A defibrillator is mandatory in some places, not everywhere — and the difference matters.
In Italy an AED is not mandatory everywhere, but the requirement is older than most people think: since 2013 for sports clubs running competitions and training sessions, and since 2021 — under a rollout still under way — for larger public administrations, airports, stations and long-distance transport. For an ordinary private business, today, there is no general legal requirement. Here is the full picture: where the requirement applies, where it doesn't, and what changes if you also operate in France, Germany, Switzerland or Austria.
Italy has two separate requirements, not one
People searching for "AED legal requirement" often find generic answers, as if a single Italian law made an AED mandatory for everyone. It doesn't work that way: there are two distinct requirements, created at different times and aimed at different subjects, and working out which one applies to your activity is the first step to avoid getting confused.
The first, and the older one, concerns sport: since DM 24 aprile 2013 — the "decreto Balduzzi" — professional and amateur sports clubs must equip themselves with an AED for competitions and training sessions. The second, more recent and still being phased in, concerns public administration and transport: Law 116/2021 launches a five-year programme that starts with schools and progressively reaches airports, stations, ports and long-distance transport.
Outside these two areas — that is, for the large majority of private businesses, shops, offices and warehouses — there is, today, no general legal requirement. This is the point that causes the most confusion, which is why it's worth clearing up first.
Where an AED is already mandatory, today
The picture changes a great deal from one area to another: some requirements have been fully in force for years, others follow a programme that completes in stages, place by place.
| Area | Requirement | Reference | Since when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports facilities (competitions and training) | yes, for professional and amateur clubs | DM 24 aprile 2013 | professional clubs since 2014, amateur clubs since 1 July 2017 |
| Schools of every level, universities | yes, priority of the five-year programme | Law 116/2021 | being phased in |
| Public administrations with at least 15 employees open to the public | yes | Law 116/2021 | being phased in |
| Airports, railway stations, ports | yes | Law 116/2021 | being phased in |
| Transport with an uninterrupted journey of at least 2 hours | yes | Law 116/2021 | being phased in |
| Generic private businesses (offices, shops, warehouses) | no general requirement | — | — |
These are two parallel programmes, not one: the sports one (2013, already fully in force) and the public administration and transport one (2021, still being phased in place by place). Always check whether your activity falls under one of the two before concluding that "an AED is mandatory" or that it isn't.
Sports facilities: the older requirement, and the more precise one
DM 24 aprile 2013 concerns sports clubs, professional and amateur, with limited exclusions for disciplines with reduced cardiovascular strain. The requirement covers both competitions and training sessions, not just official matches — a detail that often escapes people who assume having an AED on match day is enough.
The original deadlines set six months for professional clubs and thirty for amateur ones: for professional clubs the requirement has therefore been effective since early 2014 and was never extended; for amateur clubs the deadline was extended several times before becoming final on 1 July 2017.
When several clubs share the same public facility, the rule doesn't ask for one AED each: it asks for the installed device to be shared among everyone using the space, and for it to be notified to the competent 118 emergency dispatch centre.
Sports clubs: mandatory in Italy, a choice in Germany and Austria
"Do we need a defibrillator at the club?" gets opposite answers a few hundred kilometres apart: in Italy it has been a legal requirement for more than ten years, in Germany and Austria there is no general duty to have one, and in France it depends on the category of the building rather than the sport played inside it.
| Country | Required for sport? | Reference | If you already have one |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | yes, professional and amateur clubs, in competition and in training | DM 24 aprile 2013; Law 116/2021 | registration with the territorial emergency service, and consumables replaced by the manufacturer's expiry dates |
| France | yes if the facility is an ERP in one of the categories concerned: 1-3 since 2020, 4 since 2021, part of category 5 — sports facilities included — since 2022 | Décret n° 2018-1186 | declaration on Géo'DAE and a maintenance log with the date, the operator and the nature of the work (Arrêté du 29 octobre 2019) |
| Germany | no, no general requirement for a sports club: DGUV Information 204-010 is a recommendation | DGUV Information 204-010 | the club is the operator of the device: safety check (STK) at least every 2 years, apart from the exemption for lay AEDs with a self-test (§ 12 MPBetreibV) |
| Austria | no, no general requirement: AUVA and the Red Cross recommend one for large events and busy facilities | § 39 AStV (first aid, without naming the AED) | it stays a medical device: maintenance and checks per the manufacturer and the medical device rules |
| Switzerland | no, no federal requirement, and no canton has introduced one so far | OLT 3, art. 36 | maintenance per the manufacturer's instructions (Suva recommendation); in Ticino, check registration with the 144 dispatch centre |
The table is about having a device at all. Where there is no requirement, an AED may still be asked for by the federation's rules, by the owner of the facility or by an insurance policy: check your own case rather than generalising. What applies to a device already installed is in the "rules by country" block below.
In the office: no general requirement, and still not the end of it
"Is a defibrillator required in the office?" gets the same answer across the German-speaking countries: no. In Germany the employer has to organise workplace first aid in line with the risk assessment, and DGUV Information 204-010 only recommends an AED where the risk is high, footfall is heavy, or the emergency services take more than ten minutes to arrive. In Austria § 39 AStV asks for provision proportionate to the risk without naming the device; in Switzerland there is no federal requirement, and health competence sits with the cantons.
Italy reaches the same place by a different route: D.Lgs. 81/2008 asks for first aid proportionate to the risk and doesn't name the defibrillator, while Law 116/2021 addresses public administration and transport. France is the exception, but not because of what people do there: the requirement follows the building. It is the ERP — établissements recevant du public — that must be equipped, by category and on the timetable of décret n° 2018-1186, so an office open to the public may be covered while one that only hosts its own staff usually isn't: before concluding either way, find out which category the building is in.
The obligation people miss most often starts after the purchase, not before it. In Germany, whoever has an AED is its operator: § 12 MPBetreibV requires a safety check (Sicherheitstechnische Kontrolle, STK) at least every two years, carried out by a technician qualified under § 5 MPBetreibV, with the documentation kept for five years. Lay AEDs with a self-test installed in publicly accessible spaces are exempt as long as the operator keeps up the visual checks, and from 1 January 2027 new devices of that kind must also document the self-test result and transmit it to the operator automatically. Buying a defibrillator is a choice; keeping it ready for use, once it's on the wall, is not.
Even without a requirement, equipping yourself makes sense: what actually matters
Outside the areas covered by law, getting an AED remains a choice — but one worth structuring as if it were a requirement, not a one-off purchase.
- A device that is visible, reachable and signposted, not shut away in a storeroom or a drawer
- Staff who know where it is and how to use it, not least because anyone present can act in an emergency
- A battery and electrode pads with their own checked expiry date: the part that gets forgotten most often
- A log of checks and maintenance, even when no rule explicitly requires one
"Businesses are required to have an AED" is false, almost always
This is the most common misunderstanding: Italy's D.Lgs. 81/2008 calls for first aid proportionate to the risk, but doesn't name the AED specifically, and Law 116/2021 concerns public administration and transport, not private businesses as such. Anyone operating in a high-risk sector or a venue with high public footfall may still find it required by a sector regulation, a tender specification or an insurance policy — it's worth checking case by case, rather than assuming either way.
From "trained staff only" to "anyone present"
One of the lesser-known changes brought by Law 116/2021 is that, in the event of cardiac arrest or suspected cardiac arrest and in the absence of healthcare staff or trained first responders, an AED may also be used by someone with no specific training: the device talks the user through every step. Being trained still makes the difference between acting straight away and losing precious seconds working out what to do.
This guide is informational material: it does not replace the standards cited, the manufacturer's manual or the judgement of a qualified technician. ToriSet organises deadlines and documents; it does not certify compliance.
The same deadlines, without the spreadsheet to recalculate.
Anyone who reaches the end of a guide like this one usually keeps the dates on a spreadsheet, on a tag, or from memory. It works as long as the assets are few and there is one person keeping track. Here is what changes with a logbook.
A spreadsheet with one date per row, on a single computer
A shared logbook: whoever opens the record sees what's due and who did the last job
You recalculate the next deadline yourself, if you remember
ToriSet calculates it from the last job: by months, by hours of use, or whichever comes first
The reminder is a sticky note or a diary
An email 30, 14, 7 and 1 day before, to you and to whoever has to act
Reports and invoices in a folder, to go looking for when needed
Attached to the job, on the product's record
What changes from one country to the next.
The requirement to have an AED is not harmonised across Europe: Italy imposes it for specific areas under dedicated laws, France imposes it for categories of buildings open to the public, while Germany, Switzerland and Austria have, to date, no general requirement — only recommendations. One caveat: "no duty to have one" is not "no duties at all", because anyone who already has an AED is still covered by medical device rules. Below is the picture country by country; the source that counts is still the standard cited.
Your choice is remembered in this browser.
Italy
References
DM 24 aprile 2013
The "decreto Balduzzi": requires professional and amateur sports clubs to equip themselves with an AED for competitions and training — in force since 2014 for professional clubs and, after several extensions, since 1 July 2017 for amateur ones — with the device shared among everyone using the same public facility.
L. 4 agosto 2021, n. 116
Launches a five-year AED rollout programme, prioritising schools and universities, then public administrations with at least 15 employees open to the public, airports, stations, ports and transport with an uninterrupted journey of at least two hours.
DM 16 marzo 2023
The decree implementing Law 116/2021 (Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 171 of 24 July 2023): it sets the criteria and methods for installing AEDs and puts on the responsible person a register recording, at least once a week, the status of the AED, its battery and its pads (Annex A, point C.4).
DM 7 aprile 2023
The Health-Sport decree (Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 186 of 10 August 2023) on AED use by sports clubs operating in public sports facilities: the device is shared among everyone using the facility and registered with the 118 centre, with maintenance on the intervals set by the user manual.
Intervals
Sports clubs (competitions and training)
in force since 2014 for professional clubs, since 1 July 2017 for amateur ones
professional and amateur sports clubs
Schools and universities
priority of the five-year programme, being rolled out
schools and universities
Public bodies, airports, stations, ports, long-distance transport
progressive programme, not yet complete everywhere
public bodies and service operators
NoteOutside these specific areas there is, today, no general legal requirement for private businesses: the general first-aid rules of D.Lgs. 81/2008 continue to apply. Watch the part that starts after the purchase, though: whoever has an AED, by choice or by duty, notifies the 118/112 dispatch centre and keeps the register with the weekly entry required by DM 16 marzo 2023.
France
References
Loi n° 2018-527 du 28 juin 2018
Sets out the principle of the equipment requirement for certain ERP (établissements recevant du public, buildings open to the public) and establishes the national database for registering defibrillators.
Décret n° 2018-1186 du 19 décembre 2018
Sets the ERP categories concerned and the timetable: categories 1-3 since 1 January 2020, category 4 since 1 January 2021, part of category 5 — including sports facilities — since 1 January 2022.
Intervals
ERP categories 1-3
mandatory since 1 January 2020
operator of the establishment
ERP category 4
mandatory since 1 January 2021
operator of the establishment
ERP category 5 concerned (stations, sports facilities, care homes for elderly or disabled people, healthcare facilities, mountain refuges and hotel-restaurants)
mandatory since 1 January 2022
operator of the establishment
NoteThe installed device must be declared on Géo'DAE, the national registration database: this is a separate requirement from the equipment one, and applies even to those not covered by category who install an AED anyway.
Germany
References
DGUV Information 204-010
The German statutory accident insurance (DGUV) document on automated defibrillation as part of in-house first aid: a technical recommendation, not a binding rule.
§ 12 MPBetreibV
The medical devices operator ordinance does not require you to have an AED, but it governs whoever does: the safety check (STK) must be carried out at least every two years by a technician qualified under § 5 MPBetreibV, and the documentation kept for five years. Lay AEDs with a self-test in publicly accessible spaces are exempt as long as the operator carries out visual checks; from 1 January 2027 new devices of that kind must transmit their self-test results to the operator automatically.
Intervals
AED provision
no general legal requirement
no one: the choice is the employer's
Recommended installation
where the risk is high or emergency services take more than 10 minutes to arrive, per the risk assessment
employer, following DGUV guidance
Safety check (STK) on an AED you already have
at least every 2 years, falling due at the end of the month of commissioning or of the last STK
technician qualified under § 5 MPBetreibV, appointed by the operator
Lay AEDs with a self-test in publicly accessible spaces
exempt from the STK as long as visual checks are continuous; from 1 January 2027 new devices must document and automatically transmit their self-test results to the operator
operator of the building or the space
NoteGermany has no law requiring you to acquire an AED, in the workplace or elsewhere: the choice remains voluntary, guided by the risk assessment and DGUV recommendations. What isn't voluntary comes after the purchase: whoever owns a defibrillator is its operator and answers to § 12 MPBetreibV, exemption for lay devices with a self-test included.
Switzerland
References
OLT 3, art. 36
The federal ordinance on health protection in the workplace does not require an AED: its commentary used to list one among recommended first-aid equipment, a note now superseded.
Intervals
AED provision
no federal requirement; cantons could legislate but have not done so to date
no one: the choice remains voluntary
Network of registered devices
in Ticino, over 1,800 AEDs registered on a voluntary basis
Fondazione Ticino Cuore and the 144 dispatch centre
NoteHealth competence sits with the cantons, and none has introduced a general requirement to date: check what your insurer expects and, if you're in Ticino, the Ticino Soccorso 144 registration network.
Austria
References
§ 39 AStV
The Austrian workplaces ordinance requires first-aid provision proportionate to the risk, without naming the defibrillator specifically.
Intervals
AED provision
no general legal requirement
no one: the choice remains the employer's or the operator's
Recommended installation
for large events, sports facilities and high-footfall venues
facility or event operator, per AUVA and Austrian Red Cross guidance
NoteAustria too has no general AED law: where a device is present, it remains a medical device to be maintained under the applicable rules, with periodic checks carried out by qualified staff.
What we get asked most.
Where is an AED mandatory in Italy?
In two distinct areas: at sports facilities, for professional and amateur clubs during competitions and training (DM 24 aprile 2013), and in public administration and transport, under the five-year programme of Law 116/2021 — schools, public bodies with at least 15 employees open to the public, airports, stations, ports and long-distance transport. The second requirement is still being phased in and isn't complete everywhere yet.
Is an AED mandatory for private businesses?
No, not as a general rule. D.Lgs. 81/2008 calls for first aid appropriate to the risk, but doesn't require an AED as a specific piece of equipment for private businesses, unless they fall under the areas covered by Law 116/2021 (public administration, transport). A sector regulation, a tender specification or an insurance policy may still require one: it's worth checking your own situation rather than generalising.
Is an AED mandatory at sports facilities?
Yes, and it's the older of the two requirements: since DM 24 aprile 2013 — in force from 2014 for professional clubs and, after several extensions, from 1 July 2017 for amateur ones — during competitions and training. Clubs sharing a public facility with others can share the AED too, as long as the device is reported to the competent 118 dispatch centre.
Who is allowed to use a defibrillator in an emergency?
Since Law 116/2021 came into force, in the event of cardiac arrest and in the absence of healthcare staff or trained first responders, an AED may also be used by someone with no specific training: the device talks the user through every step. Being trained still makes the difference between acting straight away and losing precious seconds.
Do sports clubs have to have a defibrillator?
Not as a matter of law in Germany or Austria: neither country obliges a sports club to acquire an AED, and DGUV Information 204-010 remains a recommendation tied to the risk assessment. Italy is the opposite case — DM 24 aprile 2013 makes it mandatory for competitions and training. The part that applies either way: if the AED is already there, in Germany the club is its operator, and § 12 MPBetreibV calls for a safety check at least every two years, apart from the exemption for lay devices with a self-test.
Is an AED required in an office?
Almost never by law: in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy no rule requires an office as such to have an AED, and what remains is the general duty to provide first aid proportionate to the risk. In France the test is the building, not the activity: ERP in the categories concerned must be equipped under décret n° 2018-1186. If the defibrillator is already in the office, though, Germany's operator duties under § 12 MPBetreibV apply — a safety check every two years, documentation kept five years — with the exemption for lay AEDs with a self-test.
Does ToriSet keep track of my AED's deadlines for me?
ToriSet helps you keep to them: you record your defibrillator with its model, location and battery and electrode expiry dates, and from there you get reminders in advance and keep inspection reports attached to the right device. Deciding whether and where you need an AED, and installing it according to the applicable rules, remains your own choice and responsibility.
An AED doesn't forget itself, but its deadlines can slip your mind.
Battery, electrode pads, periodic checks: ToriSet helps you keep to your defibrillator's deadlines, warns you in advance and keeps the documents attached to the right device — you stay the one deciding where an AED is actually needed.
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