CE Marking Machinery

Machines that are being placed on the market in the UK and Europe are required to be CE Marked under the Machinery Directive before they are put into service. The Directive applies to machines that are new, but also applies to machines that have been built for own use, or where they have been modified or rebranded.

Machinery for the European market has been required to be CE marked since 1995, and the current Directive (2006/42/EC, which came into force on the 29^th December 2009) sets out seven categories of equipment which are within scope:

• Machinery (Main definition: an assembly of linked parts, where at least one moves and is powered for a specific application)
• Interchangeable equipment
• Safety components
• Lifting accessories
• Chains, ropes and webbing (for lifting purposes)
• Removable mechanical transmissions devices
• Partly completed machinery

It is important to read the definitions and exclusions within Articles 1 and 2 of the Machinery Directive to fully understand if your equipment is in or out of scope.

Conformity Requirements

CE Marking Machinery under the Directive is relatively straightforward when it comes to establishing the route to conformity for equipment within scope. The majority of equipment will fall under a self-declaration route, however there are separate routes for ‘high risk’ equipment (which are items that are listed within Annex IV of the Directive) and for partly completed machinery, as shown below:

The majority of machinery will fall under the ‘Internal Checks’ route; which requires the manufacturer to undertake 5 key tasks:

• Undertake a risk assessment
• Demonstrate conformity to the Essential Health and Safety Requirements of Annex I, or against the requirements of applicable harmonised standards.
• Compile technical documentation
• Complete an EC Declaration of Conformity
• Affix the CE mark

Once a manufacturer has completed these tasks and found that the machine fulfils all of these requirements, then the machine can be deemed to be CE marked and is now ready to be placed on the market.

The full text of the Machinery Directive can be viewed on the European Commission’s website.

How we can help

The CE Marking Association assists manufacturers, importers and users of machinery on a day to basis and we have a range of services to meet your needs. We can undertake some or all of the tasks with our compliance services, or we can help bring the knowledge in-house with our training and consultancy services. Here are some of the services on offer:

• Risk Assessments to EN ISO 12100
• Harmonised Standards Assessments and Testing
• Technical file compilation
• In-company or public Machinery Directive training
• PUWER Assessments

For more support on CE Marking under the Machinery Directive, or to find out how we can help you, please call us on 01564 792349, or please complete our online enquiry form.