# Commission Decision of 21 April 2005 on the safety requirements to be met by the European standards for floating leisure articles for use on or in the water pursuant to Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document number C(2005) 1209) (Text with EEA relevance) (2005/323/EC), Division C.1: Requirements on the product design

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Safety by design must be given priority compared to safety through instructions. Materials used and workmanship must correspond to the state of the art, taking into account the expected use of the articles and eventual consequences for the health of the user and the environment.
The following must be considered, as a minimum:
(a) floating stability in accordance with the intended and foreseeable use;
(b) minimum buoyancy and, in case of inflatable articles, residual buoyancy after failure of one air chamber. Additionally retention of function where appropriate and in particular where collective use is intended or likely;
(c) means of getting hold during use, easy gripping;
(d) easy escape in case of capsizing, avoidance of any other forms of entrapment or entanglement regarding parts of the human body;
(e) means to facilitate re-embarkation in particular where collective use is intended as well as means of getting hold when in the water in an emergency;
(f) presence of a reliable quick release for products moved (towed) at high speed;

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2005/323/annex/part/II/division/C/division/C.1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2005-323/annex/part-II/division-C/division-C.1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.