CE Marking for Machinery

When the European Union was founded, one of the stated goals was to create a single European market by removing trade barriers that existed among the EU Member States. This has been achieved through the introduction of many European Directives into law, and particularly a group of directives known as the "New Approach" directives. These directives share, in part, the requirement of CE Marking the product that is to be traded in the European market place.

The basic meaning of the CE Marking on your product is that the product has characteristics that could impact the safety or well-being of people, and that you have designed and appropriately evaluated your product to ensure such characteristics present no significant risk.

There are many different directives that call for CE Marking. Your product may fall under the scope of one or several of them. The single CE Marking indicates that your product conforms to any and all applicable directives.

The technical requirements of the CE Marking directives are typically found in an Essential Requirements Annex, or appendix, to the directive. You may work with TÜV to demonstrate conformance to the essential requirements by direct analysis and testing, or through the use of standards that have been specifically identified for use with the directive.

In addition to laying out technical requirements, the CE Marking directives detail the process by which your equipment's conformance must be verified and documented. Each of the directives allows for some level of involvement of a Competent Body or Notified Body in the conformity assessment procedure, how much involvement is dependent upon equipment type. These bodies are organizations officially recognized in the European Union as having the expertise, experience and quality systems to competently assess the technical requirements. TÜV SÜD has Competent and Notified Body status for all your machinery evaluation needs.

CE Marking Directives Often Applicable to Machinery and Process Equipment

The Three Most Common Directives
For machinery, it is most likely that at least one of the following three European Directives play a major role:

• Machinery Directive (98/37/EC)
• EMC Directive (2004/108/EC)
• Low Voltage Directive (73/23/EEC)

The Machinery Directive applies to machinery and process equipment with moving parts. You might be producing a type of machinery for which the directive requires a Notified Body to perform a rigorous "type-examination", or you might be producing a machine type that requires a less formal process in which a TÜV evaluation to the Essential Requirements can be the basis of your self-declaration.

If your machinery causes or may be affected by electromagnetic disturbances, it falls under the scope of the EMC Directive. Generally speaking, demonstrating conformance to the requirements of this directive, particularly for large equipment, requires the oversight of a Notified Body such as TÜV SÜD Product Service. TÜV SÜD America has EMC test facilities and affiliations with test facilities across the United States so that bringing your products to the lab for testing or bringing the lab to your product (for larger equipment) is always within reach. For more information visit our EMC services page.

Generally all machinery or process equipment utilizes hazardous voltage levels. This puts such products within the scope of the Low Voltage Directive. There are several hundred standards published that may be used to demonstrate your electrical machinery conforms to this directive, most likely there is at least one standard that is appropriate for your product. Therefore, conformance is typically verified by using an appropriate electrical design standard such as EN 60204, Safety of Machinery - Electrical Equipment of Machines or EN 61010, Safety Requirements for Electrical Equipment for Measurement, Control and Laboratory Use.

CE Marking and the Noise Directive
The Noise Directive titled "DIRECTIVE 2000/14/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors," applies to "equipment for use outdoors" indicating all machinery, which is either self-propelled or can be moved and contributes to environmental noise pollution. (Refer to products listed in Articles 12 and 13 and defined in Annex I.) . All equipment subject to this directive must bear the CE Marking as a sign of conformity with the directive's requirements.

CE Marking and the Pressure Equipment Directives
There are CE Marking directives related to pressure systems that may also be applicable to your machinery: the Pressure Equipment Directive and the Simple Pressure Vessel Directive. TÜV SÜD America provides Notified Body services for the Pressure Equipment Directives through its parent company Group TÜV Süddeutschland Bau und Betrieb GmbH.

The Pressure Equipment Directive is probably the most applicable to industrial machines and processing equipment, and yet most manufacturers are unaware of its impact and requirements. It became a mandatory requirement for equipment entering the European Union on May 29th, 2002. If the machinery you produce contains gas or liquid systems operating above 0.5 bar (approximately 7.25 psi) you should investigate the application of this directive. It is likely that many of the components encompassed within your equipment will not require any rigorous assessment, but there will be a few components that may require the involvement of a Notified Body.

The Simple Pressure Vessel Directive is less commonly an issue. Although it is has the same pressure threshold of 0.5 bar, it is focused only on vessels containing air or nitrogen that have a very simple method of construction. You should be aware of this directive whether you manufacture simple pressure vessels or utilize them in your machinery.

Engineers from TÜV SÜD Product Service's Machinery Evaluation group can assist you in understanding the impact of these directives as part of the evaluation of your equipment to the Machinery Directive. If Notified Body involvement is required, we can guide you through the process. For more information visit our Pressure Equipment Services page.

CE Marking and the ATEX Directive for Explosive Atmospheres
If your machinery or process equipment is intended to operate in a potentially explosive atmosphere or may create an explosive atmosphere, the Directive for Equipment Used in Explosive Atmospheres may apply. This directive is also known as the ATEX Directive. Contact us directly for more information on this very specialized field of machinery evaluation.

Conformity Assessment
TÜV SÜD Machinery Evaluation personnel have the expertise and experience to provide you with authoritative evaluation services for CE Marking directives. The requirements of the directives apply to your products when they are made available within the territory of the European Union. This includes used products, one-of-a-kind machines and even machinery to be used in factories belonging to the manufacturer. To avoid being turned away at EU borders, you must be sure that your products:

• Meet the essential requirements of all applicable directives
• Have a proper technical documentation file available
• Have your correctly written Declaration of Conformity (D.O.C)
• Have the CE marking properly affixed

In addition to offering complete reports based on equipment testing and inspection, and document review, we offer TÜV SÜD certification marks showing how your equipment has met the directive requirements. This certification mark allows your customer to not only quickly identify that your product has been evaluated, but that it has been evaluated by one of the most recognized names in product safety.

For more information, contact us.

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