The EU Repairability Score and the DPP

The EU repairability score has been visible since 20 June 2025 as a letter from A to E on the energy label of smartphones and tablets. The ESPR Working Plan turns the same idea into a horizontal measure that is independent of product group: a delegated act for electronics and small appliances is expected, indicatively, in 2027.

The letter was designed for consumers. Behind it sit measured parameters: disassembly depth, fastener type, spare-part price and more. For a Digital Product Passport the question is where those parameters live and how they are updated when the score changes.

Three rules, one idea

The French example matters twice over: the criteria structure on the EU label is largely inherited from the French index, and French experience showed that repairability alone is not enough. A product can be easy to open yet fail early, which is why the index is evolving into a durability index with a reliability dimension. The ESPR Working Plan builds on both lessons, and the Right to Repair Directive gives the spare-part and information access the score presupposes its legal footing.

The criteria behind the grade

The criteria families are weighted per product group, but the core is the same:

• Disassembly depth: how many steps it takes to reach a priority part such as the battery, display or charging port.
• Fasteners: reversible, like screws and clips, or irreversible, like adhesives.
• Tools: standard hand tools or proprietary tools.
• Spare parts: availability period, delivery time and price relative to the product price.
• Repair information: to whom, on what terms and in what form the manual is released.
• Software updates: duration of operating-system and security updates.

The horizontal measure is expected to keep these families and re-weight them by product group. Smartphone and tablet ecodesign covers their first application; repairability for textiles shows what is expected in a sector not yet scored.

Score and evidence in the passport

The letter on the label is a single passport field, but an inspector asks for the calculation behind it, not the letter. The score is therefore spread across three access tiers:

• Public tier: class, reference to the calculation method, effective date of the current version.
• Restricted tier: per-criterion points, spare-parts list and pricing policy, disassembly steps.
• Authority tier: test report, calculation sheet, summaries of parts-supply agreements.

See restricted data tiers for who gets access. Publishing per-criterion points is not compulsory, but independent repairers' access to them follows naturally from the right to repair.

What happens when the score changes?

A repairability score is not static: a spare-part price changes, the software support period is extended, a production revision replaces a screwed joint with adhesive, a part goes out of supply. Each affects the grade.

This is where the passport's append-only versioning comes in: the new score is added as a new version with its effective date and the old one is never deleted, so a device sold in 2027 can still prove in 2031 which score it carried. See audit trail and versioning for the mechanics. The score is calculated at model level; an item-level passport adds the service history on top, a split that choosing granularity explains.

Preparing as a manufacturer

1. Define the priority parts for each model (battery, display, motor, pump) and count the disassembly steps.
2. Classify fasteners as reversible or irreversible and justify every use of adhesive.
3. Turn the spare-parts catalogue into structured data with price, availability period and delivery time.
4. Put the software support policy in writing, with dates.
5. Give the score an owner: who opens a new passport version when something changes?

Existing appliance spare-part duties are in DPP for home appliances; the general framework in the ESPR guide.

Frequently asked questions