bfsg-produktkonformitaet

/barrierefreiheit-bfsg:bfsg-produktkonformitaet

Purpose

The skill guides the product side of the BFSG from conformity planning through to official objection. It assigns the client its role in the supply chain, works through the respective catalogues of obligations, examines the two derogation provisions in their correct order and drafts the response to a market surveillance procedure.

Inputs

Product and classification under the catalogue in § 1 (2) BFSG
Role: manufacturer, authorised representative, importer, distributor — and whether a role changes under § 12 BFSG
Date of placing on the market; for series production: changes to design or characteristics
Existing technical documentation, EU declaration of conformity, CE marking
Harmonised standards or technical specifications applied
Any assessments under § 16 (fundamental alteration) or § 17 (disproportionate burden)
In the case of official proceedings: letter from the market surveillance authority, deadline, hearing

Sub-agent architecture

The Researcher obtains the BFSG, the BFSGV, Annexes 1 to 4, Directive (EU) 2019/882 including Annex I, Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and the standards and conformity tables published by the Federal Accessibility Office under § 3 (2) BFSGV. The Drafter prepares the obligations matrix and the draft addressed to the authority. The Reviewer checks the completeness of the documentation, the order of the derogation examination and compliance with the hearing deadline.

Process

1. Determine the role in the supply chain (§§ 6 to 13 BFSG)

Role	Core obligations
Manufacturer (§ 6)	accessible design and manufacture; technical documentation under Annex 2; conformity assessment procedure; EU declaration of conformity § 18; CE marking § 19; five-year retention; series conformity; corrective measures, withdrawal or recall together with information to the authorities
Authorised representative (§ 8)	written mandate; retention and presentation of the documents; cooperation with the authority
Importer (§ 9 BFSG, § 10)	placing on the market only of conforming products; examination of procedures, documentation and marking; own marking and information obligations; corrective measures
Distributor (§ 11)	due diligence in making available; examination of CE marking and accompanying documents; no making available where non-conformity is known; corrective measures
Change of role (§ 12)	An importer or distributor is regarded as a manufacturerif it places a product on the market under its own name or own trade mark or modifies a product already placed on the market in such a way that conformity may be affected

Under § 13 BFSG every economic operator must, upon request, name the upstream and downstream economic operators to the authority. The obligation is subject to a fine (§ 37 (1) no. 6 BFSG).

§ 12 is the practically most important trap: Trading in own brands makes the retailer a manufacturer with full documentation, declaration and labelling obligations.

2. Determine accessibility requirements (§ 3 BFSG, BFSGV)

§ 3 (1) BFSG requires that products are accessible — findable, accessible and usable by persons with disabilities in the generally customary manner, without particular difficulty and in principle without outside help. The specific requirements are set out in the BFSGV:

§ 4 BFSGV — provision of information for products
§ 5 BFSGV — product packaging and instructions
§ 6 BFSGV — user interface and functionality
§§ 7 to 10 BFSGV — sector-specific requirements for self-service terminals, e-book readers and consumer terminal equipment
§ 11 BFSGV — support services
§§ 20, 21 BFSGV — functional performance criteria

According to § 3 BFSGV , the state of the art must be observed; deviation is permissible if the requirements are met in another way to the same extent. The Federal Agency for Accessibility publishes standard lists and conformity tables for this purpose (§ 3 (2) BFSGV) — they are the practical starting point, but not a legal norm.

3. Use the presumption of conformity (§§ 4, 5 BFSG)

§ 4 BFSG — presumption of conformity where there is compliance with harmonised standards or parts thereof, the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the EU. For digital elements, EN 301 549 is the relevant reference [unverifiziert – prüfen] with regard to the version listed in the Official Journal in each case.
§ 5 BFSG — presumption of conformity where there is compliance with technical specifications of the Commission, insofar as harmonised standards are lacking.

The presumption extends only as far as the standard covers the requirement. A blanket reference to “EN 301 549” without comparison with the specific requirement does not suffice.

4. Conformity assessment, declaration and labelling (§§ 6, 18, 19 BFSG)

Technical documentation pursuant to Annex 2 must be drawn up and the conformity assessment procedure provided for therein carried out. A test procedure by a notified body is not provided for; the conformity assessment is carried out under the manufacturer's own responsibility.
EU declaration of conformity pursuant to § 18 BFSG must be issued: structure according to the model in Annex III to Decision No 768/2008/EC, elements according to Annex 2, in German, kept up to date. If use has been made of § 16 or § 17, the declaration must state which requirements are affected (§ 18 para. 2 sentence 2). Where several relevant Union legal acts apply, a single declaration is to be issued (§ 18 para. 4).
CE marking under § 19 BFSG : affix clearly visible, easily legible and permanently on the product or the data plate, otherwise on the packaging and accompanying documents; otherwise the principles of Art. 30 Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 apply.
Retention of documentation and declaration five years from placing on the market (§ 6 para. 2 BFSG).
Series conformity to be ensured by suitable procedures; changes to the design, characteristics or to the standards used are to be taken into account (§ 6 para. 3 BFSG).

5. Check exceptions in the correct order (§§ 16, 17 BFSG)

First § 16 (fundamental alteration), then § 17 (disproportionate burden) — both are exceptions from the scope of the requirements, not from the scope of application.

	§ 16 BFSG	§ 17 BFSG
Elements	Compliance requires a substantial change that leads to a fundamental alteration of the essential characteristics leads	Compliance leads to a disproportionate burden according to the criteria of Annex 4
Assessment	by the economic operator itself	by the economic operator itself
Documentation	five years from last making available or provision; presentation upon request	five years; presentation upon request
Notification	immediately to the market surveillance authorities of all affected Member States	immediately to the competent authority
Facilitation	para. 2 sentence 1 and para. 3 do not apply to micro-enterprises that are concerned with products; they transmit the relevant facts upon request	para. 2 sentences 1, 2 and para. 5 do not apply to micro-enterprises that are concerned with products
Bar	—	§ 17 para. 4: Anyone who receives public or private funds not their own for improving accessibility may not invoke the disproportionate burden

For service providers, the assessment under § 17 para. 3 BFSG is to be repeated at least every five years and always when the service is changed or upon official request.

6. Conduct market surveillance procedures (§§ 20 to 27 BFSG)

Jurisdiction (§ 20 BFSG): market surveillance authorities of the federal states in accordance with the joint market surveillance strategy.
Powers (§ 21 BFSG): in accordance with Art. 14(4)(a), (b), (e), (j) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020; rights of entry only during usual operating and business hours. When relying on §§ 16, 17, the authority examines whether the assessment was carried out, whether the criteria of Annex 4 were properly applied and whether the other requirements are complied with (§ 21(3)).
Procedure in the event of non-conformity (§ 22 BFSG): request to establish conformity within a reasonable period; the hearing period under § 28 VwVfG or the corresponding provisions of the Länder must not be less than ten days (§ 22(2) sentence 2). The measures must extend to all affected products made available throughout the Union (§ 22(3)). If the economic operator remains inactive, restriction, prohibition, withdrawal or recall follow (§ 22(4)).
Formal non-conformity (§ 23 BFSG): missing or incorrect CE marking, missing declaration or documentation.
Legal remedies: objection and action for annulment under §§ 68 et seq., 42 VwGO; in the case of an order for immediate enforcement, application under § 80(5) VwGO (/verwaltungsrecht:vorlaeufiger-rechtsschutz-80).

7. Classify the risk of fines (§ 37 BFSG)

Offence	Framework
§ 37(1) no. 1 (placing non-compliant products on the market), no. 7 (making available by the dealer), no. 8 (provision of non-compliant services), no. 9 and no. 10 (CE marking)	up to EUR 100,000
other cases, in particular breaches of information, labelling and disclosure obligations	up to EUR 10,000

An administrative offence is committed by anyone who intentionally or negligently acts.

Deterministic calculation

The retention period under § 6(2) BFSG, the five-year cycle of the assessments under §§ 16, 17 and the authority's hearing period must be calculated. The calculator in ../../../scripts/legal_calc/ performs only the arithmetic:

# Aufbewahrung § 6 Abs. 2 BFSG: 5 Jahre ab Inverkehrbringen am 01.10.2026
python -m scripts.legal_calc.cli frist --ereignis 01.10.2026 --menge 5 --einheit jahre --land BY

# Anhörung § 22 Abs. 2 S. 2 BFSG: mindestens 10 Tage ab Zugang am 12.03.2026
python -m scripts.legal_calc.cli frist --ereignis 12.03.2026 --menge 10 --einheit tage --land BY

# Widerspruchsfrist § 70 VwGO: 1 Monat ab Bekanntgabe
python -m scripts.legal_calc.cli frist --ereignis 20.04.2026 --menge 1 --einheit monate --land BY

Sources

Statute

§ 3 BFSG, § 4, § 5, § 6, § 7, § 8, § 9, § 10, § 11, § 12, § 13, § 16, § 17, § 18, § 19, § 20, § 21, § 22, § 23, § 37; Annexes 1 to 4
BFSGV §§ 3 to 11, 20, 21
Directive (EU) 2019/882, Annexes I and VI — EUR-Lex
Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 (market surveillance), Art. 14, 16, 17, 22 — EUR-Lex
Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008, Art. 30; Decision No. 768/2008/EC, Annex III
§ 28 VwVfG, § 70 VwGO, § 80 VwGO

Commentaries and literature

Ritgen/Sellmann, BFSG, Kommentar, §§ 6, 16, 17, 22.
Dörr/Natlacen, Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, Praxishandbuch, chapter on product conformity.
Klindt, Product Safety Law (on the systematics of the New Legislative Framework and on CE marking).
Federal Accessibility Office, conformity tables pursuant to Section 3(2) BFSGV.

Case law

To date, there is no settled case law on the BFSG. For market surveillance measures, the case law on the ProdSG and on Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 must be relied upon; every decision must be verified in juris or Beck-Online before use [unverifiziert – prüfen].

Output format

BFSG-PRODUKTKONFORMITÄT — <Produkt> — <Datum>

I.   Einordnung
     Produktkategorie § 1 Abs. 2: <Nr. …>
     Inverkehrbringen:            <Datum>
     Rolle:                       <Hersteller / Einführer / Händler / Bevollmächtigter>
     Rollenwechsel § 12:          [ja — Herstellerpflichten / nein]

II.  Anforderungen
     Einschlägige BFSGV-Normen:   <§§ …>
     Herangezogene harmonisierte Norm: <…>  Vermutungswirkung § 4: [ja / teilweise]
     Stand der Technik § 3 BFSGV: <…>

III. Konformitätsnachweis
     Technische Dokumentation Anlage 2: [vollständig / Lücken: …]
     Konformitätsbewertungsverfahren:   [durchgeführt / offen]
     EU-Konformitätserklärung § 18:     [vorhanden / fehlt]  Sprache: <…>
       Ausnahmen ausgewiesen (Abs. 2 S. 2): [ja / nein]
     CE-Kennzeichnung § 19:             [angebracht / fehlt / fehlerhaft]
     Aufbewahrung 5 Jahre bis:          <Datum>

IV.  Ausnahmen
     § 16 grundlegende Veränderung: [geprüft — Ergebnis / nicht geprüft]
     § 17 unverhältnismäßige Belastung nach Anlage 4: [geprüft — Ergebnis / nicht geprüft]
     Fördermittel erhalten (§ 17 Abs. 4): [ja — Berufung gesperrt / nein]
     Mitteilung an die Behörde:      [erfolgt am <Datum> / offen]

V.   Marktüberwachung
     Behörde:                     <Land>
     Verfahrensstand:             <…>
     Anhörungsfrist § 22 Abs. 2 S. 2: mindestens 10 Tage, endet am <Datum>
     Reichweite der Maßnahmen § 22 Abs. 3: <unionsweit betroffene Produkte>
     Rechtsschutz:                <Widerspruch bis <Datum> / § 80 Abs. 5 VwGO>

VI.  Bußgeldrisiko § 37
     Tatbestand:                  <…>   Rahmen: <100.000 EUR / 10.000 EUR>

VII. Risiko: 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴 <Begründung>
VIII.Quellenverzeichnis

Risks / typical errors

Change of role pursuant to Section 12 BFSG overlooked. Private-label distribution makes the dealer and importer the manufacturer — with the full burden of documentation, declaration, and marking.
Exceptions examined in the wrong order or as a sectoral exclusion. Sections 16, 17 BFSG limit the scope of the requirements, not the scope of application; they require a documented assessment and notification to the authority.
Section 17 asserted despite subsidy funds. Section 17(4) BFSG bars reliance if public or private funds other than one's own were received for accessibility.
Declaration of conformity without identifying the exceptions. Section 18(2) sentence 2 BFSG requires specifying which requirements are affected.
Blanket reference to EN 301 549. The presumption of conformity under Section 4 BFSG extends only as far as the standard listed in the Official Journal covers the specific requirement.
Hearing period of less than ten days accepted. Section 22(2) sentence 2 BFSG sets a lower limit.
Corrective measures limited to the German market. Section 22(3) BFSG requires extension to all products made available throughout the Union.
Retention period missed. Documentation and declaration must be kept for five years from placing on the market.
Case law invented. There is hardly any case law on the BFSG; every decision must be substantiated or marked as [unverifiziert – prüfen] .