The EU directive governing the safety of machinery, including certain lifting equipment such as stairlifts and work platform lifts.
Full Definition
Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC is the principal EU legislation harmonising safety requirements for machinery placed on the EU market. While most passenger elevators are governed by the Lifts Directive 2014/33/EU, certain lifting equipment not covered by that directive—stairlifts, lift tables, vehicle lifts, construction hoists, and work platform lifts—falls under the Machinery Directive. Compliance requires a conformity assessment, technical documentation file, CE marking, and Declaration of Conformity. Harmonised standards such as EN 81-40 (stairlifts) and EN 12159 (construction hoists) are referenced under the Machinery Directive to provide presumption of conformity. The directive was revised; its recast Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 will apply from January 2027.
