Importing partly completed machinery: paperwork
Obtain a Declaration of Incorporation and assembly instructions with the partly completed machinery, then include them in the finished machine's technical file. Do not put it into service until the completed machine has been declared compliant. Cambridge China Bridge can help obtain supplier paperwork through its staff in China.
Confirm what the factory is supplying
Ask the factory to explain what the supplied assembly can do independently and what must be added. Partly completed machinery cannot itself perform a specific application and is intended for incorporation into other machinery. A machine merely awaiting connection to power is not automatically partly completed machinery.
This guide focuses on integration paperwork for a manufacturer completing machinery in Great Britain. Use our machinery sourcing guide for the wider purchasing specification. Record the supplied assembly, the intended finished machine and who will complete it before agreeing the order.
Obtain and check the Declaration of Incorporation
The Declaration of Incorporation and assembly instructions must accompany the partly completed machinery until incorporation. The declaration is not permission to operate the finished machine: it states that putting into service must wait until the final machinery has been declared compliant.
Ask for a draft before ordering and the signed version before shipment. Check the manufacturer's identity, machine description, model and serial reference against the actual assembly. Ask which essential health and safety requirements have been applied and fulfilled, and which integration work remains. Resolve mismatched documents before accepting the shipment.
Require usable assembly instructions
Assembly instructions must describe the conditions for correct incorporation without compromising safety and health. Ask for an English version that your integration engineer can use, with drawings and clear boundaries between the factory's work and yours.
Ask the factory to address mounting, mechanical connections, electrical interfaces, control signals, guarding, isolation and maintenance access where relevant. Have your engineer identify missing information before manufacture is finished. Agree who supplies any additional guards or controls, rather than leaving those decisions until delivery.
Complete the machine before putting it into service
The finished machine needs its own compliance work before first use, including when you build it for your own use. Confirm with HSE the applicable safety requirements, technical-file and conformity-assessment obligations, and requirements for the finished machine's Declaration of Conformity, marking and English operating instructions.
Treat a successful production cycle as performance evidence, not the whole safety assessment. Arrange an engineering review of the completed machine, including interactions between its parts. Record the checks, outstanding defects and their resolution. Our installation and commissioning guide covers site preparation, supplier support and acceptance arrangements.
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Keep a document pack that follows the finished build
After incorporation, the assembly instructions and Declaration of Incorporation must form part of the finished machine's technical file. Keep the versions that match the installed assembly, together with your integration drawings, assessment records and final instructions.
Make document delivery an agreed purchasing condition. Ask Cambridge China Bridge's staff in China to check that the supplier's paperwork identifies the assembly being shipped and to chase missing interface information. For the broader distinction between declarations and markings, see our certification guide.
Frequently asked questions
What documents should accompany partly completed machinery?
A Declaration of Incorporation and assembly instructions must accompany it until incorporation. Afterwards, both become part of the finished machine's technical file.
Can I run machinery with a Declaration of Incorporation?
It does not authorise use of the finished machine. Putting into service must wait until the final machinery has been declared compliant.
Is a machine awaiting electrical connection partly completed?
Not automatically. Machinery missing only the components needed for connection on site or to energy sources is included in the machinery definition.
Do these checks apply if I build a machine for my own factory?
Yes. Building for your own use does not remove the finished machine's safety and conformity obligations before putting it into service.