Chapter III: Conformity certification procedures

Where the notified body decides that the model of machinery or personal protective equipment examined complies with the relevant technical rules, it shall draw up an EC type-examination certificate. The certificate shall reproduce the conclusions of the examination, indicate any conditions attached to it and include the descriptions and drawings necessary to identify the model covered by the certificate.

Where the notified body decides that the model of machinery or personal protective equipment does not conform to the technical rules concerning it, it shall inform the applicant of its refusal to issue an EC type-examination certificate and shall inform the other notified bodies in the European Community accordingly.

The notified body shall inform the applicant, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, of the date on which the technical file is complete. It shall inform the applicant of its decision on the application for EC type-examination, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, within three months of this date.

Where the body has not made its decision known within the time limit laid down in the previous article, the applicant may, at the latest within two months of the expiry of this time limit, submit a complaint to the Minister for Labour. The latter may authorise the applicant to apply to another notified body.

Decisions to issue or refuse an EC type-examination certificate may, where they are taken by a notified body located on French territory, be the subject of a complaint to the Minister responsible for labour, within two months of notification of the decision to the applicant at the latest.

If the decision of a notified body does not appear to be justified, the Minister responsible for labour, on receipt of a complaint, may amend this decision after obtaining the opinion of the Conseil d’orientation des conditions de travail, after the complainant, the applicant for the EC type-examination certificate if different from the complainant and the notified body in question have been invited to present their observations. It takes its…

Before displaying, offering for sale, selling, importing, hiring out, making available or transferring for any purpose whatsoever a new item of machinery or personal protective equipment which has been the subject of an EC type-examination certificate, the person responsible for the operation shall ensure that the item in question conforms to the model for which the certificate was issued. The EC declaration of conformity provided for in Article R. 4313-1…

Any modification made by the manufacturer or importer to machinery or personal protective equipment in respect of which an EC type-examination certificate has been issued shall be notified to the body which issued the certificate. The body takes note of these modifications and ensures that they do not require a new conformity examination. In this case, it informs the manufacturer or importer that the EC type-examination certificate remains valid for…

The EC type-examination certificate may be withdrawn at any time by the notified body which issued it if experience shows that the applicable technical rules are not being taken into account. The decision is taken after the certificate holder has been invited to present his observations. This decision shall be based on non-conformities which are sufficiently significant to justify calling into question the initial decision. The notified body shall inform…

In the case of machinery, the manufacturer or importer asks the notified body which issued an EC type-examination certificate to re-examine the validity of this certificate every five years.