THE MACHINERY DIRECTIVE

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CE Marking under the Machinery Directive became mandatory as of January 1, 1995. Between the publication of the directive in 1989 and now, the directive has gone through many amendments making it difficult for the manufacturer to determine a single comprehensive set of requirements.

In 1998, the EC introduced directive 98/37/EC, which is a consolidation of the previous directives into one document although it makes no changes whatsoever in the actual requirements.

98/37/EC supersedes and replaces the earlier directives, and this is the number that should be referenced on the declarations and as the citation for the Machinery Directive.

Definitions

For the purpose of this directive, machinery is defined as "an assembly of linked parts or components, at least one of which moves, with the appropriate actuators, control and power circuits, etc., joined together for a specific application . . ."

The term "machinery" also covers the "assembly of machines which, in order to achieve the same end, are arranged and controlled so that they function as an integral whole."