This part of EN 16590 sets out general principles for the design and development of safety-related parts of control systems (SRP/CS) on tractors used in agriculture and forestry and on self-propelled ride-on machines and mounted, semi-mounted and trailed machines used in agriculture. It can also be applied to municipal equipment (e.g. street-sweeping machines). It specifies the characteristics and categories required of SRP/CS for carrying out their safety functions.

This part of EN 16590 is applicable to the safety-related parts of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic systems (E/E/PES), as these relate to mechatronic systems. It does not specify which safety functions, categories or performance levels are to be used for particular machines.

Machine specific standards (type-C standards) can identify performance levels and/or categories or they should be determined by the manufacturer of the machine based on risk assessment.

It is not applicable to non-E/E/PES systems (e.g. hydraulic, mechanic or pneumatic).