Machinery Directive - machinery and safety components; from 20 January 2027 Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.
The Directive covers machinery, interchangeable equipment, safety components, lifting accessories, chains, ropes and webbing, removable mechanical-transmission devices and partly completed machinery (Article 1(1)).
A safety component (Article 2(c)) is a component that serves to fulfil a safety function, is independently placed on the market, whose failure or malfunction endangers the safety of persons, and which is not necessary for the machinery to function or can be replaced by ordinary components; the indicative list in Annex V includes, among others, logic units ensuring safety functions (item 4), emergency-stop devices (item 10) and two-hand control devices (item 16).
Article 1(2)(e) excludes means of transport by air, on water and on rail networks, with the exception of machinery mounted on such means of transport; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 repeats this exclusion in Article 2(2)(e).
An EC declaration of conformity under 2006/42/EC for an emergency-stop pushbutton or switch means that the manufacturer places it on the market as a safety component within the meaning of Article 2(c) and has demonstrated compliance with the applicable essential requirements of Annex I (for emergency stop, point 1.2.4.3), usually by applying a harmonized standard cited in the declaration.
The component declaration does not cover the machinery or vehicle in which it is installed; rolling stock as a means of transport lies outside the Directive, so suitability of the component for a vehicle is assessed under Directive (EU) 2016/797 and the TSIs, while the machinery declaration documents only the component's characteristics.
The manufacturer of machinery or a safety component fulfils the essential requirements of Annex I, prepares technical documentation, supplies instructions, performs conformity assessment, issues an EC declaration of conformity and affixes the CE marking (Article 5).
For products outside Annex IV, conformity assessment with internal checks on manufacture is used (Article 12(2), Annex VIII); for Annex IV categories manufactured in accordance with harmonized standards, the manufacturer may choose internal checks, EC type-examination (Annex IX) or full quality assurance (Annex X); without full coverage by harmonized standards, the remaining options are EC type-examination or full quality assurance (Article 12(3)–(4)).
Conformity with a harmonized standard whose reference is published in the OJ EU gives a presumption of conformity with the essential requirements covered by that standard (Article 7). Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 retains modules A, B+C, G and H and product categories in Annex I (Parts A and B), including notified-body involvement where required, and becomes mandatory from 20 January 2027.
Check whether the declaration identifies the component as a safety component and cites a harmonized standard (for example, for emergency-stop devices and control switches), whether it provides the reliability data required for the safety function, and whether from 20.1.2027 the manufacturer transitions to an EU declaration under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.
