diff --git a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DeploymentArtifact.cs b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DeploymentArtifact.cs
index 763fd5c3..33ec3a59 100644
--- a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DeploymentArtifact.cs
+++ b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DeploymentArtifact.cs
@@ -209,9 +209,12 @@ public static class DeploymentArtifact
 
     /// <summary>Cluster-scoped overload: the address-space composition a node should materialise given
     /// its NodeId. Filters every projection to the node's own ClusterId (see <see cref="ResolveClusterScope"/>).
+    /// Equipment attribution is dual-path: driver-bound equipment (non-null DriverInstanceId) is kept when
+    /// its driver is in-cluster; driver-less equipment (null DriverInstanceId) is kept when its UNS line's
+    /// area is in-cluster.
     /// When <paramref name="onInconsistency"/> is supplied it is invoked with a human-readable message for each
-    /// kept equipment whose owning UNS line is NOT in the node's cluster — a cross-cluster binding that
-    /// violates the same-cluster invariant (decision #122) and would orphan the equipment folder. This is
+    /// kept driver-bound equipment whose owning UNS line is NOT in the node's cluster — a cross-cluster binding
+    /// that violates the same-cluster invariant (decision #122) and would orphan the equipment folder. This is
     /// detection only (observability); the equipment is still returned, since the upstream draft validator
     /// is the authority that should prevent the binding in the first place.</summary>
     /// <param name="blob">The deployment artifact blob.</param>
@@ -234,6 +237,9 @@ public static class DeploymentArtifact
         if (onInconsistency is not null)
         {
             var keptLineIds = keptLines.Select(l => l.UnsLineId).ToHashSet(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+            // This cross-cluster check only fires for DRIVER-BOUND equipment. Driver-less equipment
+            // is attributed by its UNS line's area cluster, so by construction its line is always in
+            // keptLines — the condition `!keptLineIds.Contains(e.UnsLineId)` is never true for it.
             foreach (var e in keptEquipment)
             {
                 if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(e.UnsLineId) && !keptLineIds.Contains(e.UnsLineId))
@@ -265,7 +271,9 @@ public static class DeploymentArtifact
     private sealed record ClusterSets(HashSet<string> DriverIds, HashSet<string> AreaIds, HashSet<string> EquipmentIds);
 
     /// <summary>Build the in-cluster id sets used to filter a composition: DriverInstanceIds + UnsAreaIds
-    /// that directly carry the ClusterId, plus EquipmentIds whose DriverInstanceId is in-cluster.</summary>
+    /// that directly carry the ClusterId, plus in-cluster EquipmentIds — driver-bound equipment attributed
+    /// by its driver's cluster, and driver-less equipment (null DriverInstanceId) attributed by its UNS
+    /// line's area cluster.</summary>
     /// <param name="blob">The deployment artifact blob.</param>
     /// <param name="clusterId">The node's ClusterId to scope to.</param>
     /// <returns>The resolved in-cluster id sets (empty on parse failure => empty composition).</returns>
diff --git a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DeploymentArtifactTests.cs b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DeploymentArtifactTests.cs
index 17f93746..e20fd048 100644
--- a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DeploymentArtifactTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DeploymentArtifactTests.cs
@@ -579,6 +579,44 @@ public sealed class DeploymentArtifactTests
         comp.EquipmentVirtualTags.ShouldBeEmpty();
     }
 
+    /// <summary>Verifies driver-less equipment with no UnsLineId (null/absent) is EXCLUDED from the scoped
+    /// composition and throws nothing: without a line there is no area chain to resolve a cluster from.</summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void Driverless_equipment_excluded_when_it_has_no_line()
+    {
+        var blob = BlobOf(new
+        {
+            Clusters = new[] { new { ClusterId = "C1" }, new { ClusterId = "C2" } },
+            Nodes = new[]
+            {
+                new { NodeId = "c1-1:4053", ClusterId = "C1" },
+                new { NodeId = "c2-1:4053", ClusterId = "C2" },
+            },
+            DriverInstances = new[]
+            {
+                // One driver per cluster so the artifact is genuinely multi-cluster (scoped, not None).
+                new { DriverInstanceId = "c1-driver", DriverType = "Modbus", DriverConfig = "{}", ClusterId = "C1", NamespaceId = "c1-ns" },
+                new { DriverInstanceId = "c2-driver", DriverType = "Modbus", DriverConfig = "{}", ClusterId = "C2", NamespaceId = "c2-ns" },
+            },
+            UnsAreas = new[] { new { UnsAreaId = "A1", Name = "Area1", ClusterId = "C1" } },
+            // Equipment has no DriverInstanceId (driver-less) and no UnsLineId — cannot resolve a cluster.
+            Equipment = new[]
+            {
+                new { EquipmentId = "E-noline", Name = "NoLine" },
+            },
+            Scripts = new[] { new { ScriptId = "scr", SourceCode = "return 1;" } },
+            VirtualTags = new[]
+            {
+                new { VirtualTagId = "vt-noline", EquipmentId = "E-noline", Name = "VNL", DataType = "Float", ScriptId = "scr" },
+            },
+        });
+
+        var comp = DeploymentArtifact.ParseComposition(blob, "c1-1:4053");
+
+        comp.EquipmentNodes.ShouldBeEmpty();
+        comp.EquipmentVirtualTags.ShouldBeEmpty();
+    }
+
     /// <summary>Verifies the unchanged driver-bound path: equipment with an in-cluster DriverInstanceId is
     /// kept even when (as here) no UNS line/area rows describe it — attribution is still by driver.</summary>
     [Fact]