Declaration of Conformity under EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 — the most common errors

The Declaration of Conformity is the document that legally confirms your machinery complies with the relevant EU requirements. It is short — typically one to two pages — but the errors in it are rarely random. They follow patterns. And with EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 replacing Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC on 20 January 2027, many existing declarations are already obsolete.

This article covers the errors we see most frequently, what they mean legally, and what you need to do to correct them.

Error 1: Reference to the superseded Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC

The most common error is simply that the declaration was issued under Directive 2006/42/EC and has not been updated to Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.

The Machinery Directive ceases to apply to machinery placed on the market after 20 January 2027. From that date, the Declaration of Conformity must explicitly reference Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 and its applicable annexes. A declaration that still cites Directive 2006/42/EC is invalid after that date — regardless of whether the machinery is otherwise compliant.

The fix appears straightforward: replace the regulation number. But in practice it requires more. The structure of the annexes has changed and the format of the declaration's content has been adjusted. A real update is a rewrite, not a find-and-replace.

Error 2: Outdated or invalid standard references

The Declaration of Conformity typically lists the harmonised standards the manufacturer has followed to achieve presumption of conformity. Two common error scenarios:

• Reference to withdrawn standards. IEC 82079-1:2012 has been replaced by IEC/IEEE 82079-1:2019. EN 62079:2001 has been withdrawn. If your declaration references these versions, it references standards that no longer provide presumption of conformity under the new Regulation.
• No standard references at all. The declaration lists only the regulation's article — no standards. This is permitted, but it means the manufacturer cannot rely on the presumption of conformity. Any conformity must instead be demonstrated directly against the Regulation's requirements — which is far more demanding to document in the technical file.

The standard list in the declaration must be consistent with the technical file's documentation of which standards were actually applied during design. Inconsistency between the two is a separate error in its own right.

Error 3: Missing cybersecurity reference

EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 introduces explicit requirements for cybersecurity documentation for machinery with digital components, software control or network connectivity. This is a new requirement that did not exist under the Machinery Directive.

The Declaration of Conformity must now, for relevant machinery, include a reference confirming that cybersecurity risks have been assessed and addressed. The exact wording depends on the machine type and the measures taken — but the complete absence of any cybersecurity reference is, for most modern machinery, a gap.

Many manufacturers are unsure whether their machinery falls within scope. A rule of thumb: does the machine have a PLC, an HMI, a network interface, remote access, or software that can be updated? If so, cybersecurity is relevant.

Error 4: Incorrect or missing authorised representative

The Declaration of Conformity must identify the manufacturer and, where applicable, their authorised representative in the EU if the manufacturer is established outside the EU. For manufacturers within the EU this requirement is straightforward — but it is still overlooked.

The most common variants of this error:

• The declaration identifies a subsidiary as the manufacturer, but legal responsibility for CE marking rests with the parent company — or vice versa.
• The manufacturer is established outside the EU but no authorised representative is named — which is a direct requirement under the Regulation.
• The named authorised representative has not signed a formal authorisation agreement specifying which products and tasks the authorisation covers.

Error 5: The declaration covers machinery it does not cover — or does not cover machinery it should

Scope errors are subtle but important. The declaration must precisely identify the machine or machine variants it applies to. Two common variants:

• Scope too broad. The declaration covers "all machinery in series X" — but series X includes variants with different risk profiles, some of which require an independent CE assessment.
• Scope too narrow. The machine has been substantially modified since the declaration was issued. A substantial modification requires a new CE assessment and a new declaration. The modification is not recorded, and the declaration covers a machine that does not correspond to what is actually being produced today.

Error 6: Inconsistency with the technical file and user manual

The Declaration of Conformity is not a standalone document. It is the top layer of a documentation package that must hang together logically and consistently:

• The standards listed in the declaration must actually have been followed — and documented in the technical file.
• The risk assessment in the technical file must cover the risks addressed in the user manual's warning sections.
• Machine identification — type, model designation, serial number or series range — must be identical across all three documents.

Inconsistency on these points typically signals that the documents were produced at different times, by different people, without coordination. It is one of the most common reasons a CE documentation audit results in red flags across all three document types simultaneously.

What do you do now?

If you are not certain whether your Declaration of Conformity contains one or more of these errors, the direct route is to have it reviewed systematically — not by the person who wrote it, but by someone who knows the requirements and has no interest in confirming that everything is in order.

A CE documentation audit from Contenza reviews the Declaration of Conformity, user manual and technical file point by point against EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 and IEC/IEEE 82079-1:2019. You receive a RAG report with precise article references for each finding — not a general assessment, but a specified list of what needs to be corrected and what is already in order.