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This page explains what governing bodies, standards bodies and researchers publish. It is not a substitute for lessons from a qualified coach, for a qualified armourer's checks or for medical advice.
A description, not a workshop guide
This page reports what the FIE rules require the scoring equipment to do. It contains no wiring, assembly, repair or testing instructions; those belong with a qualified armourer. It does not say any apparatus or cable is homologated or legal: the FIE's approval and the officials at a competition decide.
The rule that makes the apparatus decisive
Under the FIE Technical Rules (December 2024 edition), all competitions are judged with an electrical recording apparatus, and the referee may not declare a fencer hit unless the apparatus has properly registered the hit, except in the foil target-substitution case (t.79) or for a penalty hit (t.54.1 and t.54.2). Supervising the apparatus is among the referee's listed duties (t.47.2).
What the organiser supplies (Material Rules, August 2026)
- The set-up: the central judging apparatus with extension lamps, spools with cables or overhead suspended cables, the conductive piste, the power source and, for finals of official FIE competitions, a countdown clock linked to the apparatus (m.44). Power is 12 V DC; at official FIE competitions the apparatus runs through external batteries or a UPS with at least 5 minutes of backup (m.44.5, m.51.11 and m.58).
- Wired and wireless: only wired apparatus showing hits by light signals with auxiliary sound is authorised, except wireless apparatus using encoded waves authorised by the SEMI; sound-only apparatus is excluded (m.45). Wireless apparatus is optional at the Veteran World Championships (m.44.7).
- Approval: apparatus used at a World Championships or Olympic Games must be approved by the SEMI, for one competition and one design, not as a general approval of a maker's products (m.46 to m.48). For official FIE competitions the organiser provides at least as many apparatuses as pistes, plus two spares, of a type approved for the World Championships (m.52.1).
- Behaviour common to all weapons: no hit may register on the conductive piste or on the metal parts of the weapon, nor may such a contact block an opponent's simultaneous hit (m.51.1). Signal lamps sit on top of the apparatus, show clearly which side scored and stay lit until reset (m.51.3 and m.51.4). In the last 10 seconds of each period (individual) or bout (team), the clock shows tenths of a second while running and hundredths when stopped (m.51.8).
- Extension lamps and display: obligatory at official FIE competitions, at least 1.80 m above the piste, with red and green valid-hit lamps of at least 2600 lumens and white off-target lamps of at least 1100 lumens (m.59). From the last 64 at World Championships and Grand Prix events, a large display showing names, country, score, time, period or relay and penalty cards is mandatory (m.60.2).
- Homologation conditions (Annexe B preamble): a clock and score display visible to spectators, timing in hundredths of a second passed to the video refereeing system, and a referee's remote control using encrypted radio frequencies.
Cables, plugs and the piste
- Each spool wire no more than 3 ohms, spools allowing 20 m of cable, and each connecting-cable wire no more than 2.5 ohms (m.55.1, m.55.3 and m.55.5). Plugs joining bodywire to spool have three 4 mm pins in a line, the outer pins 15 mm and 20 mm from the centre pin (m.55.6).
- Bodywires at all weapons have a transparent plug at each end, and a device against unplugging where the weapon has none (m.29.1.b, m.31.2 and m.35). British Fencing's summary of the 2020 FIE changes says transparent plugs became compulsory for all from the 2020-2021 season; its Domestic Variations (6 December 2023) say they are not required at British domestic events, where bayonet plugs are permitted.
- The conductive piste covers the whole piste and run-off, with end-to-end resistance of no more than 5 ohms, built for a 14 m piste with 1.5 to 2 m extensions, 17 to 18 m long overall (m.57.1, m.57.2, m.57.4). A raised podium is no higher than 50 cm and at least 25 cm wider than the piste on each side; at the Veterans World Championships the piste is not raised (m.57.3).
Each weapon's apparatus (Annexe B)
| Foil | Epee | Sabre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How a hit registers | Current flows permanently in the foil circuit; a hit registers when the circuit is broken (A.1(a)1) | A hit registers when contact between the two wires in the epee completes the circuit (B(a)) | A hit registers on contact between any uninsulated part of the sabre and the conductive surface of the opponent's jacket, glove or mask (C(a)1) |
| Lamps | Red one side, green the other for valid hits; white on either side for off-target hits (A.1(a)2) | Red one side, green the other, at least two lamps per side; optional orange lamps for short circuits to earth (B(e)) | Red and green for valid hits; yellow when a fencer's weapon touches their own conductive kit; white with sound for an abnormal electrical change (C(a)2, 5, 6) |
| After the first hit | No further hit on that side; no priority shown between hits; all hits ignored from 300 ms (plus or minus 25 ms) after the first. The rule notes this has no relation to the "fencing time" used to judge foil (A.1(a)4 to 6) | Hits under 40 ms (1/25 s) apart register as a double, both lamps; hits over 50 ms (1/20 s) apart register only the first; tolerance lies between (B(b)) | The opponent's hit registers only within 170 ms (plus or minus 10 ms) of the first (C(a)8) |
| Contact time | A break of contact of 14 ms (plus or minus 1 ms) must always produce a signal (A.1(b)) | At 10 ohms external resistance, 2 to 10 ms contact must register; under 2 ms must not (B(c)) | A signal should be ensured for 0.1 to 1 ms contact; apparatus registering under 0.1 ms is rejected (C(b)1) |
| Not registered | An off-target hit blocks a later valid hit on the same side (m.51.3) | Hits on earthed material such as the guard or conductive piste, even with 100 ohms in the earth circuit (B(d)) | Hits on non-conductive surfaces; a blade whipping over the opponent's blade or guard (C(a)4 and 7) |
| Other | Two yellow lamps show insulation faults between jacket and weapon (lit below 450 ohms, never above 475); if one stays lit the referee must stop the bout (A.2) | No priority: the double hit is scored against both (Technical Rules t.92) | No spring tip (m.24.4); contact by any uninsulated part of the sabre can register (C(a)1) |
When each weapon went electric: sources date different steps
- Epee: the FIE adopted rules for electrically judged epee in 1936 (Historical note, i.3.3), and Olympedia dates the first Olympic use to Berlin 1936.
- Foil: British Fencing's history gives the 1955 World Championships, Olympedia the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and the FIE's historical note 1957 for its electrical foil rules (i.2.3).
- Sabre: British Fencing's history gives 1986, the FIE's historical note 1988 for its rules (i.4.3), and Olympedia the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
- Wireless: British Fencing's history says it was first used for sabre at the 2001 World Championships and the 2004 Olympics, for epee at the 2007 World Championships and for foil at the 2008 Olympics.
The full account is on electric scoring.
Wheelchair fencing
The IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Technical Rules (January 2018, the newest found) require a conductive area around the frames at foil and epee large enough to avoid hits on the ground (t.14). The January 2018 Material Rules Amendments set a wheelchair conductive piste at least 4 m long and 1.5 m wide, no more than 5 ohms end to end, earthed at the centre except at sabre (m.57.1).
Sources
- FIE, Rules for Competitions, Book 3, Material Rules (edition dated August 2026), m.29, m.31, m.35, m.44 to m.60 and Annexe B
- FIE, Technical Rules (December 2024 edition, copy published by the German Fencing Federation), t.47 and t.54
- FIE, Rules for Competitions, Introduction, Historical note (i.1 to i.5)
- Olympedia, Fencing
- British Fencing, history of fencing (Malcolm Fare)
- British Fencing, 2020 FIE Rules: Summary of Changes (7 January 2020)
- British Fencing, Domestic Variations from FIE Rules (updated 6 December 2023)
- IWAS Wheelchair Fencing, Rules for Competition, Book 1, Technical Rules (January 2018; copy hosted by the Brazilian fencing confederation)
- Wheelchair Fencing Material Rules Amendments, January 2018 (copy hosted by the Brazilian fencing confederation)