A certificate is a claim. We verify it before you buy.
No “CE certificate” exists in European law: conformity rests on the manufacturer's declaration and, for some product categories, on an attestation from a notified body. What we recommend has been checked with the bodies that issued its documents, and kept under watch afterwards.
Why a certificate is read as a claim, not as proof
The most common document in a Chinese supplier file is a PDF “CE certificate” with a logo, a number and a stamp. A credible PDF proves nothing on its own: it may be genuine, expired, issued by a body not designated for that regulation, or entirely fabricated. Some bodies even publish lists of forged documents bearing their name.
In European law, the importer is responsible for what it places on the market. A file that does not hold up in an inspection is the importer's problem, not the factory's. That is why nothing we recommend rests on a document that has only been looked at.
What we verify
Every certificate goes through the same controls, whichever way it reaches us: the consistency of the document itself, the existence of the issuing body and its designation for the regulation cited, the presence of the certificate in that body's own records, the match between the company named and the factory that actually produces, and the currency of the standards referenced.
The verdict is given by a person, verified or rejected, and that verdict alone determines whether a product can be recommended to you. The supplier is told what is expected of it; nothing of our internal checks is exposed.
What you receive
Not a stamp: a traceable file. The manufacturer's EU declaration of conformity, the attestation when the product category requires one, the technical file available on request, the verdict and its date. Every upload, check, verdict and message is time-stamped and kept.
Certificates issued under the Machinery Directive 2006/42 are flagged as they approach obsolescence: Regulation 2023/1230 becomes applicable on 20 January 2027, and an order placed today reaches the market at or after that date.
And afterwards: a file that is kept alive
Verification is not a moment; it is a follow-up. Expiry dates, changes in the European reference lists and in the designation of bodies are watched continuously, and every certificate in our files is reassessed against them. If a certificate changes state, in either direction, the team is alerted and decides again.
Suppliers whose certificate is approaching expiry are asked for the renewal before it becomes your problem. You do not receive a document once; you receive a file that stays current.
What to require before you buy
- The EU declaration of conformity, in the name of the company that actually manufactures, not of a trading intermediary.
- When the product category requires it, an attestation from a body designated for that regulation, not a generic “CE certificate”.
- The technical file available on request, and a named person who will still answer in three years.
- A written warranty that says what it covers, and who carries it.
This is the file every factory we recommend has to hold. If you would rather not build it yourself, that is precisely what we do for you.