Guidance for the designer/manufacturer/supplier in planning and implementing controls for the design and manufacture of lithium-ion (Li-ion) and lithium-ion polymer (Li-ion polymer) rechargeable battery packs used for portable computing is provided. This standard's provisions work together, and they define approaches to design, test, and evaluate a cell, battery pack, and host device to mitigate battery system failure in user environments. Additionally, this standard provides recommendations for end-user education and communication materials. This approach suggests the interfaces between subsystems (e.g., cell, battery pack, host device) and end users are as important to system reliability as is robust subsystem design and testing. This standard therefore includes subsystem interface design responsibilities for each subsystem designer/manufacturer/supplier, and it provides messaging and communication provisions for end-user.