Machinery and power tools

• Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 — Machinery, applying from 20 January 2027
• Directive 2006/42/EC — Machinery, until then
• Directive 2014/30/EU — EMC
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 — Article 4

Who has to appoint one

Manufacturers established outside the Union placing machinery, partly completed machinery, safety components, lifting accessories, chains, ropes or removable transmission devices on the EU market. Anyone who assembles machines into an assembly, or modifies a machine substantially, becomes the manufacturer of the result. Importers and distributors have their own verification duties and step into the manufacturer's position if they market under their own name. Distance sellers shipping to EU users without an EU-established operator are caught by Article 4 of Regulation 2019/1020.

Thresholds and exemptions

No size or turnover threshold. The dividing line is the definition: an assembly with a drive system other than directly applied human or animal effort, with linked parts of which at least one moves. Hand tools without a drive system fall under GPSR instead. Machinery listed in Annex I of the new Regulation — including certain woodworking machines, presses, vehicle servicing lifts and safety components with self-evolving behaviour — requires notified body involvement rather than self-assessment.

What must appear on the label

CE marking, and the notified body number where third-party assessment applies. The manufacturer's business name and full address, and those of the authorised representative. The designation of the machinery, the series or type, the serial number where one exists, and the year of construction, which must be the actual year and not the year of sale. Where the machine is for use in a potentially explosive atmosphere, the additional marking required. Partly completed machinery carries a declaration of incorporation instead of CE marking.

Marketplace fields

Industrial marketplaces and distributors increasingly require the declaration of conformity as an uploaded document before listing, not merely the representative's details, and B2B buyers ask for it as a condition of purchase because their own insurers require it. Machines sold on consumer marketplaces face the same GPSR listing requirements as any other product on top of the machinery rules.

Documentation you must hold

EU declaration of conformity naming the person authorised to compile the technical file, who must be established in the Union. The technical file itself: overall drawings and circuit diagrams, detailed drawings with calculation notes and test results, the risk assessment documenting hazards identified and protective measures applied, standards used, technical reports, instructions, and for series production the internal measures ensuring continued conformity. For partly completed machinery, the declaration of incorporation and assembly instructions. Where a notified body was involved, its certificate.

Standards and testing

The risk assessment under Annex III drives the programme. Type C standards apply per machine family — EN ISO 12100 as the general principle, plus for example EN 60204-1 for electrical equipment of machines, EN ISO 13849-1 for safety-related control systems, EN ISO 13857 for safety distances. Noise and vibration emission values must be measured and declared in the instructions. For Annex I machinery, an EU type-examination or full quality assurance route through a notified body is mandatory.

Language requirements

Instructions must be supplied in the official language of the member state where the machinery is placed on the market or put into service, and the original instructions must be identified as such. The new Regulation permits digital instructions, but a paper version must be supplied free of charge on request within one month, and safety information must always be provided in paper form. The declaration of conformity travels with the machine in the same language.

When it applies

Everything must be complete before placing on the market or putting into service. Regulation 2023/1230 applies from 20 January 2027 and replaces Directive 2006/42/EC; machines placed on the market before that date follow the Directive, but a substantial modification afterwards can make the modifier a manufacturer under the new rules.

How long records are kept

Technical documentation for ten years from the date the last unit of the type was placed on the market, available to authorities on request in a member state. The authorised representative must have access to the file, not merely a promise of it, because it may be required to produce it within days.

What happens if you do not comply

Prohibition of making available, withdrawal and recall. Customs refusal at import. National fines, and in several member states criminal liability where a non-conforming machine causes injury — Italy, France, Germany and Spain all provide for it. Civil liability follows separately under the new Product Liability Directive, and the absence of a risk assessment is close to indefensible in an accident claim.

Who enforces it

National market surveillance authorities, labour inspectorates who see the machine in use, notified bodies for Annex I machinery, and customs at the border.

Where the boundary lies

The authorised representative may hold the technical file and sign the declaration only within the limits of the written mandate: it cannot draft the risk assessment or assume design responsibility, and a mandate that pretends otherwise is worthless. Partly completed machinery is a common trap — it is not exempt, it needs a declaration of incorporation and assembly instructions, and the assembler becomes the manufacturer of the finished assembly. Machines with AI-based safety functions come into the AI Act as well from 2027.

Questions we are asked

Can our EU distributor act as authorised representative?

Only with a written mandate that it has accepted. Without one, the distributor is a distributor and the obligation is simply unfulfilled, whatever both parties assumed.

Is a partly completed machine exempt from CE marking?

It carries no CE marking under the Machinery rules, but it needs a declaration of incorporation, assembly instructions and an economic operator in the Union. It is not exempt from the regime.

We sell the same machine in the US with UL certification — does that help?

No. UL certification does not address the essential health and safety requirements of the EU regime, and the declaration of conformity must reference EU standards and be backed by an EU-compliant risk assessment.

Who signs the declaration if we are outside the Union?

The manufacturer signs it, but the person authorised to compile the technical file must be established in the Union. That is usually the authorised representative, and it must be named in the declaration.