Applies to separable contacts used in the utilisation area considered such as switching element for control circuits. Two rated voltages are taken into consideration: above (and including) 10 V (typically 24 V) where contacts are used for switching loads with possible electrical erosion, such as programmable controller inputs, and below 10 V (typically 5 V) with neglible erosion, such as electronic circuits. It is a proposed method of assessing the performances of low energy contacts giving: useful definitions; general principles of test methods which are to monitor and record the behaviour of contacts at each operation; functional bases for the definition of a general testing equipment; preferred test values; particular conditions for testing contacts intended for specific applications (such as switching of PC inputs); information to be given in the test reports; interpretation and presentation of the test results.