System of certification of entities in charge of maintenance (ECM)

Scope

Lays down the certification system for entities in charge of maintenance (ECM) of railway vehicles under Directive (EU) 2016/798, covering the four maintenance functions, certification requirements, and mutual recognition of ECM certificates. Extends mandatory certification beyond freight wagons and repealed Regulation (EU) 445/2011 with effect from 16 June 2020. Used by ECMs, certification bodies, keepers, RUs and IMs to demonstrate and verify maintenance capability.

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/779 lays down the system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance (ECMs) of railway vehicles under Directive (EU) 2016/798, defining the four maintenance functions -- management, development, fleet maintenance management and maintenance delivery -- that an ECM's certified system must cover. It extends mandatory ECM certification beyond freight wagons, which had been covered since 2011, to other types of vehicles, and repeals the earlier Regulation (EU) No 445/2011 with effect from 16 June 2020. The Regulation sets out the certification and surveillance process that accredited or recognised certification bodies must follow, and establishes mutual recognition of ECM certificates issued in any Member State across the EU. Keepers, railway undertakings and infrastructure managers rely on a vehicle's ECM certificate as the documented basis for demonstrating that its maintenance is properly managed, a precondition for the vehicle's continued safe operation. It remains in force and is the reference framework certification bodies, ECMs and railway undertakings apply when demonstrating maintenance capability across the Single European Railway Area.