Act No. 22/1997 Coll. ¹⁾, which introduced in the Czech legislation the obligation to issue a Declaration of Conformity to the specified products when placing them on the market or putting them into operation and to mark them with the European CE conformity symbol, has been valid for many years.

A new legal framework (NLF) came into force last year with the introduction of Act 90/2016 Coll. ²⁾ and Act 22/1997 Coll. was amended by Act 91/2016 Coll. ³⁾.

However, we are still encountering new products introduced or put into service that are not labeled with the manufacturer, have not been exposed to them
The EC declaration of conformity, the technical documentation is not processed or does not comply with the requirements of the Directive, the requirements of the harmonized standards are not respected, etc. These are mostly various single-purpose machinery, but also assemblies of machinery assembled in user operations. The most common deficiencies are in machinery, which is mainly made for own use.

By drawing up the EC declaration of conformity, the manufacturer or his authorized representative declares that the machinery manufactured by him complies with the requirements of the relevant applicable European directives and the harmonized standards in force. The application of the harmonized standards in force is a basic presumption of conformity. For many machinery manufacturers, meeting the legislative requirements set out in European Directive 2006/42 / EC ⁴⁾ is just a bureaucratic burden. Although these machines issue an EC declaration of conformity, the state of the machinery often does not comply with the requirements that apply to it and are listed in harmonized standards. We can only take into account the non-binding arguments of standards if we use better solutions for the issue than those stated in the standards.

It is important to note that the issue of a 'declaration' ⁵⁾ is solely the responsibility of the manufacturer of the machinery or his authorized representative (see Directive 2006/42 / EC, Article 12 (1)). No one else shall be entitled to make a 'declaration' ⁵⁾ on the equipment or to affix it to the manufacturer's label and the European CE conformity symbol - see Directive 2006/42 / EC, Article 2, point (i) and (j) + ), § 78 to § 85.

There is an increasing demand from machinery operators that all equipment bear the CE conformity marking and be accompanied by an EC declaration of conformity. This requirement is fully justified, but only for equipment that was manufactured after a year when the relevant European directives came into force in the given EU Member State (in the Czech Republic this is 1997 after the introduction of Act 22/1997 Coll.).

The machinery operated must comply with the requirements of European Directive 2009/104 / EC, which lays down minimum requirements for such machinery. Only machinery that is newly placed on the market, put into service or imported into the EU from outside the EU - even if it is already in operation - must meet the requirements of the current Directive 2006/42 / EC in force.

If it is in the interest of the operator that even older machines without the EC declaration of conformity and the European conformity marking are additionally marked, all the requirements of Directive 2006/42 / EC for new machinery must be met. In this case, it should be noted that CE marking can only be carried out by the equipment manufacturer!

Although the operator ensures compliance of the machinery with the minimum requirements under Directive 2009/104 / EC (introduced as Government Regulation No. 378/2001 Coll.), It does not entitle him to issue the EC declaration of conformity to the machinery and CE marked. Machinery in operation should only be considered as new if it has been substantially modified (see the application manual of Directive 2006/42 / EC, § 72, paragraph 4) or when the machinery in operation is first placed on the market or for use in the EU (see guidance for the application of Directive 2006/42 / EC, § 72, paragraph 3).

1. Act 22/1997 Coll. on technical requirements for products as amended
2. Act 90/2016 Coll. Act on conformity assessment of specified products when they are made available on the market
3. Act No. 91/2016 Coll., Amending Act No. 22/1997 Coll., On Technical Requirements for Products and on Amendments to Certain Acts, as amended, and Certain Other Acts
4. DIRECTIVE 2006/42 / EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 May 2006 on machinery and amending Directive 95/16 / EC
5. 'EC declaration of conformity' for complete machinery or 'declaration of incorporation' for partly completed machinery.
6. Implementation Guide to the Machinery Directive 2006/42 / EC - 2nd Edition June 2010