine and phototherapy · Measurement and calibration · International, Europe, Germany | The basis of every accreditation. Anyone presenting a calibration certificate relies on this standard — it governs traceability, measurement uncertainty and proof of competence. |
| ISO 20473:2007-04 Standard | Optics and photonics — Spectral bands Lighting and colorimetry · Terms and quantities · International, Germany | The international classification of spectral bands. It differs from other conventions at the edges — which is exactly why it pays to check which standard a statement is based on. |
| ISO/CIE 17166:2019 Standard | Erythema reference action spectrum and standard erythema dose Medicine and phototherapy, Air and surfaces · Terms and quantities, Limits and occupational safety · International | Specifies the erythema reference action spectrum s_er(λ) and the standard erythema dose. The reason for both: erythemal effectiveness varies by four orders of magnitude between 250 and 400 nm, so a dose in J/cm² without weighting says nothing about the effect on skin. Replaces ISO 17166:1999 / CIE S 007-1998. |
| ISO/CIE 19476:2014 Standard | Characterization of the performance of illuminance meters and luminance meters Lighting and colorimetry · Measurement and calibration · International | The photometric counterpart to CIE 220: quality indices for illuminance and luminance meters, the corresponding measurement procedures and the calibration conditions. This is where figures such as “class B” or f1' come from. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| DIN EN 62471:2009-03 (IEC 62471:2006) Standard | Photobiological safety of lamps and lamp systems Air and surfaces, UV curing, Medicine and phototherapy, Lighting and colorimetry · Limits and occupational safety, Measurement and calibration · International, Europe | Classifies lamps and lamp systems into risk groups from weighted radiances and irradiances — from the exempt group up to risk group 3. It is the basis for labelling and the first reference whenever a UV source is built into a product. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| CIE 220:2016 Standard | Characterization and Calibration Methods of UV Radiometers Air and surfaces, UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, UV disinfection of water · Measurement and calibration · International | Defines quality indices for UV radiometers and describes both source-based and detector-based calibration methods. Unlike photometers, UV radiometry has not one reference-spectrum source but three — because UV radiometers are built for quite different action spectra. Applying the methods measurably reduces measurement uncertainty. |
| CIE 250:2022 Standard | Spectroradiometric Measurement of Optical Radiation Sources Lighting and colorimetry, Weathering and ageing, Air and surfaces · Measurement and calibration, Test procedures · International | The foundation of spectroradiometry from 200 to 2500 nm: measurement principles, practical guidance and a detailed overview of the physical effects that enter the measurement uncertainty. Replaces CIE 063-1984. |
| CIE S 017/E:2020 (ILV, 2. Ausgabe) Standard | ILV — International Lighting Vocabulary Lighting and colorimetry · Terms and quantities · International | The vocabulary of lighting engineering: it defines radiometric and photometric quantities, their symbols and units. Decisive whenever two sources name the same quantity differently. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| ASTM E1417/E1417M-21e1 Standard | Standard Practice for Liquid Penetrant Testing Fluorescent and penetrant inspection · Test procedures · USA | The US practice for liquid penetrant testing: process sequence, penetrant classes and requirements for the excitation. In aerospace it is the governing reference alongside the SAE AMS documents. The valid version is ASTM E1417/E1417M-21e1, editorial revision of 25 November 2021; ASTM lists it as active. |
| ASTM E824-26 Standard | Standard Test Method for Transfer of Calibration From Reference to Field Radiometers Weathering and ageing, UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection · Measurement and calibration, Test procedures · USA, International | Describes how a calibration is transferred from a reference radiometer to a field instrument. It recommends keeping two or three reference instruments in every calibration so that drift of the standard is noticed at all. Harmonized with ISO 9847. The valid version is ASTM E824-26 from 2026; it supersedes E824-10(2018)e1. |
| ASTM G130-12(2020) Standard | Standard Test Method for Calibration of Narrow- and Broad-Band Ultraviolet Radiometers Using a Spectroradiometer Weathering and ageing, UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Air and surfaces · Measurement and calibration, Test procedures · USA, International | The preferred method for calibrating UV radiometers against a spectroradiometer. It also defines the bandwidths: narrow-band up to 20 nm, broad-band 20 to 70 nm, wide-band above — a classification that helps when selecting a sensor. |
| ASTM G138-12(2020)e1 Standard | Standard Test Method for Calibration of a Spectroradiometer Using a Standard Source of Irradiance Weathering and ageing, Lighting and colorimetry · Measurement and calibration, Test procedures · USA, International | The level above: how the spectroradiometer itself is calibrated — against a spectral irradiance standard whose values are traceable to a national metrology institute. Deuterium and 1000 W tungsten-halogen lamps serve as standards. |
| ASTM G173-23 Standard | Standard Tables for Reference Solar Spectral Irradiances Weathering and ageing · Terms and quantities, Test procedures · USA, International | The reference spectra of sunlight (AM0 as well as AM1.5 global and direct). The reference whenever an artificial source is meant to reproduce the solar spectrum. The current edition is G173-23; the widely used NREL data set and the figures 900.1 W/m² (direct) and 1000.4 W/m² (global) come from G173-03(2020) — G173-23 gives 896.99 and 1001.92 W/m². |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| NSF/ANSI 55-2026 Standard | Ultraviolet Microbiological Water Treatment Systems UV disinfection of water · Requirements for devices, Test procedures · USA | Tests UV systems for point-of-use and point-of-entry applications in two classes: class A at 40 mJ/cm² for microbiologically unsafe water, class B at 16 mJ/cm² for supplementary treatment of water that is already potable. The class on a device is therefore not a marketing claim but a verified dose — and at the same time the point where products from the US market are regularly confused with European requirements. The valid version is NSF/ANSI 55-2026, published in August 2026; it supersedes NSF/ANSI 55-2024. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| DVGW-Arbeitsblatt W 294-1:2023-12 Code of practice | UV devices for disinfection in water supply (Parts 1 to 3) UV disinfection of water · Requirements for devices, Test procedures, Measurement and calibration · Germany | The DVGW code of practice for UV disinfection in drinking water, including the biodosimetric test. Without a certificate to this code no system goes into service in German drinking water supply. Part 1 applies in the 2023-12 edition. The former parts 2 and 3 were fully superseded when DIN 19294-2 and -4 appeared in April 2026: low-pressure systems follow DIN 19294-1 and -3, medium-pressure systems DIN 19294-2 and -4. Anyone still citing W 294-2 or W 294-3 is working to a superseded state of the art. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| ÖNORM M 5873-1:2020-01 Standard | Plants for the disinfection of water using ultraviolet radiation — Low-pressure mercury lamps UV disinfection of water · Requirements for devices, Test procedures · Europe | The Austrian code for low-pressure systems. It is frequently cited as an international reference, well beyond Austria. |
| ÖNORM M 5873-2:2003-08 Standard | Plants for the disinfection of water using ultraviolet radiation — Medium-pressure mercury lamps UV disinfection of water · Requirements for devices, Test procedures · Europe | The counterpart for medium-pressure systems. With edition 2003 the oldest entry in this list — and therefore the first candidate for a review. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| ICNIRP Guidelines on Limits of Exposure to Incoherent Visible and Infrared Radiation (2013) Guideline | Guidelines on Limits of Exposure to Incoherent Visible and Infrared Radiation Lighting and colorimetry, Medicine and phototherapy, Air and surfaces · Limits and occupational safety · International | The counterpart to the UV guideline for wavelengths above 400 nm: limits for retinal and corneal hazard, for the blue-light hazard and for thermal effects. It supplies the numbers that appear as risk groups in IEC 62471 — anyone wanting to follow how a lamp was classified finds the derivation here. 2013 version. |
| ICNIRP Guidelines on Limits of Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation 180–400 nm (2004) Guideline | Guidelines on limits of exposure to ultraviolet radiation UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Air and surfaces, Medicine and phototherapy · Limits and occupational safety, Terms and quantities · International | The scientific basis of the exposure limits that standards and ordinances refer to. It contains the actinic action spectrum S(λ) and the limit of 30 J/m² effective per eight hours. The 2004 version applies, published in Health Physics 87(2); ICNIRP still lists it as the valid guideline for 180 to 400 nm. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| ACGIH TLV für ultraviolette Strahlung, Fassung 2022 Guideline | Threshold Limit Values for Ultraviolet Radiation Air and surfaces, Medicine and phototherapy · Limits and occupational safety · USA | The American exposure limits, largely identical to ICNIRP and therefore to the German OStrV. They diverge for far-UVC: in 2022 ACGIH raised the values between roughly 200 and 235 nm considerably, because radiation at these wavelengths barely reaches the living basal cell layer. The EU has not adopted this — here the raised values are not a legal basis but an argument in the technical debate. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| ICH Q1B (Step 4, 6. November 1996) Guideline | Stability Testing: Photostability Testing of New Drug Substances and Products Medicine and phototherapy, Weathering and ageing · Test procedures, Measurement and calibration · International | The globally applied guideline for photostability testing of drug substances and products. It requires two separate demonstrations: at least 1.2 million lx·h in the visible range plus at least 200 W·h/m² in the near UV between 320 and 400 nm. Both quantities have to be measured separately — one photometric and one radiometric measurement, and the two cannot be converted into each other. Option 1 allows a daylight-like source (D65/ID65), option 2 the combination of a white-light and a UVA lamp. The Step 4 version of 6 November 1996 remains valid. A consolidated ICH Q1 guideline merging Q1A to Q1E and Q5C is under revision but had not reached Step 4 as of September 2026. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| US EPA Ultraviolet Disinfection Guidance Manual (UVDGM), 2006 Guideline | Ultraviolet Disinfection Guidance Manual for the Final Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule UV disinfection of water · Test procedures, Measurement and calibration · USA | The American counterpart to DVGW worksheet W 294 — and the reason reactor validations are not comparable across the Atlantic. The biodosimetry is the same in principle, but safety margins, validation factors and the requirements on the sensors differ. A “validated dose” declared under the UVDGM is therefore not an irradiation verified to W 294. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Richtlinie (EU) 2020/2184 Directive | Quality of water intended for human consumption (Drinking Water Directive, recast) UV disinfection of water · Requirements for devices, Test procedures · Europe | The European framework for drinking water. New compared with its predecessor are Union-wide harmonised requirements for materials and products in contact with drinking water — UV disinfection systems are directly affected. Germany implements it through the TrinkwV; testing of the systems themselves stays with DVGW worksheet W 294. |
| Richtlinie (EU) 2024/3019 Directive | Urban wastewater treatment (recast) UV disinfection of water · Test procedures · Europe | Tightens treatment levels and introduces a fourth stage for micropollutants; to be transposed by 31 July 2027. It matters indirectly for UV technology: wherever wastewater is disinfected before discharge or reuse, UV is the process without disinfection by-products — which makes dose monitoring part of the evidence. |
| Richtlinie 2006/25/EG Directive | Minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to risks arising from physical agents (artificial optical radiation) UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Medicine and phototherapy, Air and surfaces · Limits and occupational safety · Europe | The European basis of UV occupational safety, the 19th individual directive under framework directive 89/391/EEC. It sets exposure limit values for incoherent radiation and for laser radiation; the values come from the ICNIRP recommendations. Germany implements it through the OStrV — anyone working to the OStrV complies with it. Other member states apply their own transposition, but the limit values are the same everywhere. |
| Richtlinie 2006/42/EG Directive | Machinery Directive — Directive on machinery UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Air and surfaces · Requirements for devices, Limits and occupational safety · Europe | The framework governing CE marking of UV systems, irradiation chambers and curing lines until 19 January 2027. Annex I explicitly lists optical radiation among the hazards to be controlled. After that date Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies; machinery placed on the market earlier is not affected. |
| Richtlinie 2011/65/EU (RoHS) Directive | Restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment UV curing, UV disinfection of water, Air and surfaces · Requirements for devices · Europe | More depends on this directive in UV technology than the title suggests: mercury lamps — low and medium pressure alike — rely on exemptions in Annexes III and IV. When an exemption expires, the equipment concerned has to move to UV LED or excimer. A look at the exemption list therefore belongs in every long-term technology decision. |
| Verordnung (EU) 2017/745 (MDR) Regulation | Medical Device Regulation — Regulation on medical devices Medicine and phototherapy · Requirements for devices · Europe | As soon as a UV device has a medical purpose — phototherapy, therapeutic irradiation — the MDR is the regulatory framework. Dose accuracy is then no longer a quality feature but part of the clinical evaluation, and traceable calibration of the measuring equipment belongs in the technical documentation. |
| Verordnung (EU) 2023/1230 Regulation | Machinery Regulation — Regulation on machinery UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Air and surfaces · Requirements for devices, Limits and occupational safety · Europe | Replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC on 20 January 2027 and then applies directly, without national transposition. For UV equipment the core does not change: radiation remains a hazard to be addressed in the risk assessment. What is new is the permitted digital instruction manual (paper only on request) and separate requirements for machinery with learning behaviour. |
| Designation | Title | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| OStrV vom 19. Juli 2010, zuletzt geändert am 18. Oktober 2017 Regulation | German ordinance on the protection of workers from artificial optical radiation UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Air and surfaces, Medicine and phototherapy · Limits and occupational safety · Germany | The German occupational safety ordinance for artificial optical radiation. It requires a risk assessment, compliance with the exposure limits and instruction of staff — it is law, not a recommendation. Issued 19 July 2010 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 960), last amended by Article 5(6) of the Ordinance of 18 October 2017 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 3584). |
| TROS IOS, Ausgabe November 2013 Code of practice | Technical rules on the ordinance for artificial optical radiation — Incoherent optical radiation UV curing, Fluorescent and penetrant inspection, Air and surfaces, Medicine and phototherapy · Limits and occupational safety, Measurement and calibration · Germany | Puts the OStrV into practice: how to carry out the risk assessment, which measurement procedures are admissible and how to derive protective measures. Following it establishes a presumption of conformity. The general part and parts 1, 2 and 3 date from November 2013; parts 2 and 3 have a 2014 correction. The BAuA still lists these versions as current. |
Frequently asked questions
In Germany the DIN 19294 series together with the DVGW code W 294, in Austria ÖNORM M 5873. They differ in the testing: the biodosimetric test demonstrates the effect on living organisms, while the sensor standards govern how irradiance is monitored in operation.
IEC 62471 classifies lamps and lamp systems into risk groups. At the workplace the German OStrV applies, put into practice by the TROS IOS; the measurement itself is described by DIN EN 14255-1. The limits go back to the ICNIRP guidelines.
Because a year that nobody has verified is worse than none. An edition appears only once it has been checked; the date of that check is then shown alongside. A quarterly run reports what needs looking at.
No. It says which rule is relevant and what it is about — what counts is the original text in the currently valid edition. Editions change, standards are withdrawn and replaced; the issuing bodies are authoritative.
