Check Your Spec Sheets Against CE, REACH, RoHS, ATEX, Machinery, CPR, VOC, and IP Requirements

CE marking is the gateway to the European Economic Area. Your technical documentation needs to declare conformity, reference the applied harmonised standards (EN/IEC), and in many product categories, identify the notified body involved in the conformity assessment procedure.

SpecMake checks whether your spec sheet mentions a CE declaration, references harmonised standards, and includes a notified body number where applicable. Missing any of these in your product documentation means your file is incomplete before it even reaches a regulatory reviewer.

Under REACH (EC 1907/2006), articles containing Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) above 0.1% weight-by-weight must declare this to downstream users. The candidate list grows with every update; keeping spec sheet documentation current is an ongoing obligation, not a one-time checkbox.

SpecMake checks whether your document references REACH compliance and includes an SVHC declaration. If your spec sheet doesn't mention SVHCs at all, that's a documentation gap that needs closing before you can claim compliance to a customer or supply chain partner.

RoHS (2011/65/EU) restricts hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. All ten Annex II substances (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBBs, PBDEs, and the four phthalates added by Directive (EU) 2015/863) must be below defined thresholds. For products in the electrical, electronics, robotics, or instrumentation domains, SpecMake checks both the declaration and, where values are specified, whether they fall within the allowed limits.

Threshold checks are automatic. If your spec sheet declares lead content at 0.15% and the RoHS limit is 0.1%, SpecMake flags the violation with the exact value and limit. This catches documentation errors where a product IS compliant but the spec sheet states the wrong number.

Products intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres must carry ATEX marking (2014/34/EU), declare the equipment group and category (the code the installer maps to the applicable zone), and specify the temperature class. Missing any of these on a spec sheet for equipment destined for Zone 1 or Zone 2 installations is a serious documentation gap.

SpecMake applies ATEX checks only when the document itself indicates explosive-atmosphere use: the directive number, Ex marking strings, or zone references. A standard hydraulic valve or pressure sensor with no Ex intent is never penalized for missing ATEX data; a document that signals Ex use and omits the marking, group and category, or temperature class is flagged immediately.

The EU Machinery Regulation ((EU) 2023/1230) replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC for machinery newly placed on the market from 20 January 2027; products placed under the Directive before that date stay lawfully on the market, so both instruments remain valid datasheet references. SpecMake checks the parts of the machinery conformity story that belong on a datasheet: the legislation reference itself, the airborne noise emission declaration that Annex III requires performance-describing sales literature to carry (even machines at or below 70 dB(A) must state that fact), the machine-safety harmonised standards applied, and PL/SIL safety function ratings on safety components.

The checks apply only when the document itself references machinery legislation or machine-safety standards such as EN ISO 12100 or EN ISO 13849. A hydraulic component or electric motor datasheet with no machinery claim is never penalized, and the declared dB(A) values are checked for presence, not against a limit: the Regulation sets declaration duties, not noise caps.

Directive 2004/42/EC limits the VOC content of decorative paints, varnishes, and vehicle refinishing products, and its Article 4 puts the compliance data on the label: the product subcategory, the applicable EU limit value in g/l, and the product's own maximum VOC content ready for use. SpecMake verifies all three declarations, then runs a consistency check the label format makes possible: if your document declares 480 g/l of VOC against its own declared 500 g/l category limit, that passes; a declared content above the document's own declared limit is flagged as a contradiction.

Scope is deliberately tight. The checks apply only when the document cites 2004/42 itself, because industrial protective coatings, marine systems, and factory-applied products declare VOC numbers for entirely different reasons and sit outside the Directive. An industrial epoxy datasheet with a VOC line and no directive reference stays untouched.

A construction product covered by a harmonised standard or a European Technical Assessment carries a Declaration of Performance, and its CE marking follows that declaration rather than a Declaration of Conformity. Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 still governs that regime: Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 replaces it product family by product family, one year after each family gets its own implementing act, so both instruments are valid datasheet references and both pass. SpecMake checks the parts of the trail that belong on a datasheet: the legislation reference, the Declaration of Performance number or a statement of where the declaration is available, the harmonised standard or ETA reference, the AVCP system, and the notified body where one is involved.

Two scoping decisions keep this honest. The checks apply only when the document itself references construction products legislation or Declaration of Performance vocabulary, so a US-market datasheet citing ASTM test methods, and a product that falls under no harmonised standard at all, both stay untouched. And the notified body is checked for presence only, never as a failure: under AVCP system 4 no notified body is involved, so its absence is a prompt to look rather than a verdict. Declared performance values themselves are not checked, because essential characteristics are defined per harmonised standard and NPD (no performance determined) is a legitimate entry.

One case does fail on purpose. A datasheet whose only construction citation is Directive 89/106/EEC is pointing at law that was repealed in 2013, which is worth knowing before the document goes out again.

IEC 60529 ingress protection ratings (IP20, IP54, IP65, IP67, IP68) are among the most commonly referenced specifications on industrial product documentation. For electrical, electronic, HVAC, and instrumentation products, the IP rating and operating temperature range should always be declared.

SpecMake checks for the presence of both the IP code and the operating temperature range. A product rated IP65 at 25°C may not maintain that rating at -40°C. The temperature context matters, and both should be in the documentation.

The General Product Safety Regulation (EU 2023/988) replaced the old Product Safety Directive and applies since 13 December 2024. Article 9 requires manufacturer identification, a postal and electronic contact address, and a traceability identifier (type, batch, or serial number) on product documentation.

This check runs on every spec sheet regardless of industry. SpecMake verifies that the manufacturer is identified with contact details, that the product carries a traceability identifier, and that material and weight are declared: the baseline any downstream customer, distributor, or market surveillance authority expects to find. For the full picture of what the Regulation requires, see our guide to the GPSR's technical documentation and traceability requirements.

Regulations move: GPSR replaced the Product Safety Directive, the REACH candidate list grows with every update, and DPP delegated acts are arriving category by category. A compliance check pinned to last year's rules is worse than no check at all, because it tells you you're fine when you may not be.

Every SpecMake rule set carries a version. Each regulation we check is re-verified monthly against official sources (EUR-Lex and official EU publications), and when the real-world rule has moved, the rule set is updated and re-versioned. Every rule change is reviewed by a person before it ships: AI does the monitoring, humans own the rules.

When a rule set changes, your catalog is re-scored against the new version automatically; no re-uploads, and re-checks never count against your plan. Products whose compliance verdict changed are flagged in your catalog compliance view and in an alert that names the affected product, the regulation, and the missing information, so your quality team works a prioritized list instead of re-auditing the whole catalog by hand.

SpecMake checks whether your spec sheet mentions the required regulatory information, not whether the product itself meets the underlying requirements. A passing compliance score means your documentation is complete. It does not mean your product is certified.

Think of it as a pre-submission checklist. Before you send your spec sheet to a customer, enter data into a DPP registry, or submit for third-party review, SpecMake tells you whether the documentation covers the basics. The actual compliance assessment remains the responsibility of your engineering, quality, and regulatory teams.