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The CE marking confirms that a product meets all EU-wide requirements for safety, health and environmental protection. For machines, this means in particular that they meet the requirements of the Machinery Directive as well as other relevant EU Directives. The CE marking was introduced in 1995 and serves as a type of passport for machines. Only machines bearing this marking can be sold and operated in the EU.
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The CE marking is usually affixed to the machine by the manufacturer. The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that all legal requirements have been met and that the machine is safe. The CE marking should therefore not be confused with a quality mark.
The essential requirements for the safety of machines are set out in Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. It applies throughout the European Economic Area and governs the placing on the market and commissioning of, among other things, machines and plants as well as safety components placed on the market individually.
Any instance of making technical equipment, products or goods available to others is considered to be placing them on the market within the meaning of the Machinery Directive. For this reason, any imported goods covered by one of the applicable directives must also bear the CE marking.
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Placing on the market and thus the requirement for a CE marking applies to the following machines:
However, the European Machinery Directive is not the only directive that is relevant to CE markings, as other directives also apply. These include:
However, these Directives are only a kind of superordinate law, which must then be transposed into national law by all EU member states. Above all, the Directives serve to create a uniform and binding legal basis. Directives define only the basic requirements; the technical details and subtleties are defined in standards.
These European standards (EN standards) are reflected in the national standards of the respective EU member states. If the manufacturer of a machine or plant complies with these standards, the manufacturer may "presume" that the relevant Directives have also been fulfilled. For this purpose, the relevant EN standards are listed in the "Commission communication in the framework of the implementation of the Directive" document.
EN standards define testable and thus verifiable requirements. EN standards are divided into three main groups:
The basic standards - known as A-type standards - define the basic safety requirements. EN ISO 12100 is the relevant machine safety standard in this case. It gives machine and plant manufacturers a general overview of the basic concepts and general principles necessary for designing safe machines (i.e. for machines that are safe within the scope of their intended use). It also provides basic guidelines for carrying out a machine risk assessment.
Group standards or B-type standards deal with both design aspects, such as clearances or surface temperatures, and with functional aspects, such as controlled stops or two-hand operation. These standards are applicable to a variety of machine groups. These standards include:
The third main group in the field of EN standards for machine safety is made up of product standards (C type). These standards describe in concrete terms the requirements for individual machine types and contain detailed safety requirements. These standards can be used to test and prove machine safety.
The appearance of the CE marking is subject to specific requirements: It must be at least five millimetres in height so that it is easy to read. The CE marking must be of the same quality as the manufacturer’s mark and must be applied using the same technique. In addition, only one CE marking may be affixed to each machine. The CE marking design that must be used is shown in Annex III of the Machinery Directive or can be downloaded as a template.
If an existing machine is converted or modernised (i.e. retrofitted), it may be necessary to go through the conformity evaluation procedure again. The crucial question here is whether the change constitutes a substantial modification to the machine. If this is the case, then the responsibility for the "new" machine passes to the party who carried out the change, which may also be the operator. A substantially modified machine is considered to be a new machine, and must be re-evaluated according to the Machinery Directive, undergo a new conformity evaluation procedure and receive updated documentation (e.g. in the form of operating instructions) and a new CE marking from the party now responsible for it.
A good tool for deciding what constitutes a substantial modification is the interpretation paper available for download from the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA).
The bottom line
CE marking is essential for anyone who wants to place a machine on the market in the European Economic Area. However, it is not a mark of quality but rather a legally binding confirmation by the manufacturer of a machine that it has taken into account all Directives applicable to the safety of the machine. Manufacturers can ensure that their machines are safe by making sure that the designs fulfil the relevant harmonised standards.
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