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The Machinery Regulation replaces the Machinery Directive on 20 January 2027

Machinery placed on the EU market from that date must meet Regulation (EU) 2023/1230. If you modify a machine in a way its manufacturer did not plan, and the change needs new guards or protective measures, you can become its manufacturer.

By Denis Mlakar. Published 26 October 2026. Checked against the official texts on 26 October 2026.

What to do

  1. Add the Regulation to your purchase specifications for machines placed on the market or put into service from 20 January 2027. Our purchase clause is ready to copy.
  2. List planned modifications to existing machines and check whether any could be substantial.
  3. Agree who in your company decides whether a modification is substantial and who keeps the records.

What changes

  • The Regulation replaces Directive 2006/42/EC. As a regulation, it applies directly and in the same way in every EU country, without national transposition.
  • A machine placed on the market under the Machinery Directive before 20 January 2027 can still be sold and delivered after that date.
  • Anyone who substantially modifies a machine is treated as its manufacturer and must carry out a new conformity assessment.
  • A substantial modification is a physical or digital change that the original manufacturer did not foresee or plan, that affects safety by creating a new hazard or increasing an existing risk, and that needs new guards or protective devices, changes to the safety control system, or extra measures for stability or mechanical strength.
  • Instructions for use may be supplied in digital form. If the buyer asks at the time of purchase, the manufacturer must provide them on paper free of charge within one month. Machines for non-professional users must come with the essential safety information on paper.
  • New essential health and safety requirements cover protection against corruption, including cyber attacks, and machinery with self-evolving behaviour or autonomous mobility.
  • Some high-risk machinery, including safety components with fully or partially self-evolving behaviour that use machine learning, must be assessed by a notified body.

Who it affects

Manufacturers, importers and distributors of machinery. Employers who buy machines. Anyone, including your own engineering team, who substantially modifies a machine.

Key dates

  1. Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 enters into force
  2. The Regulation applies and the Machinery Directive is repealed

Official sources

This summary simplifies the law. The text published in the Official Journal of the European Union is binding. For directives, check your national law.

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