Guideline CE-Declaration
Crane systems connected in Buildings or free standing supporting structures

Cranes are covered by different legislations:

In practice, the questions often arise as to which laws and regulations cover and apply to cranes and lifting equipment. Among other regulations, cranes and lifting equipment is included in the scope of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.

Furthermore, Article 2(1) of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) and Regulation 305/20113) establishes harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products. It does so by
establishing harmonised rules on how to express the performance of construction products in relation to their essential characteristics and on the use of CE marking on these products.

The following terms are used according to CPR:

- Construction works are defined as buildings and civil engineering works.
The definition is large enough to include all types of “construction works” in which relevant materials handling equipment, e.g. electrical overhead traveling cranes (EOT), such as light crane systems, are fixed to the building or are fixed to free standing supporting structures (e.g. outdoor applications). This is usually found in: warehouses, factory workshops, distribution centres, airports…

- “Incorporated in a permanent manner” means that it is not the equipment’s purpose to be temporarily incorporated into the building.

The European Commission’s Frequently Asked Questions #31 on the CPR4 thus provides an indicative and non-exhaustive list of products not covered by the standard5 and in which “structural
components for the moving part of cranes” can be found. NOTE: An appropriate consultation among CEN members in still on-going.

Therefore in some cases the CPR may be applicable.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on how to assess whether the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) applies to the various types of cranes or the Machinery Directive. The
“Building Law” is a national law which is not a transposition of the European harmonized legislation and therefore it is not considered in this FEM EOT guideline.

Consideration Following cases are considered as examples (open list): 

Case 1: Crane runway

- Crane runway (according to CPR)
- Bridge- and Gantry Crane (according to 2006/42/EC)

Case 2: Monorail System

- Monorail (according to 2006/42/EC)

Case 3: Free standing supporting structure of a crane

Free standing supporting structures of cranes apply to the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, in case:

- They are not incorporated in a permanent manner in the construction works
- They do not have load-bearing function in relation to the structure (e.g. building)

FEM 2014