In short
ADR 2027 enters into force on 1 January 2027. You can keep working to ADR 2025 until 30 June 2027, then you must follow ADR 2027, apart from a few longer transitional provisions. The biggest changes for most UK businesses involve batteries, the small-load limit for some high-hazard goods, training records, and returning empty drums and IBCs.
ADR is updated every two years. The ADR 2027 amendments were agreed by the UNECE Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and notified to the ADR Contracting Parties on 1 July 2026, for entry into force on 1 January 2027. In Great Britain, ADR applies through the Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations 2009 (CDG), which define ADR "as revised or reissued from time to time" (regulation 2). That means ADR 2027 applies in Great Britain automatically.
Key dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | ADR 2027 enters into force |
| 30 June 2027 | Last day you can carry goods under ADR 2025 instead of ADR 2027 (general transitional provision, ADR 1.6.1.1) |
| 31 December 2027 | Last day for instructions in writing to the previous model |
| 31 December 2030 | Transitional: last day for the old 50 kg small-load limit for certain transport category 1 goods (see below) |
| 31 December 2034 | Transitional: end of longer transition periods, for example for certain plastic drums used for UN 3082 and some older bulk container designs |
Lithium and sodium-ion batteries
- New UN numbers for batteries installed in cargo transport units: UN 3536 now sits alongside new entries UN 3563 (lithium metal) and UN 3564 (sodium-ion).
- Hybrid batteries (new SP 410): batteries containing both lithium-ion and sodium-ion cells are assigned to UN 3480, UN 3481 or UN 3536. To use the small-battery exemption in SP 188, they must not exceed 100 Wh.
- Hybrid-battery vehicles: vehicles powered only by hybrid batteries are assigned to UN 3556.
- Damaged batteries (new SP 680): where packaging is designed for P911 or LP906 conditions (batteries liable to react dangerously or overheat), the consignor must provide a description of the conditions the packaging is designed for, attached to the transport document.
Shipping batteries? Our lithium battery training covers the current rules.
Small-load limits for some high-hazard goods
Under ADR 1.1.3.6, the normal small-load limit for transport category 1 goods is 20 kg or litres per transport unit. Until now, a footnote allowed 50 kg for nine specific UN numbers, including UN 1005 (ammonia) and UN 1017 (chlorine).
ADR 2027 deletes that footnote, so those goods drop to the standard limit. A transitional provision allows the old limit until 31 December 2030.
Check now if you carry small amounts of these goods. Loads that were exempt at 50 kg may need full ADR compliance, including an ADR-trained driver, once the transition period ends.
Training and records
Chapter 1.3 is reworded to make clear that the training requirement covers everyone whose work involves the carriage of dangerous goods, across all the participants in the transport chain set out in chapter 1.4. Record-keeping requirements are extended to match.
In practice, this is a good moment to check that everyone involved, not just drivers, has role-specific training and a record to prove it. See our dangerous goods awareness training.
Empty drums and IBCs
A new provision (4.1.1.11.2) allows empty, uncleaned drums and IBCs of more than 150 litres, holding only small residues, to be carried for disposal, recycling or reuse even if their inspection date or service life has passed. Conditions apply:
- Residues of certain higher-hazard goods are excluded
- Marking, labelling and the transport document must reflect the residues
This will make reverse logistics simpler for many chemical distributors and recyclers, but check the conditions carefully before relying on it.
Dangerous Goods List (Table A)
More than 200 entries in Table A are amended. Highlights include:
- New entries UN 3561 and UN 3562 for corrosive solid chlorophenols, and UN 2020 and UN 2021 renamed
- UN 2941 (fluoroanilines) deleted
- UN 2857 extended from refrigerating machines to heating machines
- The UN 1202 diesel entry updated, including a reference to the 2025 edition of EN 590 and a new special provision
- A new tank provision added to many Class 2 gas entries
If you consign or carry any of these, check your product classifications and documents.
Other changes
- Hydrogen: a new SP 413 covers liquid organic hydrogen carriers under UN 3082, and SP 679 allows certain hydrogen cylinders to be carried filled with nitrogen for assembly, inspection, maintenance or disposal
- MRI scanners: a new SP 411 for scanners containing non-flammable, non-toxic gas (UN 3538)
- Instructions in writing: the previous model can be used until 31 December 2027, so plan to replace the copies in every cab before then
- Pressure receptacles: transitional arrangements for new marking requirements, running to 2030
What hasn't changed
The DGSA requirements in ADR 1.8.3 are not amended. If you need a DGSA now, you still need one under ADR 2027, and the exemptions are the same. Existing ADR driver training certificates also remain valid until their expiry date.
What to do now
- Get ADR 2027 copies for the people who need them
- Review battery shipments, especially batteries in cargo transport units, hybrid batteries and damaged batteries
- Check whether you carry small loads of the transport category 1 goods affected by the 20 kg limit
- Plan to replace instructions in writing in every vehicle by 31 December 2027
- Check classifications, documents and labels against the amended Table A entries
- Brief your staff, and update training records
- Ask your DGSA to cover ADR 2027 in your next audit and annual report
This guide summarises the amendments in UNECE document ECE/TRANS/WP.15/274 and its corrigendum and addendum. Always check the official ADR 2027 text before acting on a specific change.
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