Does the CRA apply to smart home devices?
Likely yes
Likely yes. A smart home device is connected hardware with embedded software, sold to consumers: a product with digital elements made available in the course of a commercial activity [[F-005]] [[F-007]].
The deciding factors
| Factor | If true | If false | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made available on the EU market | Scope questions continue | Likely out of scope | F-101 |
| Supplied in the course of a commercial activity | Scope questions continue | Likely out of scope (or the open-source light regime) | F-007 |
| Has a direct or indirect connection to a device or network | It is a product with digital elements | Likely out of scope | F-005 |
| Product cannot perform a function without your own backend | That remote processing is part of the product | Only the installed part is the product | F-107 |
Check your own product
Start the short scope check with the product type pre-selected. Every legally material fact — EU availability, commercial activity, exclusions, your role — is asked, never assumed.
Example scenarios
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Smart thermostat sold through EU retailers, controlled by your app and cloud
Likely in scope · role: _
Connected hardware sold commercially in the EU; where the thermostat cannot perform a function without your backend, the backend is part of the product.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Non-EU brand imported and sold under a European retailer's own label
Likely in scope · role: _
Marketing a product under your own name or trademark makes you the manufacturer even if someone else developed it.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Wholesaler selling another brand's smart plugs into the EU
In scope — operator obligations differ by role · role: _
The product is in scope; the wholesaler bringing it from outside the EU holds importer obligations rather than manufacturer ones.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Device sold only in North America
Likely out of scope · role: _
Not made available on the EU market, so the Regulation does not apply.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(22)
Each scenario is a fixture: the shared CEMarque rules engine evaluates its inputs at build time and the page cannot be served if the outcome shown here differs from the engine's.
Edge cases
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Why
Consumer devices are in scope by design
The definition covers hardware products with a direct or indirect connection to a device or network, including their remote data processing solutions [1]. Smart speakers, cameras, locks, plugs and thermostats connect by design, and they are sold to consumers, so they are made available on the market in the course of a commercial activity [2] [3].
The companion service
Most smart home products depend on a cloud service. Where the device is designed to rely on your own remote data processing and cannot perform a function without it, that remote processing is part of the product with digital elements [4] [5]. Optional cloud features that add convenience to a device that works locally do not change what the product is; features that the device cannot perform alone do.
Who is the manufacturer
Marketing a product under your own name or trademark makes you the manufacturer even if someone else developed it [6]. A retailer's own-label smart plug makes that retailer the manufacturer. A wholesaler bringing another brand's product into the EU is an importer with a different set of obligations; the scope check reports that role rather than assuming manufacturer status.
Exclusions
Sectoral exclusions such as medical devices and type-approved vehicle products do not normally reach consumer smart home products [7]. A device that is also a medical device is the exception.
Timing
Article 14 reporting applies from 2026-09-11; full requirements and CE marking apply from 2027-12-11. Dates come from the Facts Table entries cited below, evaluated for the first example; run the check for your own product's dates.
What to do next
CRARequired only answers applicability. CEMarque carries your answers forward and adds your role, class, conformity route, dates, obligations, and a permanent cited verdict.
Check my product Run the full cited determination on CEMarque
Related applicability questions
Sources
- F-005 A product with digital elements is a software or hardware product and its remote data processing solutions, including components placed on the market separately, whose intended purpose or reasonably foreseeable use includes a direct or indirect logical or physical data connection to a device or network. Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-007 The Regulation applies to products made available on the market in the course of a commercial activity; charging a price, charging for support, monetising via advertising or data, or otherwise intending to monetise are commercial activity. Art. 2(1), Art. 3(22), Recitals EUR-Lex ↩
- F-101 Made available on the market means supply for distribution or use on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity. Art. 3(22) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-006 Remote data processing means data processing at a distance for which the software is designed and developed by the manufacturer, or under the responsibility of the manufacturer, and the absence of which would prevent the product from performing one of its functions. Art. 3(2) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-107 Where a product depends on your own remote data processing (a backend or API without which it cannot perform one of its functions), that remote processing is part of the product: it is covered by the essential requirements, the technical documentation and market surveillance alongside the client software or device. Art. 3(1)–(2), Annex I, Annex VII EUR-Lex ↩
- F-106 Marketing a product under your own name or trademark makes you the manufacturer even if someone else developed it. Art. 3(13), Art. 21 EUR-Lex ↩
- F-010 Excluded: medical devices (Regulation (EU) 2017/745) and in vitro diagnostics (2017/746) and motor-vehicle type-approved products (2019/2144) (Art. 2(2)); civil aviation products certified under Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 (Art. 2(3)); marine equipment under Directive 2014/90/EU (Art. 2(4)); spare parts made to identical specifications (Art. 2(6)); products developed or modified exclusively for national security or defence, or designed exclusively to process classified information (Art. 2(7)). Art. 2(2)–(4), (6)–(7) EUR-Lex ↩
CRARequired answers applicability only, using scope logic and cited regulatory facts maintained by CEMarque, which encodes Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 and published guidance as of Facts v2026.09.4 (10 September 2026). Results are "likely" or "conditional" readings of your answers, not a legal opinion and not a conformity assessment. Run the full cited determination on CEMarque before you act. Methodology.