IFA test and certification body for products and for partial tests as defined by the EU directive on machinery (2006/42/EC)

Machines and their safety components may only be put into use in Europe if they comply with the fundamental safety and health requirements of the EU machinery directive (MD) 2006/42/EC As a rule, the manufacturer may declare conformity to the directive independently. A notified body must assist with the declaration of conformity for all of the machines and safety components listed in Appendix IV of the machinery directive. IFA is notified by the Commission of the European Union for this assistance and registered under the ID number 0121. IFA also provides the German speaker who exchanges views with the notified test bodies responsible for machinery in all of Europe, and it provides its testing experience in European and global standard-setting negotiations.

Generally, the manufacturer can commission a notified test body with a type test of his product at any time. For products not listed in Appendix IV, the manufacturer then receives a type-test certificate which confirms conformity to the machinery directive. In such a test, numerous material, design, and function tests are conducted at the IFA laboratories in order to study individual compliance to the directive.

If harmonized European standards are already available for products listed in Appendix IV of the machinery directive and if these standards are listed in the official EU journal, then the manufacturer can send the technical documentation to IFA for which he receives notification of receipt; as an alternative, the manufacturer presents the documents and these are examined to determine whether the harmonised standards were correctly applied. IFA then sends the manufacturer a certificate proving the examination of the documents. For all machinery or safety components in Appendix IV which do not have harmonised standards or whose manufacturer deviates from the standards, the manufacturer is required to have an EU-type test conducted. After testing, the manufacturer receives an EU type-test certificate.

Type-test certificates are valid indefinitely and serve as the basis for the manufacturer's declaration of conformity. The manufacturer is obliged to notify the test body immediately of any changes to the respective products. The same applies once the harmonised standards change.

The expertise of the IFA test body is described in the authorizations of the Central Office of Safety Technology of the Länder (ZLS) and their records.