European standards and directives for ropeways assessment of conformity and certification

Abstract

New technical standards and directives are elaborated in intensive long-term work for the requirements to be imposed on ropeways for passenger transport in Europe. The existing national technical regulations will be gradually transferred into an harmonized European standard, elaborated by more than two hundred European experts under the responsibility of the European Standardization organization CEN and managed by the French standardization organization AFNOR. At the same time, consultations are going on for an European legislation also agreed to be established. Moreover, uniform testing and acceptance procedures for the installations and their components will emerge in the course of this harmonization work under the new notion of "Assessment of Conformity". The main topics of the project for an European Directive, the basic European standards and the procedures for testing and assessment of conformity are described in a general overview.