News Item: UK Parliament Publishes Updated Machinery Safety Regulations
The Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment etc.) and the EU Machinery Regulation (Enforcement etc. in Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 are now in place and will apply from 20th January 2027, which intentionally coincides with the application date of the EU Machinery Regulation.
The new UK Regulations ensure that the EU Machinery Regulation can be effectively enforced in Northern Ireland, and they also ensure the continued recognition of CE marked machinery in Great Britain, giving businesses continued flexibility to use either UKCA or CE marking when placing products on the GB market.
The UK Equipment & Machinery Industry Forum (EMIF), led by the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), has generally advocated for maintaining UK/EU regulatory alignment, so this development is very welcome.
As a result of this new UK legislation, CE marked machinery will be able to be placed on the GB market in exactly the same way it will be able to be placed on the EU market, e.g. the technical requirements are identical, EU notified body conformity assessments will be accepted, machine markings don’t need to differ, and so on.
It was vital that these Regulations completed the legislative process and were put in place prior to Parliament’s summer recess (which is now underway), otherwise they could not have applied by 20th January 2027, which would have resulted in a very problematic misalignment between EU and UK requirements. EMIF is very grateful to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for their tenacity in ensuring the Regulations were published in a timely manner.
Please also be advised that DBT is updating the relevant guidance on gov.uk. Further updates may follow soon.
The Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment etc.) and the EU Machinery Regulation (Enforcement etc. in Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 can be found here.