4.1 Vehicles covered

• Apply to vehicles exempt from Regulation 561/2006.
• Include goods vehicles not exceeding 3.5 tonnes PMW and certain specialist vehicles above that weight.
• Examples: water, gas and electricity service vehicles, refuse collection and specialist breakdown vehicles within 100 km of base.
• Domestic drivers are also subject to Working Time rules.

4.2 Definitions

• Domestic working week begins at midnight between Sunday and Monday.
• Domestic working day begins when work starts and continues for 24 hours.

4.3 Maximum daily driving

• Maximum Domestic driving: 10 hours per day.
• Off-road driving on farms, quarries, building sites etc. does not count as driving time under Domestic rules but is included in duty time.

4.4 Maximum daily duty

• Duty = driving plus other work.
• Maximum daily duty: 11 hours.
• A driver who does not drive more than 4 hours on each day of the week is exempt from the duty limit.
• If 4 hours is exceeded on any day, the duty limits apply to the whole week.
• The material notes that many older Domestic provisions were repealed; daily driving and duty limits remain.

4.5 Domestic emergencies

• Emergency includes danger to life/health of people or animals.
• Also includes serious interruption to water, drainage, gas, electricity, postal or telecommunications services.
• Also includes serious interruption to roads, railways, ports or airports.
• Also includes events likely to cause serious property damage.
• In an emergency, the 10-hour daily driving and 11-hour daily duty limits may be disregarded.