The new Directive 2006/42/CE of the European Parliament has given a better definition of machinery as opposed to the previous Directive 98/37/CE and has introduced the term of “partly completed machinery” which was not mentioned before. In fact this definition was covered by the declaration of incorporation related to the machinery.
As far as documents are concerned, both equipments need the instruction handbook and a declaration: The EC declaration of conformity for the machinery, that is to all EU Directives in force and the declaration of incorporation for the partly completed machinery. No EC marking must be applied to the partly completed machinery. The assembly instructions and the declaration of conformity for the incorporation of the partly completed machinery are not final documents. They shall accompany the partly completed machinery until it is incorporated into the final machinery and shall then form part of the technical file for that machinery. Furthermore, if on the one hand the machinery must be supplied with a technical file which includes, among others, the risk assessment, on the other hand the partly completed machinery must be supplied with the related technical instructions only. This is because it is the final machinery which shall include the technical file as well as the relevant instructions for its components. In conclusion, it is to be observed that the lack of the EC marking on the partly completed machinery is not a formality only. It implies a limited liability because the manufacturer shall no longer be obliged to prepare a risk assessment, besides, the technical file can be reduced and kept for a period of ten years from the last date of manufacture: