The golfing world has seen the emergence of the Remote Control Golf Trolley, as tool to take over from the push trolleys and now the every popular Electric Golf Trolleys. Recently OFCOM has questioned the legality of these devices as advertised by many smaller and in some cases large distributors and in most cases stopped the companies from trading until they can confirm compliance.

The remote control golf trolleys have to meet the required EU directive EN 300 220 before they can be marketed in the European Union (EU) and therefore the UK. The main component of this is that the equipment meets the Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTE). Known as the R&TTE directive or R&TTE for short, this is the main route to compliance for Radio and telecoms equipment that is sold in Europe.

The directive came into force April 2000, replacing the Telecommunications Terminal Directive for Telecoms equipment and mainly National Standards for Radio Transmitters. The aim of the directive is to ensure that the equipment that is being marketed is safe to use and will not interfere with other equipment in the vicinity.

The directive ensures that the use of such equipment is very tightly controlled, with different types of apparatus being allocated frequency slots and power bands that they must operate within.

The EU repetitive must be able to demonstrate that they have the following components, a Technical Construction File (TCF) a test report from a recognised testing house, or a notified body opinion, and they must also ensure that the equipment is appropriately marked.

The TCF comprise certain technical information and photographs, to demonstrate that the equipment that is being sold is that same variant that was tested. It should contain Circuit diagrams, component lists and picture / description to uniquely identify the equipment. The TCF must be held by the EU representative for 10 years after the product is removed from the market.

The Test report, comprise the results of a series of tests carried out to ensure that the equipment meets the standards laid out in the directive. Ideally this should be carried out by a EU or UK testing house, as OFCOM have encountered numerous problem in validation reports and certificates produced outside of the EU.

It is possible to obtain a Notified Body opinion on a report obtained from outside the EU, in this case the EU representative can then refer to this opinion, when placing the equipment onto the market.

The equipment must then be marked appropriately, with a CE mark, the name and address of the EU representative, the serial number and the model number. This information should appear on the radio equipment devices, and on the packaging.

Finally the representative must then construct a Declaration of Conformity (DoC), to show that the remote control golf trolley has met the requirements. This document must accompany the equipment when delivered to the customer.

The consumer should take the time to ask the supplier if they can provide a DoC, and a valid test report from either a notified body or an EU recognised testing house. A negative response and failure to provide such information should make the consumer look elsewhere.