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Assembly instructions for partly completed machinery

It is the document that gives the declaration of incorporation a home — and what the integrator needs to close their own file.

Every partly completed machine is accompanied by assembly instructions. They set out the conditions to be met so that the partly completed machine can be assembled with other parts into a machine, correctly and without compromising the safety and health of persons.

Art. 11(7), Annex XI

Three things they must do

  1. Name the assembly conditions. What must be present at the place of use for assembly to be safe.
  2. Pass on the information. They contain the relevant information carried over into the instructions of the complete machine or installation.
  3. Contain the declaration of incorporation. Either in the document itself, or as an internet address or machine-readable code.

The minimum particulars are in Annex XI point 2. The instructions must be drawn up in a language determined by the Member State concerned and easily understood by the assembly personnel.

Digital provision: the four conditions

ConditionBasis
On the partly completed machine, the packaging or an accompanying document it states how to access the instructionsArt. 11(7)(a)
The format allows printing, downloading and saving — even where the instructions are embedded in the softwareArt. 11(7)(b)
They remain accessible online for at least ten years after placing on the marketArt. 11(7)(c)
On request at purchase: free on paper within one monthArt. 11(7)

The point where it fails in practice

Ten years is a long time for a URL. A change of CMS, domain or folder structure makes the detail on the nameplate unusable — and the nameplate cannot be changed afterwards. Anyone providing digitally therefore needs a stable, versioned address per product that lives on independently of their own website. And the same deadline applies to the digital declaration of incorporation.

Keep the declaration of incorporation in a technical file

Declaration, assembly instructions, risk assessment and documents of the partly completed machinery in one place – one trial file free until 20.01.2027.

Create a trial fileContents of the declaration

Read next

Declaration of incorporationAnnex V Part BTechnical documentationAnnex IV Part ADeclaration of conformityfinished machine

Sources. References from the versions published in the Official Journal: Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, OJ L 165, 29.6.2023. The official text prevails; normakte is a drafting aid, not legal advice.