Directive 2006/42/EC on Machinery specifies the essential health and safety requirements the product has to meet in order for the manufacturer to affix the CE marking
Directive 2006/42/EC covers machinery; interchangeable equipment; safety components; lifting accessories; chains, ropes and webbing for lifting purposes and removable mechanical transmission devices. It also includes requirements for partly completed machinery.
The first step a manufacturer should take to ensure that a machine will be compliant with the Directive is to carry out an assessment procedure, with regard to the essential requirements. This includes also to check which European Harmonised Standards are applicable, as a way to get presumption of conformity. A list of harmonised standards for machinery can be found on the European Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs website.
Annex I to Directive 2006/42/EC sets out in detail the essential health and safety requirements for the products covered.
An amendment to the Directive was agreed in 2009 introducing new requirements for machinery for pesticide application, which must be designed and manufactured in such a way as to minimise the unintended dispersal of pesticides in the environment.
This amendment becomes applicable on 15 December 2011.
Please consult the Directive to ensure that your product complies with all the essential requirements. You can also download an extensive explanatory guide (3 MB) to the Directive, published in June 2010.
The manufacturer must also provide documents for series production and internal measures that will be implemented to ensure that the machinery remains in conformity with the provisions of this Directive (Annex VII, A (b)).
The manufacturer must carry out the necessary tests on components, fittings or the completed machinery to determine whether it can be assembled and put into service safely. The relevant reports and results shall be included in the technical file.
The manufacturer or his authorised representative is requested to keep copies of the technical documentation for a period of 10 years after the last product was placed into the market.
