The Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment etc.) and the EU Machinery Regulation (Enforcement etc. in Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 were made on 22 July 2026 and come into force on 20 January 2027. Signed by Jonathan Reynolds for the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, the instrument resets the territorial split in machinery safety law so that Great Britain and Northern Ireland now operate under related but different systems. The preamble records that the Secretary of State consulted appropriate persons, considered the required social, environmental and economic effects for part of the measure, and secured approval by resolution of both Houses of Parliament. The Explanatory Note says the main driver is Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on machinery taking direct effect in Northern Ireland under Article 5(4) of the Windsor Framework from 20 January 2027.
In Great Britain, regulation 2 amends the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 so they apply only in England and Wales and Scotland. It strips out references that no longer fit a GB-only regime, including Northern Ireland enforcement references, and it replaces regulations 12A, 12B and 12C. That matters because the amended 2008 framework continues to recognise machinery and partly completed machinery built to the EU Machinery Regulation route. The Explanatory Note says this is intended to allow products meeting the relevant EU requirements, including qualifying Northern Ireland goods, to continue to be placed on the market in Great Britain.
Under the new regulation 12A, a responsible person may treat key GB requirements as met if the machinery complies with Annex III essential health and safety requirements in the EU Machinery Regulation, has the required technical documentation in English, undergoes the correct conformity assessment under Article 25, carries an EU declaration of conformity in English, includes the information required by Article 10, provides English instructions for use, and bears the CE marking in line with Article 24. A parallel route applies to partly completed machinery through technical documentation, an EU declaration of incorporation and assembly instructions that meet Annex XI. Regulation 12B then adjusts how existing GB conformity provisions are read where the EU procedure has been used, including reading type-examination references as EU type-examination certificates and designated-standard references as EU standards. Regulation 12C adds a separate route for qualifying Northern Ireland goods, provided the Northern Ireland-applied requirements are met and the responsible person's or authorised representative's name and address appear on an accompanying document.
In Northern Ireland, Part 3 does more than amend existing domestic text. Regulation 15 revokes the 2008 Regulations as they apply there and replaces them with an enforcement framework built around the EU Machinery Regulation itself. According to the Explanatory Note, that step is required because the EU measure will apply directly in Northern Ireland from 20 January 2027 under the Windsor Framework. Part 3 also permits conformity assessment bodies established in the United Kingdom to operate for the Northern Ireland market. Where a UK notified body performs the relevant conformity assessment under Article 25, regulation 5 requires the product to carry the CE marking and the UK(NI) indication. The UK(NI) indication must appear visibly, legibly and indelibly next to the CE marking before the machinery or related product is placed on the market in Northern Ireland, and importers must ensure that requirement has been met.
Regulations 6 and 7 set the administrative rules around those UK notified bodies. The Secretary of State must assign each body an identification number and maintain a public register showing the body, its number, the activities for which it has been notified and any restrictions on those activities. The register may be compiled and maintained by the UK national accreditation body if the Secretary of State authorises that arrangement. The instrument also says that an objection under Article 34(5) of the EU Machinery Regulation cannot be based simply on the fact that the conformity assessment body is established in the United Kingdom or that its accreditation certificate was issued by the UK national accreditation body. That addresses whether a UK-based body's location or accreditation source can, by itself, ground an objection within the domestic framework.
Enforcement in Northern Ireland is split by product use. Regulation 9 gives the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland responsibility for products used at work, while district councils enforce in their areas for products not used at work. The Secretary of State, or a person appointed by the Secretary of State, may also enforce in the non-work category. Regulation 8 provides that an enforcer is a market surveillance authority for the purposes of the EU Machinery Regulation. Regulation 12 creates offences for economic operators who breach listed obligations in Articles 10 to 24, including duties on manufacturers, importers, distributors, traceability and CE marking. A missing or incorrectly applied UK(NI) indication is handled in stages: the enforcer must first give a reasonable period to put it right, but if the defect remains, withdrawal or recall must follow and criminal proceedings may then be brought. Regulation 13 sets the penalty at up to three months' imprisonment or the statutory maximum fine on summary conviction, or up to two years' imprisonment or a fine on indictment.
Part 3 also folds machinery enforcement into Northern Ireland's wider market surveillance framework. Regulation 10 amends the Market Surveillance (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 so regulation 9 of this instrument sits inside that structure, and regulation 11 applies parts of Schedule 6 to the 2021 Regulations to offences under regulation 12. Regulation 14 deals with the reporting duties that flow from the EU Machinery Regulation. Where information has to be disclosed to the European Commission or to member States, an enforcer other than the Secretary of State may send that material to the Secretary of State for onward disclosure. The instrument says that route does not breach duties of confidence, although it does not displace data protection law.
The transition rules are designed to protect stock already lawfully placed on the market. Regulation 3 preserves GB availability for machinery or partly completed machinery placed on the market in Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the EU before 20 January 2027 under the earlier version of regulations 12A, 12B or 12C. Regulation 15 does the same in Northern Ireland after the 2008 Regulations are revoked there, and it keeps pre-existing obligations alive for legacy products already on that market. The Explanatory Note says no full impact assessment has been produced because no significant effect on the private, public or voluntary sector is expected. Even so, the operational message is clear: businesses placing machinery across the UK now need to map whether a product is destined for Great Britain or Northern Ireland, confirm when CE marking alone is sufficient, identify when UK(NI) is required, and keep technical files, declarations and instructions in English for the retention periods set out in the instrument.