Obtaining the homologation illustrates the high technical quality of our products and the high level of our responsibility. We have a highly qualified team of workers and extensive technical and technological facilities. We hold the quality management system certification under ISO 9001:2015 and our technical product documentation is fully compatible with the requirements of EU legislation. Obtaining the EU homologation was a priority for our Company.
The new European homologation only applies to machines with a transport axle (semi-mounted machines). The machines without a transport axle (mounted machines) remain the subject of the system of national approvals.
The requirement for EU homologation can now be selected while ordering and configuring the machine. With each approved machine, you will automatically receive the COC Sheet (Certificate of Conformity) upon delivery.
On the basis of the COC Sheet, the competent authority of any EU member state issues the special vehicle identification card authorizing its operation on roads. The card authorizes the vehicle to be driven on roads in the EU member country where the machine is registered. This cancels the labour-intensive, financially demanding and annoying local certification of semi-mounted machines.
When it is necessary to use the machine in the border areas of two countries, requiring crossing the state borders, it is possible to use the COC Sheet for the registration of a special vehicle. The competent authority registers the machine, issues the road vehicle identification card and the licence plate.
The new homologation complements the standard CE declaration (Conformité Européene) that will continue to be issued for each machine as until now and that confirms that the product has passed the process of assessing the conformity with the safety requirements and that its use is safe.
Beyond the framework of the legislatively required information, the nameplate also includes a QR code. This code contains all the basic data of the machine. It can be used for easy communication with the manufacturer, for example for the registration of the machine, easy solution of the warranty and post-warranty service and for ordering spare parts.
The European homologation unifies a series of technical requirements that have been partially different in the individual EU member countries. Probably the most important is the unification of the requirements for brakes in machines with a weight per transport axle exceeding 3,500 kg. Until now, the limit in some countries, including the Czech Republic, was 3,000 kg. This opens the possibility to legally move some of the larger machines without brakes on the roads. However, pay attention to the limits for not-braked trailers in tractors that are often very low – usually about 3,000 kg for tractors in the output category of 200 – 300 HP. Therefore, the suitable machine configuration has to be selected also with respect to the declared tractor parameters! Traffic safety always comes first!
Dušan Gavlas
Farmet a.s.
