The Community Directive EN 2006/42/EC includes lifting accessories. This means that the manufacturer/importer of eyebolts, if they are intended for lifting, must comply with all requirements specified by the EU Directives for the sale of eyebolts in EU countries.

Compliance with all EU standards and specifications is ensured by the eyebolts’ CE marking.

N.B.: the user is also obliged, in accordance with the laws and regulations relating to safety at work, to ensure that the eyebolts, if they are used for lifting, have all the characteristics required for CE marking and comply with the Reference Tables before they are put into use.

Eyebolts, when used for lifting, can be constructed based on a manufacturer’s design that meets the requirements of the EU Directive. The most commonly used reference tables for eyebolts are DIN 580:2018 for male eyebolts and DIN 582:2018 for female eyebolts.
However, there is no shared European technical standard covering all existing eyebolt sizes and types (another technical standard is EN ISO 3266 2010-5).

The EU Directive and reference tables set out the following mandatory requirements for the sale and use of eyebolts in the EU:

• Eyebolts must be CE marked in the prescribed form.
• Eyebolts must be indelibly marked with the manufacturer’s mark.
• The manufacturing batch must be indelibly marked on the piece (traceability in case of defect).
• The capacity (WLL – Working Load Limit) for straight pull must be indelibly marked on the piece with the addition of an arrow indicating the direction of pull relative to the indicated capacity.
• The steel code used by the manufacturer must be indelibly marked on the piece.
• The thread size must be indelibly marked on the piece.
• Operating instructions must be available.

In addition:

• The manufacturer-importer must perform two tests on different eyebolts for each manufacturing batch, i.e. two axial pull tests and two orthogonal pull tests. The result of these tests must not be less than six times the load capacity (WLL) marked on the eyebolts.
• The manufacturer-importer must ensure (or possess the relevant certificate for) the chemical analysis and mechanical tests for the type of steel used for each batch of manufacture. The chemical composition and mechanical values of these tests must comply with the requirements of the reference table.
• The manufacturer-importer must be able to trace, at all times, all the purchasers of a manufacturing batch of eyebolts in the event of an anomaly in the material and/or mechanical processing. In consideration of this, the manufacturer/importer must indicate, on the delivery document provided to the customer, and/or on the sales invoice, the manufacturing batch for each type of eyebolt sold.
• The manufacturer/importer must issue, upon request, the certificate 3.1 EN 10204 (2.2 EN 10204 for the above tables) for each manufacturing batch, and the user, if not in possession of this certificate, must request it, before using the eyebolts, at the commercial outlet where it made the purchase, or at the manufacturer-importer if the commercial outlet where purchase was made is no longer traceable.
  This certificate must be issued free of charge as it constitutes an integral part of the standards and reference tables.

Failure to fulfil the requirements described above, in accordance with workplace safety laws and regulations, entails joint liability for the purposes of civil and criminal proceedings, both on the part of the manufacturer-importer that has not complied with EU standards and reference tables, and on the part of the user who has not verified that it is in possession of all the necessary requirements for use of the eyebolts.