With the EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, digital operating instructions become officially permissible from 20 January 2027. Many manufacturers hope for less effort: no printing, no shipping, faster updates. That is true – partly. The obligation to provide every set of instructions in the language of the destination country stays exactly as it is. This article explains which conditions apply and what that means for translation.
Which conditions apply to digital operating instructions?
Article 10(7) of the Machinery Regulation allows the instructions for use to be provided in digital form. For that to be permissible, several conditions must be met:
- The machine or the accompanying documents state how users access the digital instructions – for example via a QR code or a web address.
- The instructions can be printed, downloaded and stored on an electronic device.
- They remain available online for the expected lifetime of the machine, and for at least ten years after it is placed on the market.
- If the user asks for a paper version at the time of purchase, the manufacturer supplies it free of charge within one month.
For machinery intended for non-professional users, or that can reasonably be expected to be used by them, there is a restriction: the safety information must always be supplied on paper.
Digital does not mean monolingual
Digital operating instructions change nothing about the language rule. Instructions and safety information must still be in a language, determined by the member state concerned, that users can easily understand. In Germany, the implementing act (MaschinenDG) prescribes German – including for the information on how users access the digital instructions.
If you ship a machine to Poland, Hungary and Italy, the Polish version must be retrievable for Poland, the Hungarian one for Hungary and the Italian one for Italy. An English manual on the server does not replace them. Which languages apply in which country is shown in the language table in our guide to the EU Machinery Regulation.
Paper on request: one month, any language
The one-month deadline for the paper version is often underestimated in planning. A customer in Romania who asks for printed instructions at the time of purchase must receive them within a month – in Romanian. Anyone who only commissions the translation at that point will hardly make the deadline, especially with revision and layout on top. The consequence: all language versions must be finished and print-ready before the machine ships.
Ten years of availability: versioning becomes indispensable
The digital instructions must stay online for at least ten years. When the machine changes, a new version is created – in every language. Users must be able to find the version that matches their machine. That calls for clean version management across all languages.
This is where a translation memory pays off: for a new version only the changed sentences are translated, the rest is taken over from earlier translations. That reduces cost and turnaround time and keeps terminology consistent across versions. More in our article Translating operating instructions: how terminology and translation memory cut costs.
What to prepare now
- Decide the access route: QR code, web address or customer portal – and write the access information in all target languages.
- Check the formats: PDF or HTML – printable, downloadable and storable, easy for users to find.
- Complete the language versions: the required language for every target market – for the operating instructions, the safety information and the EU declaration of conformity.
- Keep print-ready files: so that paper requests can be met within one month.
- Set up versioning: match machine and document versions unambiguously, for ten years.
How we can help
YTranslations translates operating instructions and safety information into all EU languages – with a client-specific termbase, translation memory and revision by a second specialist translator. On request we deliver print-ready files in every language. See our technical translation page.
Use our free Machinery Regulation language check: send us one page of your instructions and your target markets through the language check form. You will receive the languages you need and an estimate of effort and timeline.
Last updated: September 2026. This article does not constitute legal advice; the authoritative texts are Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 and the national implementing acts.
