Regulations and Technical Information

What the law says

Since May 2006, it is compulsory to use safety belts and child restraint systems in all vehicles in Europe (Directive 2003/20/EC). It is also mandatory to use child car seats within the EU for children up to the heights of 1.35m or 1.5m - depending upon the member state.

Child Safety Standard – ECE label

All car seats must display an ECE R44/04 certification label to indicate they comply with standard safety requirement.

Year after year, our child car seats exceed the European Test Standard for Child Restraints ECE R 44 introduced in 1982. The constantly upgraded requirements of the standard clearly show the change which has taken place in child safety.

From April 2008, all child car seats that were manufactured before 1995 and approved to the ECE R Standard Regulations 44/01 and 44/02 are no longer legal and must not be used.

All BRITAX child car seats are tested and approved to the current Child
Safety Standard ECE R 44/04, shown by the first two numbers on the approval number on the orange approval label (ECE-label).

Explanation of the ECE-label

1. shows for which category the child seat has been approved
2. approved for weight
3. "Y" shows that this child seat has a 5-point harness system with crotch strap
4. European Approval indicator
5. indication for country in which the approval was obtained (1=Germany, 2=France, 3=Italy, 4=the Netherlands etc.)
6. Approval number. The first two numbers show to which version ECE R 44 the child seat has been approved (in this case ECE R 44/04)
7. current number

Child Safety Standard – ECE Standard

European experts have determined five groups for child restraint systems, classified by the weight of the child:

The following criteria are part of the current ECE Standard and have to be met to obtain the approval for the child car seat:

There are 3 types of car seat approvals: universal, semi-universal and vehicle specific. This allows you to know if a seat fits your car and is approved to the safety standards for it. Universal approval isn’t vehicle specific, and the seat is approved for installation in all cars. You should however check that the seat fits really well in your vehicle.

The seat is approved for use in all vehicles that meet ECE R14 and R16 regulations. In the case of ISOFIX the child seat MUST have the TopTether connected to the car’s anchorage points. In all ISOFIX cases this solution must be used and the vehicle’s handbook must state that the car is suitable for “Universal ISOFIX Child Seats”.

Semi-universal approval is when, in addition to any standard requirements, other safety devices for attaching a seat are used and require additional testing, (check lists here). For example: some cars provide additional storage space within or beneath the floor area that can influence the behavior of a foot prop, therefore you need to check if your car appears on the vehicle list.

The car seat is tested in an additional car-specific dynamic crash test and approved only for these cars. The car MUST appear on the child seat manufacturer’s application list. This may include special features or designs that can only be installed in a car of a specific type.