Members of the CE Marking Association frequently send questions into the Technical Team for support on Product Compliance. Where the dilemma may be of interest to a wider audience we like to publish the questions and answers as guidance for other manufacturers. Please note that the question and answer may have been altered for confidentiality reasons.
Your Question
Our company currently dismantles a large number engines from machinery every year to supply used spares for obsolete models of engines worldwide. If we import a used engine into our workshops within the EU to dismantle and sell spares to facilitate the repair of identical units already residing within the EC, what is the position regarding CE marking of used spares taken from the dismantled imported engine?
Answer
An interesting question.
The first premise is that when you import equipment into the EU where the very same product does not exist in the EU, no matter how old, then CE Marking equipment will be placed on the market for the first time and MUST be CE Marked.
Generally, spare parts are NOT covered by the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC unless they are considered one of the products identified under Article 1 of the Machinery Directive, thus;
Scope (Article 1)
1. This Directive applies to the following products:
(a) machinery;
(b) interchangeable equipment;
(c) safety components;
(d) lifting accessories;
(e) chains, ropes and webbing;
(f) removable mechanical transmission devices;
(g) partly completed machinery.
Please refer to the definitions of the above products in “Article 2 Definitions” of the Machinery Directive.
Please note that safety components will require CE Marking, see Article 1 (1c) of the Directive. This is true unless the safety component falls under the exemption for CE Marking under Article 1 (2a) of the directive. See below;
Scope (Article 1)
2. The following are excluded from the scope of this Directive:
(a) safety components intended to be used as spare parts to replace identical components and supplied by the manufacturer of the original machinery;
For all other spare parts there is NO requirement to meet the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. Please refer to the EU Guidance notes thus;
Section 1.7.4.2 (t) refers to information about spare parts. In general, the supply of spare parts is not covered by the provisions of the Machinery Directive and is thus a matter for contractual agreement between the manufacturer and the user. However, where parts subject to wear and tear need to be replaced in order to protect the Guide to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC – 2nd Edition – June 2010 244 health and safety of users, the specifications of the appropriate spare parts must be given in the instructions. Examples of such spare parts include:
– guards for removable mechanical transmission devices – see §319: comments on section 3.4.7;
– flexible guards subject to wear and tear – see §216: comments on section 1.4.1;
– filters for systems to provide clean air to operating positions – see §182: comments on section 1.1.7, and §322: comments on section 3.5.3;
– load bearing components on lifting machinery – see §340 and §341: comments on sections 4.1.2.4 and 4.1.2.5;
– guards and their fixing systems used to retain ejected objects or parts of machinery – see §216: comments on section 1.4.1.
I trust that this helps.
Sources:
– Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32006L0042&from=en
– EU Guidance Notes page http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/9483/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/native
If you need help with CE Marking under the Machinery Directive, then please get in contact!
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