Glossary

Plain-language explanations of the CE-marking jargon used across CEBuddy.

Annex I: The Regulation's list of high-risk machinery categories — being listed changes which conformity routes are open to you.
Annex III: The part of the Regulation that contains the essential health and safety requirements (the EHSR checklist).
Annex IV: The part of the Regulation that lists what the technical file must contain.
CE marking: The mark you affix to declare the machine meets all applicable EU legislation — only after the declaration is signed.
conformity route: The assessment procedure you must follow (self-assessment or via a notified body), decided by how risky the machinery is.
DoC — Declaration of Conformity: The signed legal document in which the manufacturer declares the machine meets the Regulation.
DoI — Declaration of Incorporation: The declaration for partly completed machinery that will be built into something else — it lists what is fulfilled and what the integrator must finish.
EHSR — Essential Health and Safety Requirement: The safety checklist in the law itself — every machine must meet each point that applies to it.
harmonised standard: A European standard listed in the EU's Official Journal — following it gives a legal presumption that the related requirements are met.
IFU — Instructions for Use: The manual that must ship with the machine — assembly, safe use, maintenance, residual risks.
light curtain / ESPE — Electro-Sensitive Protective Equipment: A protective device that senses a person — a light curtain, laser scanner or pressure mat — and stops the dangerous movement before they can reach it.
lockout / tagout: The procedure for switching off and locking every energy source before maintenance, so the machine cannot start while someone is working on it.
Notified Body: An independent organisation designated by an EU country to check high-risk machinery before it can be CE-marked.
Partly completed machinery: Machinery that cannot function on its own and is meant to be built into something else — it gets a Declaration of Incorporation instead of a DoC.
PL — Performance Level: A grade from a (lowest) to e (highest) for how reliably a safety function works.
placing on the market: The moment the machine is first made available in the EU — most obligations bite at this date.
PLr — required Performance Level: The Performance Level a safety function must reach, derived from how severe and likely the harm is.
residual risk: The risk that remains after design measures and safeguarding — it must be explicitly accepted and warned about in the instructions.
Risk Assessment: The systematic hunt for everything that could cause harm, and the record of how each danger was removed or reduced.
safety function: A control function whose failure would increase risk — e.g. a guard-door interlock that stops the machine.
SIL — Safety Integrity Level: A grade from 1 to 3 for how reliably a safety control works — the IEC route's counterpart to the Performance Level.
substantial modification: A change to a machine already on the market that creates new risk — it makes you the manufacturer again and triggers re-certification.
technical file: The complete folder of evidence — drawings, calculations, test reports, risk assessment — you must keep for 10 years.