Type approval for playground equipment

If the design of the playground equipment is approved, the applicant receives a registration certificate. The approval certificate shall contain the name of the playground equipment, the name and place of residence of the licence holder, the start and end of the installation period and references to regulations that must be observed when operating the playground equipment.

The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt publishes the approval of a type as well as changes, revocation or withdrawal of approvals on its website.

The authorisation shall be withdrawn or revoked if:

• reasons for failure subsequently become known, or
• the applicant modifies approved playground equipment to the characteristics specified in the registration certificate.

The requirements for the approval of playground equipment are regulated in §§ 12, 13 and 14 of the Gaming Ordinance (SpielV). Section 14 of the Gambling Ordinance applies to gaming machines, according to which some of the requirements apply that must also be observed when approving gaming machines.

The application must be submitted in writing with the signature of the applicant to the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt.

The following documents must be attached to the application:

• Description of the playground equipment
• Construction plan of the playground equipment
• Operating instructions
• technical description of the components of the playground equipment
• a sample device, which should be complete and functional and suitable for series production
• Written declaration by the manufacturer that the playground equipment to be tested meets the requirements set out in Section 12 (2) of the Gambling Ordinance

Additional technical descriptions may be submitted in electronic form

At the request of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, further documents must be submitted. A detailed list and description of the documents can be found in Appendix 2 of the Technical Guideline published by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt.

The fees for admission depend on the processing time:

• Hourly rate: EUR 47.00 – 67.00

Other fees:

• for the issuance of a registration certificate including the registration mark as well as for the exchange: EUR 15.00

• in addition, expenses (e.g. for copies) and expenses incurred by requested supplementary work must be reimbursed

The processing time from the submission of the application to the decision depends on:

• the quality of the documents submitted and the type,
• the need for changes identified during the audit, and

the number of applications to be processed

The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt has published a technical guideline on its website. In Part 3 of this guideline you will find detailed information on the exact procedure, a detailed description of the required documents (Appendix 2) and a sample application (Appendix 1).

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy