Which information should be displayed on the machine plate?

In order to ensure the traceability of machinery, the information placed on machinery must be visible, legible and indelible, as is stated by the European Commission in Item 1.7.3 of Annex I of the Machinery Directive. The following information should be displayed on the machine plate:

• The business name
• Full address of the manufacturer
• Authorized representative
• The designation of the machinery
• The CE Marking
• The designation of series or type
• The serial number
• The year of construction
• Additionally: information for the safe use of the machine must be displayed on the machinery

What does this mean exactly? From our experience, most uncertainties are related to the requirements for the address, the designation and the information for safe use.

The address should be a postal address which can be used to contact the manufacturer or their authorized representative, including the postal code and country . Placing a URL will be seen as ‘extra’ information, as it is not required to place a website link on a machine plate.

The designation of machinery refers to the common name of the category to which the machinery belongs. The common name should also be placed in the EC Declaration of Conformity. The ‘designation of series or type’ refers to a name, code or number which refers to the model of machinery concerned.

Finally, all essential information regarding the safe use of the machinery must be placed on the machine plate. This includes information concerning the essential aspects of the usage of the machinery, such as maximum dimensions of the tools to be used. This does not imply that all warnings described in the instructions manual have to be mentioned on the machinery plate.

Find here more information about CE marking machinery.