EN 60204-1: Electrical Equipment of Machines, Scope, Stop Categories and the 2018 Edition with A1:2025

Its full title is "Safety of machinery, Electrical equipment of machines, Part 1: General requirements", and the European edition in use is EN 60204-1:2018, an adoption of IEC 60204-1:2016.

As of 12 November 2026, EN 60204-1:2018 gives presumption of conformity under Directive 2006/42/EC until 19 January 2027, while its amendment A1:2025 is not cited in the Official Journal. The standard supports Annex III, section 1.5.1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on electricity supply, and that Regulation applies from 20 January 2027.

Electrical equipment designed to EN 60204-1 today therefore enters one of two legal frameworks, depending on the date: the Directive through its national transpositions until that day, and from 20 January 2027 the EU Machinery Regulation.

The sections below follow the order in which an electrical designer meets the standard: its scope and type, the edition and amendment that apply and until when, the three Annex III sections it supports, its stop categories 0, 1 and 2, and how it enters the conformity file.

The table gives the eight key data points of EN 60204-1 as of 12 November 2026.

What Is IEC 60204-1?

IEC 60204-1 is the IEC standard "Safety of machinery, Electrical equipment of machines, Part 1: General requirements", and CENELEC adopts it as EN 60204-1:2018, which is IEC 60204-1:2016 in modified form.

The international edition is listed in the IEC webstore as publication 26037, and the European edition carries the EN prefix that the Official Journal list cites.

EN 60204-1 is a type-B standard, which means it applies across machine types rather than to one machine family. Applying a harmonised standard is voluntary.

Article 3(24) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 defines a harmonised standard by reference to Article 2, point 1, point (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, and Article 2(l) of Directive 2006/42/EC holds the earlier definition.

A harmonised standard gives a presumption of conformity, not an obligation, and EN 60204-1 sits in the middle tier of the harmonised standards for machinery, between type-A basic standards and type-C machine standards.

Scope: Voltage and Frequency Limits of EN 60204-1

EN 60204-1:2018 applies to electrical equipment with a supply voltage of up to 1,000 V AC or 1,500 V DC and a supply frequency of up to 200 Hz.

These three limits, recorded in the EVS catalogue entry for the standard, define where the general requirements of Part 1 stop and where another part of the series takes over. A designer checks the supply of the machine against them before choosing the standard as the basis of the electrical design.

Equipment above those voltages falls under a separate document. The Commission's "Guide to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC", Edition 2.3 (April 2024), names EN 60204-1 for electrical equipment in general and EN 60204-11 for high-voltage equipment above 1,000 V AC or 1,500 V DC, up to 36 kV.

The guide is non-binding Commission guidance, and it ties the choice of part to the supply voltage of the machine. A machine fed at 400 V AC, for example, stays within the 1,000 V AC limit of Part 1, while a machine supplied at 10 kV moves to the high-voltage part.

A Type-B Standard from IEC TC 44

IEC TC 44, "Safety of machinery, Electrotechnical aspects", is the IEC committee behind both IEC 60204-1 and IEC 62061. Type B means that EN 60204-1 applies across machine types, and a type-C standard for one machine family can adjust its general requirements.

The note to Annex I, Part Three of Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1586 states that where a type-C standard deviates from a type-A or type-B standard, the type-C specifications take precedence.

A designer of a machine covered by a type-C standard therefore reads that standard first and applies EN 60204-1 for every point the machine standard leaves open.

Other Parts of the IEC 60204 Series

Two further parts of the series appear on machinery pages: EN IEC 60204-11:2019 for high-voltage equipment and EN 60204-32:2008 for hoisting machines. Each part names its own scope, so the high-voltage part covers supplies above the limits of Part 1 and the hoisting part covers the electrical equipment of hoisting machines.

Part 1 stays the general requirements document of the series, and the other two parts build on it for their specific field. The designation tells the reader which part applies: "-1" for general requirements, "-11" for high voltage and "-32" for hoisting machines.

Which Edition of EN 60204-1 Applies?

As of 12 November 2026, EN 60204-1:2018 is the edition that gives presumption of conformity under Directive 2006/42/EC, as row 96 of Annex I, Part Two of Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1586, while its amendment A1:2025 is not cited.

The Commission adopted that Decision on 26 July 2023 (C/2023/4914), and its consolidated text on EUR-Lex dates from 7 September 2026.

Article 2 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2015 repeals the list with effect from 20 January 2027, the same day on which the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC is repealed. The table and the timeline set out each edition and amendment with its IEC base and its status as of 12 November 2026.

EN 60204-1:2018 in the OJ List under the Machinery Directive

EN 60204-1:2018 entered the OJ list on 2 April 2020 through Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/480, published in OJ L 102, 2.4.2020, p. 6. The Commission adopted Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/480 on 1 April 2020, and it entered into force the next day, the day of its publication.

Decision 2020/480 amended Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/436 of 18 March 2019, the list of harmonised standards for machinery at the time, and first cited two standards in it: EN 60204-1:2018 and EN ISO 20607:2019.

Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1586 later repealed Decision 2019/436 and carried the reference forward, so EN 60204-1:2018 now appears as row 96 of Annex I, Part Two, the part that lists type-B standards.

The EVS catalogue lists the European edition as valid from 3 October 2018, so EN 60204-1:2018 was available as a European standard before its reference entered the Official Journal.

Presumption of conformity from the Directive list ends on 19 January 2027. The Commission summary list of harmonised standards records the same end as "end of legal effect" on 20.01.2027, the first day without the list.

EN 60204-1:2018/A1:2025 and IEC 60204-1:2016+AMD1:2021

EN 60204-1:2018/A1:2025 is the European adoption of IEC 60204-1:2016/AMD1:2021 and is listed as valid from 16 June 2025 in the EVS catalogue. The amendment therefore exists at European level as a separate document that amends the 2018 edition.

As of 12 November 2026, A1:2025 is not cited in the Official Journal, so presumption of conformity under Directive 2006/42/EC rests on EN 60204-1:2018 without the amendment.

The technical file therefore names whether the version applied includes A1:2025. At international level, the IEC sells a consolidated IEC 60204-1:2016+AMD1:2021 that combines the 2016 edition and its 2021 amendment in one document.

The 2006 Edition and the Next IEC Edition

EN 60204-1:2006 (with A1:2009 and AC:2010) stopped giving presumption of conformity on 2 October 2021, as set by Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/480. The same Decision that cited the 2018 edition thus gave the 2006 edition a transition of exactly 18 months, from 2 April 2020 to 2 October 2021, during which both editions gave presumption.

IEC 60204-1:2016 is edition 6.0, published on 13 October 2016, and it is the base of every European edition and amendment in the table above. As of 12 November 2026, the IEC webstore shows a draft of the next edition circulated as a committee draft (CD).

A draft gives no presumption of conformity, so electrical design work continues to cite EN 60204-1:2018 until a new edition is published and its reference appears in the Official Journal.

EN 60204-1 Status under the Machinery Regulation from 20 January 2027

From 20 January 2027 a harmonised standard gives presumption of conformity with the Annex III requirements it covers only once its reference is published in the Official Journal under Article 20(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.

Article 7(2) of Directive 2006/42/EC is the equivalent rule for the Directive list. The Machinery Regulation timeline places that change on 20 January 2027, the day the Regulation applies.

Row 96 ends with the Directive list, so presumption from EN 60204-1:2018 under the Directive stops on the last day the Directive applies.

A reference published under Article 20(1) also changes the EU declaration of conformity, which must name the date on which the reference was published in the Official Journal, as the conformity-file section below explains.

As of 12 November 2026, no harmonised standard is cited in the Official Journal under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230. The Directive list, Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1586, was last amended by Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2015 of 4 September 2026, which also repeals it with effect from 20 January 2027.

Which Machinery Requirements Does EN 60204-1 Support?

EN 60204-1 supports three sections of Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230: 1.5.1 on electricity supply, 1.2.1 on the safety and reliability of control systems, and 1.2.4 on stopping. All three sections belong to the essential health and safety requirements that every machinery product meets where the hazard exists.

Annex III of the Regulation is the annex of essential health and safety requirements, and it continues Annex I of Directive 2006/42/EC, which held the same requirements before.

The section numbers stay the same, so 1.5.1, 1.2.1 and 1.2.4 keep their numbers when the annex changes. The table maps the three sections to their Directive counterparts.

Electricity Supply: EN 60204-1 and Annex III, Section 1.5.1

Annex III, section 1.5.1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies the safety objectives of Directive 2014/35/EU to machinery, while conformity assessment and placing on the market for electrical risks are governed solely by the Regulation.

Its second paragraph reads: "The safety objectives set out in Directive 2014/35/EU shall apply to machinery or related products. However, the obligations concerning conformity assessment and the placing on the market or putting into service of machinery or related products with regard to electrical risks are governed solely by this Regulation."

Directive 2014/35/EU of 26 February 2014 covers electrical equipment designed for use with a voltage rating of 50 to 1,000 V AC and 75 to 1,500 V DC (Article 1), and those upper limits match the upper voltage limits of EN 60204-1. The split between the two acts is explained under Machinery Regulation and the Low Voltage Directive.

Annex I, section 1.5.1 of Directive 2006/42/EC made the same link to the safety objectives of Directive 73/23/EEC, the original low-voltage act. The section is unchanged in substance between the Directive and the Regulation, so electrical equipment designed to EN 60204-1 for electricity supply meets the same requirement before and after 20 January 2027.

Control-System Reliability and the Electrical Equipment

Annex III, section 1.2.1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, "Safety and reliability of control systems", is the second requirement the electrical equipment of a machine feeds into. The same control system is therefore designed to EN 60204-1 for its electrical equipment and to a functional-safety standard for its safety functions.

The IEC abstract of IEC 62061 excludes the electrical hazards of control equipment from its scope and refers to IEC 60204-1 for them. The two standards therefore divide the work: IEC 62061 rates the safety-related control functions, and IEC 60204-1 covers the electrical hazards of the equipment that carries them.

Section 1.2.1 requires control systems designed so that they do not lead to hazardous situations, and its point (b) states that "a fault in the hardware or the logic of the control system shall not lead to hazardous situations".

The full set of points, including wireless control and self-evolving behaviour, is set out under safety and reliability of control systems.

Stopping Functions and EN 60204-1

Annex III, section 1.2.4 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 sets four stopping requirements: normal stop (1.2.4.1), operational stop (1.2.4.2), emergency stop (1.2.4.3) and assemblies of machinery (1.2.4.4). Each requirement describes a stopping situation that the control system of the machine has to handle.

Section 1.2.4 is unchanged in substance against Annex I, section 1.2.4 of Directive 2006/42/EC. EN 60204-1 gives the electrical stop categories used to implement these stopping functions, and the stop categories section below lists them with the drive functions mapped onto them.

Annex III, section 1.2.4.3 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 does not require an emergency stop device on two kinds of machinery: machinery in which the device would not lessen the risk, and portable hand-held or hand-guided machinery.

The design principles of the emergency stop function itself sit in a separate standard, set out under EN ISO 13850 and the emergency stop function.

What Are the Stop Categories of EN 60204-1?

EN 60204-1 defines three stop categories, 0, 1 and 2, and the drive safety functions of EN 61800-5-2 are mapped onto them in published guidance.

The three categories belong to the electrical equipment of the machine, and they are the link between the stopping requirements of Annex III, section 1.2.4 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 and the drives that carry out a stop.

IFA Report 1/2025, published by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance, maps the drive safety functions STO, SS1 and SS2 of EN 61800-5-2 to stop categories 0, 1 and 2 of EN 60204-1. The IFA Report 1/2025 lists STO against stop category 0, SS1 against stop category 1 and SS2 against stop category 2. The table restates that correspondence in this page's own layout.

EN 61800-5-2 contains further drive safety sub-functions, such as SOS, SLS and SBC, and IFA Report 1/2025 ties only STO, SS1 and SS2 to a stop category.

A machine whose stopping function runs through a power drive system therefore uses two standards side by side: EN 60204-1 for the stop category and EN 61800-5-2 for the drive function that delivers it. The drive functions and their requirements are set out under IEC 61800-5-2 safety functions of power drive systems.

How Is EN 60204-1 Applied in a Conformity File?

A manufacturer uses EN 60204-1 in six steps, from the risk assessment to the EU declaration of conformity, and keeps the result in the technical documentation for at least 10 years. The six steps below follow the order of the Regulation's documents, and each step names the document or record it produces.

1. Identify the electrical hazards and the stopping functions in the machinery risk assessment under Annex III, Part B, point 1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which sets five steps, (a) to (e).
2. Check the supply voltage and frequency of the machine against the scope limits of EN 60204-1:2018: 1,000 V AC, 1,500 V DC and 200 Hz.
3. Design the electrical equipment to EN 60204-1:2018 and record whether the version used includes A1:2025, which is not cited in the Official Journal as of 12 November 2026.
4. Check any type-C standard for the machine for deviations from EN 60204-1, because the type-C specifications take precedence.
5. File the electrical design records, the test records and the references of the standards applied in the machinery technical file.
6. List the standard in the EU declaration of conformity for machinery, including the date of publication of its reference in the Official Journal, as Annex V, Part A, point 7 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 requires.

Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 requires the manufacturer to keep the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity for at least 10 years after the machinery or related product has been placed on the market or put into service.

The EN 60204-1 records of the electrical equipment therefore stay available for that whole period, and they show a market surveillance authority which edition and which amendment were applied.

The same file supports every conformity route of Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, from internal production control to the routes with a notified body. The conformity assessment modules set which route applies to the product.

Which Standards Work Alongside EN 60204-1?

EN 60204-1 is applied next to five other machinery standards that cover neighbouring parts of the same design task: EN ISO 12100 for the risk assessment, EN ISO 13849-1 and EN IEC 62061 for safety-related control functions, EN ISO 13850 for the emergency stop function and EN 61800-5-2 for drive safety functions.

The five standards are listed below with the part of the design task each one covers.

• EN ISO 12100 sets the risk assessment method that produces the stopping functions and electrical hazards; see the EN ISO 12100 risk assessment standard.
• EN ISO 13849-1 rates the safety-related parts of control systems in performance levels; see EN ISO 13849-1 performance levels.
• EN IEC 62061 rates safety-related control functions and leaves the electrical hazards of control equipment to IEC 60204-1; see EN IEC 62061 functional safety.
• EN ISO 13850 sets the design principles of the emergency stop function; see EN ISO 13850 emergency stop function.
• EN 61800-5-2 covers safety functions integrated into power drive systems, such as STO, SS1 and SS2; see EN 61800-5-2 drive safety functions.

EN 60204-1 Questions

Four questions recur about EN 60204-1: whether it is mandatory, how the IEC and EN versions differ, what the German edition DIN EN 60204-1 (VDE 0113-1) is and where the official text is published.

Is EN 60204-1 mandatory for machinery?

No: harmonised standards are voluntary, and applying EN 60204-1:2018 gives a presumption of conformity with the requirements it covers only while its reference is published in the Official Journal. As of 12 November 2026, that is the case under Directive 2006/42/EC only, and a manufacturer who follows another technical solution proves conformity with Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 by its own means.

What is the difference between IEC 60204-1 and EN 60204-1?

IEC 60204-1 is the international standard of the IEC, and EN 60204-1:2018 is its European adoption by CENELEC, based on IEC 60204-1:2016 in modified form. As of 12 November 2026, the Official Journal list under Directive 2006/42/EC cites the EN reference, EN 60204-1:2018, as row 96 of Annex I, Part Two of Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1586.

What is DIN EN 60204-1 (VDE 0113-1)?

DIN EN 60204-1 (VDE 0113-1) is the German national edition of EN 60204-1. The reference cited in the Official Journal list under Directive 2006/42/EC is the European one, EN 60204-1:2018, as row 96.

Where is the official text of EN 60204-1 published?

The IEC publishes IEC 60204-1, including a consolidated IEC 60204-1:2016+AMD1:2021, and national standards bodies sell the national editions of EN 60204-1:2018. The standard's text is sold by these bodies and is not reproduced here.