Article 30 of Machinery Regulation 2023/1230: the 11 requirements a notified body must meet
Direct answer: Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 sets out a detailed catalogue of eleven blocks of requirements —legal personality, total independence from the manufacturer, absence of conflict of interest, technical competence of staff, impartiality guaranteed by the remuneration system, civil liability insurance and professional secrecy, among others— that any conformity assessment body must satisfy before it can be notified under the Machinery Regulation. These requirements are not a formality: they are the guarantee that an EU-type examination, a quality assurance audit or a unit verification is reliable and not conditioned by commercial interests. In this article we go through each block of requirements and explain why independence is, by far, the criterion that generates the most controversy in practice.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, fully applicable from 20 January 2027, maintains and reinforces the independence criteria already contained in Directive 2006/42/EC, incorporating more explicit requirements on conflict of interest and on participation in standardisation activities.
A conformity assessment body is a third-party entity, distinct from the manufacturer and from the machinery it assesses, which must simultaneously meet the eleven requirements of Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 —legal personality, independence, impartiality, technical competence, material resources, liability insurance, professional secrecy and participation in coordination between bodies— in order to be notified to the European Commission under Article 26.
Remuneration cannot depend on the outcome
Article 30(8) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 is explicit: the remuneration of top management and of the staff responsible for carrying out conformity assessment tasks may not depend on the number of assessments performed or on their results. It is one of the most direct safeguards against conflict of interest in the entire European conformity assessment system.
— Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, Article 30, paragraph 8 (OJ L 165, 29.6.2023)
What legal nature must a notified body have?
Article 30(2) requires the conformity assessment body to be established under the national law of a Member State and to have its own legal personality. Internal units without a distinct legal personality and informal structures are therefore not admissible: it must be a fully identifiable entity —a company, foundation, or association with legal capacity— accountable under the legal system.
What exactly does "independence" mean under Article 30?
Article 30(3) requires the body to be an independent third party from the organisation or the machinery it assesses. The provision itself contemplates a relevant exception: a body belonging to a business association or professional federation representing undertakings involved in the design, manufacture, supply, assembly, use or maintenance of the machinery assessed may be considered a conformity assessment body, provided its independence and the absence of any conflict of interest are demonstrated. This is the route by which some sectoral entities —for example, agricultural machinery manufacturers' federations— can operate their own certification bodies without automatically incurring incompatibility.
Article 30(4) develops independence in much greater detail: neither the body, nor its top management, nor the staff responsible for assessment tasks may be designers, manufacturers, suppliers, importers, distributors, installers, purchasers, owners, users or maintainers of the machinery they assess, nor may they perform any of those roles in respect of partly completed machinery incorporated into the product assessed, nor represent any of those parties. The provision clarifies that this does not prevent the use of assessed machinery necessary for the body's own operation, nor its use for personal purposes —a practical clarification that avoids absurd interpretations.
Beyond these role incompatibilities, the second subparagraph of Article 30(4) prohibits the body, its management or its staff from being directly involved in the design, import, distribution, manufacture, marketing, installation, use or maintenance of the machinery assessed, or from representing the parties engaged in those activities. It adds a general clause: they may not engage in any activity that could conflict with their independence of judgement or their integrity in relation to the assessment activities for which they are notified, with an explicit mention of consultancy services as a particularly sensitive activity.
Contracting technical file preparation consultancy services from the same entity —or a subsidiary of it— that will later act as the notified body certifying that machine. Article 30(4) expressly identifies consultancy services as an activity incompatible with the required independence of judgement. If the body or its corporate group helped draft the technical file or interpret the applicable harmonised standards, that same body cannot subsequently certify the conformity of that machine.
What technical and human resources does the Regulation require?
Article 30(6) requires the body to be able to carry out all the conformity assessment tasks assigned by Annexes VII, IX and X for which it has been notified, either directly or through subcontracting under its responsibility. It must permanently have staff with sufficient and adequate technical knowledge and experience, transparent and reproducible procedure descriptions, clear policies to distinguish its tasks as a notified body from other activities, and procedures that take into account the size of the undertaking assessed, its sector, its structure and the technological complexity of the machinery.
Article 30(7) sets out the individual requirements for assessment staff: sound technical and vocational training covering all the notified assessment activities, satisfactory knowledge of the requirements of the assessments they carry out and adequate authority to perform them, an understanding of the essential health and safety requirements of Annex III, of the harmonised standards and common specifications referred to in Article 20, and of the relevant Union and national harmonisation legislation, as well as the ability to draw up certificates, records and reports demonstrating that the assessments have been carried out correctly.
| Requirement block | Art. 30 paragraph | Key element to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Legal personality | Para. 2 | Established under national law |
| Independence from the product assessed | Para. 3-4 | No role in design, manufacture, sale or maintenance |
| Professional integrity | Para. 5 | Free from financial or commercial pressure |
| Technical and resource capacity | Para. 6 | Staff, equipment and procedures for Annexes VII, IX, X |
| Qualification of assessment staff | Para. 7 | Technical training and knowledge of Annex III |
| Remuneration impartiality | Para. 8 | Salary not linked to number or outcome of assessments |
| Liability coverage | Para. 9 | Civil liability insurance, unless covered by the State |
| Professional secrecy | Para. 10 | Confidentiality except before competent authorities |
What coordination obligation exists with other bodies?
Article 30(11) requires the notified body to take part, or at least ensure that its staff are informed, in the relevant standardisation activities and in the activities of the coordination group of notified bodies set up under Article 42 of the Regulation, applying as general guidance the administrative decisions and documents resulting from that group's work. This mechanism seeks a consistent application of assessment criteria among the more than twenty notified bodies that typically operate in the machinery sector across the Union, preventing technical stringency from varying substantially depending on the body chosen by the manufacturer.
A practical case: the conflict of interest not detected in time
Ingeniería Rovelló, a fictitious packaging-line integrator, hired a certification body for the EU-type examination of a complex machine under Annex I Part A. Months after obtaining the certificate, an audit by an exporting client detected that one of the engineers who had signed the technical assessment report had provided design consultancy services to Rovelló eighteen months earlier, on a project not directly related to the certified machine but within the same technical division of the body. Although the body itself considered there was no direct conflict of interest, the client demanded, as a contractual precaution, that the EU-type examination be repeated with a different body to avoid any subsequent challenge to the certificate's validity in the event of a market surveillance inspection. The case illustrates why Article 30(4) requires not only the absence of an actual conflict, but documented traceability that none exists.
IgeraIndustria in action: notified body verification checklist
How IgeraIndustria solves it
Question:
"What should I ask a notified body before signing the certification contract, under Article 30 of Regulation 2023/1230?"
IgeraIndustria answers:
"Under Article 30, I recommend requesting in writing: (1) NANDO identification number and exact technical scope; (2) a statement that neither the body nor its corporate group has provided design or technical-file consultancy services on the machine to be certified (Art. 30(4)); (3) confirmation that the assessment team's remuneration does not depend on the outcome (Art. 30(8)); (4) evidence of current civil liability insurance (Art. 30(9)); (5) the qualification of the assigned auditor in the specific technology of your machine (Art. 30(7)). I can generate a formal request template with these five points for you."
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In summary: the essential requirements of Article 30
- Own legal personality established under national law.
- Total independence from the machinery, its designers, manufacturers, distributors or users.
- Express prohibition on providing consultancy services on the product it assesses.
- Assessment staff remuneration decoupled from the outcome of assessments.
- Staff technically competent in the specific technology and in Annex III.
- Civil liability insurance, unless equivalent State cover applies.
- Participation in coordination with other notified bodies (Art. 42).
Frequently asked questions about Article 30
Can a notified body subcontract part of the assessment?
Yes, Article 30(6) expressly allows it, always under the responsibility of the principal notified body. Subcontracting does not exempt the notified body from ensuring that the subcontractor meets the same standards of independence, competence and impartiality required by Article 30 itself.
What happens if the notified body has no civil liability insurance?
Article 30(9) requires civil liability insurance except in two cases: where liability is assumed by the Member State in accordance with its national law, or where the Member State itself is directly responsible for the conformity assessment. Outside these two cases, a body without insurance cover does not meet the requirements of Article 30 and cannot remain notified.
Do the requirements of Article 30 also apply to bodies delegated by the notifying authority?
Yes, indirectly but explicitly. As we explain in our article on Articles 26 and 27, when a notifying authority delegates the assessment to a non-governmental body, that body must comply mutatis mutandis with the same requirements of Article 30 required of conformity assessment bodies, in addition to having cover for the liabilities arising from its activity.
How is a notified body's presumption of conformity with these requirements demonstrated?
Article 31 of the Regulation establishes that, where a conformity assessment body demonstrates its conformity with the criteria set out in the relevant harmonised standards whose reference has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, it is presumed to comply with the requirements of Article 30 to the extent that those harmonised standards cover them. In practice, the EN ISO/IEC 17065 standard is the usual reference for this presumption.
Can the same corporate group have a manufacturing subsidiary and another acting as a notified body?
The Regulation does not prohibit the existence of corporate groups with both activities, but Article 30(4) requires that the body, its top management and its assessment staff play no role in respect of the machinery they assess and do not represent the parties involved in its design or manufacture. In practice, this requires very strict functional, documentary and governance separation between the two subsidiaries, and many groups choose outright to avoid certifying products from companies within their own group so as not to be exposed to challenges.
Does IgeraIndustria certify machinery or replace the notified body?
No. IgeraIndustria is not a notified body and cannot issue EU-type examination, quality assurance or unit verification certificates. Its function is to help engineering and quality teams prepare the technical documentation, verify the Article 30 independence requirements before hiring a body, and organise the documentary evidence that is subsequently submitted to that notified body.
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Last updated: July 2026 | Author: Jordi Bassols, Industrial Safety Engineer, COEIC Registered | Sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2023 on machinery, Articles 30 and 31 (OJ L 165, 29.6.2023); standard EN ISO/IEC 17065; Regulation (EC) No 765/2008. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or engineering advice. IgeraIndustria — free trial. EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or engineering advice. For the conformity assessment of your machinery, consult a notified body or a qualified industrial safety engineer.