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Method › Concepts › Operational design domain (ODD)

ROAT-CON-ODD · concept

Operational design domain (ODD)

Also: ODD · festgelegter Betriebsbereich · design operating conditions · authorised domain · prevádzková oblasť

The operating conditions, including environmental, geographical, time-of-day, traffic and road characteristics, under which a driving automation system or feature is designed to function. Law turns the ODD into a legal object in different ways: Germany approves a defined operating area, France ties the safety case to a route or zone, China's draft law binds activation to design operating conditions, and test permits fix territory, route and time. Module 02 codes this translation as ODD legalisation.

Locus in the sources

ROAT-2026-0120
SAE J3016_202104 – Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles — § 3.21
Canonical definition.
ROAT-2026-0040
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1426 on type-approval of automated driving systems — Art. 2
ODD as defined for type approval; activation limited to the ODD.
ROAT-2026-0329
German Road Traffic Act (StVG) §§ 1d–1g – Motor vehicles with autonomous driving function in defined operating areas (Straßenverkehrsgesetz §§ 1d–1g) — § 1d(2)
Festgelegter Betriebsbereich as an approved area.
ROAT-2026-0308
Decree No. 2021-873 of 29 June 2021 implementing Ordonnance No. 2021-443 (Décret n° 2021-873) — art. R.3151-1
Route or zone as part of the automated road transport system.
ROAT-2026-0326
Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China – revision draft (中华人民共和国道路交通安全法（修订草案）) — Arts. 95–103
Design operating conditions in the draft law.

Related concepts

Deployment gate (the second gate) · DDT fallback and minimal risk condition

In Module 02 · column “ODD / operating-area legalisation” · snapshot 2026-09-07 review snapshot

Post-type-approval deployment models

RegimeODD / operating-area legalisation
Germany – current lawODD is translated into a geographically defined and authority-approved 'festgelegter Betriebsbereich'
France – current lawSafety case is tied to intended route or zone and service configuration
Croatia – current lawOperating area / territory forms part of deployment validation and service conditions
Great Britain – 2026 transitional current lawDeployment area fixed through APS permit and pilot conditions; authorised domain under Part 1 of the AV Act not yet in force
China – current transitional regimeSpecified road segments, speed limits and operating conditions function as legally bounded ODD/geofence
China – 2026 Road Traffic Safety Law draft prospectiveManufacturer/importer must ensure ADS cannot activate outside design operating conditions
Slovakia – current law (31 Aug 2026)ODD reflected in permit/test conditions; for automated delivery vehicles the operational permit fixes territory, route and time (§ 52(6)); not yet a general autonomous-operation authorisation object
Slovakia – CPT 1329 prospective model prospectiveODD and defined roads/territory become part of operational documentation / approval

Cite this concept

ROAT Observatory, concept Operational design domain (ODD) [ROAT-CON-ODD], approved definition, 2026-09-07. Jozef Andraško. /method/concepts/operational-design-domain/