1.1. These guidelines describe the requirements which apply in the United Kingdom for

the assessment and appointment of Notified Bodies under the Supply of Machinery

(Safety) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/3073) as amended (S.I. 1994/2063), which

implement the provisions of the EC Machinery Directive (98/37/EC) in UK law. A

further S.I. will be issued to take account of the Commission's codification of the

Machinery Directive but it should be stressed that this will not mean any policy changes

and will not affect the content of these Guidelines. Notified Bodies are appointed

under and operate according to the law which transposes the provisions of the

Directive. Please note that in these Regulations reference is made to "approved

bodies". The term "Notified Bodies" has been used in these Guidelines as all applicants

successfully assessed are notified to the European Commission and are thus "notified"

in accordance with the provisions of the Machinery Directive. The Directive applies

in the European Economic Area (EEA).

2.1. The European Community Directive on the approximation of the laws of the member

States concerning machinery was transposed into UK law through the Supply of

Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992 which came into force on 1 January 1993 and

were amended by the Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 1994.

All transitional periods have now expired. For ease of reference, this Directive was

formerly 89/392/EEC as amended by 91/368/EEC, 93/44/EEC and 93/68/EEC. The

Machinery Directive has since been codified into a single text - 98/37/EC which

combined all these texts into a single document. A Statutory Instrument further

amending the 1992 Regulations is being prepared to take this codification into account.

The single codified text of the Directive was adopted by the European Parliament

and the Council on 22 June 1998 and published in the Official Journal No. L 207 of

23 July 1998.

2.2 The Machinery Directive applies to both assemblies of machines and single products

which fall within the definition as shown in regulation 4 as well as relevant safety

components and interchangeable equipment. There is a specific list of products which

may require third party examination in Schedule 4 to the Supply of Machinery (Safety)

Regulations as amended (Annex IV of the Directive). In these cases, if a transposed

harmonised standard has not been used in order to ensure compliance for the product,

a third party is required to examine the product and to issue a type examination

certificate before it can be placed on the market in the EEA.

2.3. The conformity assessment procedures under the Regulations consist of self-

certification by the manufacturer of each product either directly in accordance with

the technical requirements set out in the Regulations or against a specific transposed

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