Machinery and related products
Machinery and Related Products: The Product Categories of the Machinery Regulation
Machinery and related products under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230: the seven Article 2(1) categories, their Article 3 definitions and the duties of each.
Summary
Machinery and related products are the core product categories of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230: Article 2(1) applies the Regulation to machinery, to five related products (interchangeable equipment, safety components, lifting accessories, chains, ropes and webbing, and removable mechanical transmission devices) and to partly completed machinery, seven categories in total.
Each category has its own definition in Article 3, and the category decides which documents the manufacturer draws up.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies from 20 January 2027 and is directly applicable. Until 19 January 2027, the same seven categories fall under Directive 2006/42/EC through the national transpositions. How the product categories fit into the wider EU Machinery Regulation is set out on the home page.
The sections below give the seven categories, three cases inside them, the six points of the machinery definition and the documents each category needs.
The Seven Product Categories of Article 2(1)
Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 sets seven product categories: machinery, the five related products listed in points (a) to (e), and partly completed machinery, each with its own definition in Article 3. Partly completed machinery sits in the second subparagraph of Article 2(1).
The Directive covered the same seven categories in Article 1(1)(a) to (g) and defined them in Article 2(a) to (g) of Directive 2006/42/EC.
The Regulation rewrote five of those definitions: machinery gained point (f), safety components now include software, chains, ropes and webbing received three definitions, partly completed machinery became "not yet machinery", and interchangeable equipment now refers to an "agricultural or forestry tractor".
Table 1 sets each category against its legal basis in Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 and its Directive counterpart.
| Category | Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 | What it is | Directive 2006/42/EC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machinery | Article 2(1); Article 3(1)(a) to (f) | An assembly with a drive system and at least one moving part, joined for a specific application, plus five further cases (next sections) | Article 2(a), five indents |
| interchangeable equipment | Article 2(1)(a); Article 3(2) | A device, not a tool, that the operator assembles with machinery or an agricultural or forestry tractor after putting into service to change its function or add a new one. The Commission's guide to the Directive (Edition 2.3, April 2024) excludes tools such as blades, bits and simple earthmoving buckets | Article 2(b): "tractor", "the operator himself" |
| safety components | Article 2(1)(b); Article 3(3); Annex II | A physical or digital component, including software, independently placed on the market, that fulfils a safety function, whose failure or malfunction endangers persons and which the product does not need in order to function. Annex II gives an indicative list of 20 points | Article 2(c), no software; Annex V, 17 points |
| lifting accessories | Article 2(1)(c); Article 3(5) | A component or equipment not attached to the lifting machinery that allows the load to be held, placed between machinery and load, on the load or as an integral part of it, independently placed on the market, including slings and their components | Article 2(d), substantially the same |
| chains, ropes and webbing for lifting | Article 2(1)(d); Article 3(6), (7) and (8) | Three separate definitions for chains, ropes and webbing designed and constructed for lifting purposes as part of lifting machinery or lifting accessories | Article 2(e), one combined definition |
| removable mechanical transmission devices | Article 2(1)(e); Article 3(9) | A removable component that transmits power between self-propelled machinery or a tractor and other machinery or related products, joined at the first fixed bearing. Placed on the market with its guard, device and guard count as one item | Article 2(f): "another machine" |
| partly completed machinery | Article 2(1), second subparagraph; Article 3(10) | An assembly that is "not yet machinery" because it cannot in itself perform a specific application, intended to be incorporated into or assembled with machinery, other partly completed machinery or equipment | Article 2(g): "almost machinery" |
Combined Machines, Safety Software and Machine Learning: Where They Fit
Three cases sit inside the seven categories rather than beside them: assemblies of machinery are machinery under Article 3(1)(d), software that performs a safety function and is placed on the market independently is a safety component under Article 3(3), and machine-learning safety functions are listed in Annex I, Part A, points 5 and 6. None of the three is a separate category under Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, so each follows the rules of the category it belongs to. Table 2 gives the legal hook for each case.
| Case | Legal hook | What the page answers |
|---|---|---|
| assemblies of machinery | Article 3(1)(d) | Assemblies of machinery or of partly completed machinery arranged and controlled so that they function as an integral whole. The Commission's guide to the Directive (Edition 2.3) uses three cumulative criteria: a common function, a functional link that makes a risk assessment of the whole necessary, and a common control system |
| software safety components | Article 3(3); Annex II point 18; Article 3(1)(f) | "Software ensuring safety functions" is Annex II point 18; machinery missing only the upload of its application software is machinery |
| machinery with self-evolving behaviour | Annex I, Part A, points 5 and 6; Annex II point 19 | Safety components and embedded systems with fully or partially self-evolving behaviour using machine learning approaches ensuring safety functions; only the Article 25(2) procedures apply; Article 3 does not define the term |
What Counts as Machinery: The Six Points of Article 3(1)
Machinery under Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 is, in point (a), an assembly fitted with a drive system other than directly applied human or animal effort, made of linked parts or components at least one of which moves, joined together for a specific application, and points (b) to (f) extend the term to five further cases. The six points of Article 3(1) are listed below.
- Point (a): the assembly with a drive system, linked parts, at least one moving part and a specific application.
- Point (b): an assembly as in point (a) missing only the components to connect it on site or to sources of energy and motion.
- Point (c): an assembly ready to be installed that can function only if mounted on a means of transport or installed in a building or a structure.
- Point (d): assemblies of machinery arranged and controlled so that they function as an integral whole.
- Point (e): an assembly for lifting loads whose only power source is directly applied human effort.
- Point (f): an assembly as in points (a) to (e) "missing only the uploading of the software intended for the specific application foreseen by the manufacturer".
The Directive's Article 2(a) had five indents, so point (f) is new. Recital 19 of the Regulation places such software-ready machinery under machinery, not under related products or partly completed machinery. The other Article 3 terms are explained with the full list of Machinery Regulation definitions.
Point (a) also draws the lower edge of the term. The Commission's guide to the Directive (Edition 2.3, April 2024) treats equipment driven only by directly applied human or animal effort, such as hand-driven lawn mowers, hand drills and hand-pushed trolleys, as outside the definition, while equipment using stored manual energy, such as springs or accumulators, counts as machinery.
Manually powered lifting assemblies stay machinery under point (e). EN 13157:2004+A1:2009 on hand-powered cranes is cited in the Official Journal under Directive 2006/42/EC as of 12 November 2026, and that presumption ends on 20 January 2027. As of 12 November 2026, no harmonised standard is cited in the Official Journal under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.
Related Products: A Collective Term, Not a Definition
Related products is the collective name that Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 gives to five product groups, interchangeable equipment, safety components, lifting accessories, chains, ropes and webbing, and removable mechanical transmission devices, and Article 3 has no definition of the term itself. Each of the five groups has its own Article 3 definition.
Machinery, related products and partly completed machinery together form the "products within the scope of this Regulation" (Article 2(1), third subparagraph). The exclusions sit with the scope, not with the categories. How the scope of the Machinery Regulation is drawn is explained separately.
The Directive used the phrase "machinery in the broad sense" for the same group of products. That phrase is Directive language, and the Regulation does not use it.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 instead ties conformity assessment to "machinery or related products": Article 3(28) defines it as "the process for demonstrating whether the applicable essential health and safety requirements in this Regulation relating to machinery or related products have been fulfilled".
A related product placed on the market on its own therefore goes through its own procedure and carries its own EU declaration of conformity and CE marking.
How the Product Category Decides the Documents and the Route
The category decides the paperwork: machinery and each related product need technical documentation, a conformity assessment procedure under Article 25, an EU declaration of conformity and the CE marking, while partly completed machinery needs a declaration of incorporation and assembly instructions and carries no CE marking.
For machinery and related products, the route depends on Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which lists 6 Part A categories and 19 Part B points. Products not listed there use module A only (Article 25(4)), while Part A and Part B products follow Article 25(2) and Article 25(3).
Removable mechanical transmission devices and their guards are Annex I, Part A, points 1 and 2, so they always need a notified body. Table 3 sets out the documents and the route for each category.
| Category | Documents | Conformity route | CE marking | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machinery and related products not listed in Annex I | Technical documentation (Annex IV, Part A); EU declaration of conformity (Article 21, Annex V, Part A) | Module A only, Article 25(4) | Yes, Article 24 | conformity assessment under the Machinery Regulation |
| Machinery and related products listed in Annex I | As above | Part A: B+C, H or G, Article 25(2); Part B: Article 25(3) | Yes, Article 24 | Annex I high-risk machinery |
| Partly completed machinery | Technical documentation (Annex IV, Part B); EU declaration of incorporation (Article 22, Annex V, Part B); assembly instructions (Annex XI) | No Article 25 procedure; Article 11 | No | declaration of incorporation |
Retention is the same minimum for both groups. The manufacturer of machinery or a related product keeps the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity for at least 10 years after placing on the market or putting into service (Article 10(3)), and the manufacturer of partly completed machinery keeps its technical documentation and declaration of incorporation for at least 10 years after placing on the market (Article 11(3)). Every step of Machinery Regulation compliance is set out on its own page.
Where the Product Categories End
A product that fits one of the seven categories can still fall outside the Regulation: Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 excludes 17 groups of products in points (a) to (q), against 12 points in Article 1(2) of the Directive.
A second limit sits in Article 9: where more specific Union harmonisation legislation covers the Annex III risks of a product, the Regulation does not apply to that product to the extent that the specific legislation covers those risks.
The 17 points include weapons (point (d)), motor vehicles (point (g)) and agricultural and forestry tractors (point (i)), except machinery mounted on them, and electrical products "insofar as they fall within the scope of Directive 2014/35/EU or of Directive 2014/53/EU". Each of the 17 points is explained among the Machinery Regulation exclusions.