The new MR (Machinery Regulation) will apply on 20th January 2027. Until that date the present Machinery Directive 2006/42 WILL REMAIN IN FORCE. There is no overlapping period.
YES, Platform lifts and stair lifts with a maximum speed of 0,15 metres per second or less will continue to fall in the scope of the Machinery Regulation 2023/1230
NO. It is a REGULATION, so it does not need the transposition into the legislation of every member state. This will prevent errors or misunderstandings in the translations.
NO. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have decided that lifting platforms fall in the scope of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC (formerly 98/37/EC).
Lifting platforms with a speed of 0.15 metres per second or less, whether with hold to run or automatic controls, do not fall within the scope of the EC Lifts Directive 95/16/EC.
Directive 2006/42/EC must have been transposed into the national legislation of all 27 member states by 29 June 2008 and became the national law in each member state from 29 December 2009.
From 29 December 2009, lifting platforms with a speed of 0.15 metres per second or less, with or without hold to run controls, will fall within the scope of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.
The Essential Health and Safety Requirements of the EC Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC are written with the intention to make manufacturers look for, understand, and prevent any hazards produced by the movement of the machinery. Vertical lifting platforms and stair lifts are lifting products which are regulated by the relevant Essential Health and Safety Requirements of the EC Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.
The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC is European law and supersedes all other national Laws or Regulations regarding the design manufacture and supply of machinery, including lifting platforms and stair lifts. The same will be for the new Machinery Regulation 2023/1230.
There is no travel height limitation as the manufacturer must take into account all safety factors that are relevant to the total travel. In practice, however, a platform lift will never travel to as many floors as an elevator as it moves at a very slow speed and would not be as well suited to large lifting heights.
NO. This is the only legal European procedure that national authorities may follow.
If national authorities do not accept that a legitimately CE-marked lifting platform or stairlift is safe to use they have to file a Safeguard Clause and contact the European Commission and the manufacturer, stating in writing the legal reasons why they have stopped this product from being supplied and installed.
To prevent or restrict the supply of a legitimately CE-marked product is a serious violation against the free movement of goods, services and capitals within the EU member States.
A lifting platform or stairlift will have been risk assessed by the manufacturer to meet all the relevant Essential Health and Safety Requirements of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. If it does not fully comply with the European standard EN81-41, or if the manufacturer does not have a quality assurance system, such as ISO 9001, approved by a accredited notified body, which covers both product development and manufacture, then it. must be EC type tested by an accredited European Notified Body who will issue a Type Examination Certificate. Once one of these conditions has been met the manufacturer signs, and issues with the machine, a Declaration of Conformity and affixes the CE mark, thus officially declaring it to be safe for use and allowing it to be legally sold in any EU member state irrespective of other national standards or regulations.
Accredited European Notified Bodies such as, for example, TÜV, DNV, IMQ, Liftinstituut, etc., have issued EC type test Certificates for European manufacturers of vertical lifting platforms for travel heights of 3.0 m. and higher with the risk assessments made in conformity with the applicable Essential Health and Safety requirements of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.
Not always. According to the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC Annex IV, if the lifting height (travel) of a vertical lifting platform exceeds 3.0 metres, the platform lift must either:
