Annex I explained: Part A versus Part B, and why the split matters
Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 replaces the old Annex IV of the Machinery Directive with Annex I, split into Part A and Part B. Part A is the stricter set: a notified body is always involved and you cannot self-declare (Article 25(2)). Part B is higher-risk machinery where self-assessment is allowed only if harmonised standards fully cover the relevant risks; otherwise a notified body route applies (Article 25(3)). Machinery not listed in Annex I can use internal production control.
This is general information about Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, verified as at 12 July 2026, not legal advice. The definitive list is Annex I of the Regulation; confirm your classification there.
Why there are now two parts
Under the Directive, Annex IV was a single list of machinery for which stricter conformity assessment applied, but a manufacturer who fully applied harmonised standards could still use internal production control across the whole list. The Regulation breaks that list into two tiers so it can treat the very highest-risk items more strictly than the rest.
Part A: notified body always required
Part A is described as six categories for which a notified body is always involved, regardless of whether harmonised standards were applied. The categories described for Part A are:
| # | Category |
|---|---|
| 1 | Removable mechanical transmission devices, including their guards |
| 2 | Guards for removable mechanical transmission devices |
| 3 | Vehicle servicing lifts |
| 4 | Portable cartridge-operated fixing and other impact machinery |
| 5 | Safety components with fully or partially self-evolving behaviour using machine learning that ensures safety functions |
| 6 | Machinery with embedded self-evolving machine-learning systems ensuring safety functions, where the system is not placed on the market independently |
Categories 5 and 6 are the genuinely new high-risk items and are why AI and self-evolving safety functions are a headline change. See self-evolving safety functions. The single most important consequence of Part A: those categories lose the self-declaration option that existed under the Directive.
Part B: notified body unless standards fully cover
Part B is higher-risk machinery where self-assessment is possible only if the manufacturer applied harmonised standards (or common specifications) covering all the relevant health and safety requirements. If the standards do not fully cover the risks, or were not applied, a notified body route is required. The items described for Part B include woodworking machines (circular saws, planers and thicknessers, band-saws, combined machines, tenoning machines, single-spindle vertical moulding machines, portable chainsaws), presses and injection or compression moulding machinery for metal and for plastics or rubber, certain underground machinery (locomotives, hydraulic-powered roof supports), household-refuse collection vehicles with a compression mechanism, vehicle lifts, devices for lifting persons or persons and goods with a fall risk, protective devices to detect the presence of persons, logic units ensuring safety functions, and roll-over (ROPS) and falling-object (FOPS) protective structures.
Secondary sources describe Part B as roughly nineteen items, but the exact enumeration and wording of both parts must be read from Annex I itself. Treat any list outside the Regulation as a research draft.
What the split means for you
If your machine is in Part A, a notified body is mandatory and there is nothing you can do with standards to avoid it. If it is in Part B, your route depends entirely on whether harmonised standards cover every relevant risk, so the technical file that proves that coverage becomes the load-bearing document. If it is not in Annex I at all, you can self-assess by internal production control. That decision tree is the heart of the notified-body guide.
Find your Annex I part
The report quotes the Annex I category text that applies to your machine, names the conformity route and its Article 25 reference, and lists the documents you must hold.
Get my machinery report →