Chapter V, fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden
Article 14: Fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden
The requirements apply only so far as compliance would not fundamentally alter the product or service or impose a disproportionate burden, and the assessment must be documented and kept for five years.
- Citation
- Article 14, CELEX 32019L0882 (Directive)
- Binds
- Any economic operator relying on the exception, and any service provider that wants to keep relying on it.
- In the instrument
- Chapter V, fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden
- Applies from
- 28 June 2025 for products placed and services provided from that date (Article 31(2)). The Article 4(8) 112 duty may be deferred to 28 June 2027 where a member state uses Article 31(3).
- Source
- EUR-Lex, CELEX 32019L0882
What it requires
Paragraph 1 limits the Article 4 requirements in two cases: compliance would require a significant change that fundamentally alters the basic nature of the product or service, or compliance would impose a disproportionate burden on the operator. The exception is applied requirement by requirement, not to the product or service as a whole.
Paragraph 2 requires an assessment of both limbs, using the Annex VI criteria for the burden limb. Paragraph 3 requires the assessment to be documented and all relevant results kept for five years from the last making available of the product or the last provision of the service, and a copy given to the authorities on request. Paragraph 4 exempts microenterprises dealing with products from documenting the assessment, but they must still give the authority the relevant facts if they rely on the exception.
Paragraph 5 puts service providers on a renewal cycle: renew the burden assessment for each category or type of service when the service is altered, when an authority asks, and in every case at least once every five years. Paragraph 6 removes the burden route where the operator receives public or private funding provided to improve accessibility. Paragraph 8 requires notice to the relevant authority where the exception is relied on, except for microenterprises.
What to do
- Assess fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden separately for each requirement.
- Apply the Annex VI cost and benefit criteria and write the reasoning down.
- Keep the assessment and its evidence for five years after the last supply or service.
- Renew the service assessment on change, on request and at least every five years.
- Check the funding bar before relying on the burden limb.
- Notify the relevant authority where the exception is used, unless the microenterprise rule applies.
Evidence to keep
- A dated assessment per requirement, with the Annex VI cost elements and the benefit analysis.
- The funding review showing no accessibility-purpose funding was received.
- The five-year retention record for each product or service.
- The authority notification and, for services, the renewal dates.
Dates
- 2025-06-28The exception may be relied on as the requirements apply. (Article 31(2))
- 2030-06-28Five-year renewal cycle measured from the first application, at the latest. (Article 14(5))
Cross-references
Where teams get this wrong
The funding bar is absolute. An operator that took a grant to improve accessibility cannot then argue that the same improvement is a disproportionate burden, however well the cost analysis reads.
Read from the Official Journal text of Directive (EU) 2019/882, OJ L 151/70, 7 June 2019, Article 14. Check it yourself: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L0882. This page states the provision in our own words and is not legal advice; it does not certify any product or service.