As a manufacturer, importer, supplier or owner of playground equipment that is used in public spaces in The Netherlands, you are obliged to comply with the Dutch Commodities Act on Attractions and Playground Equipment (Warenwetbesluit Attractie- en Speeltoestellen).
This means that the design and production process should result in a safe product. Furthermore, the equipment needs to have documentation and markings about its proper installation, maintenance and use. The equipment also needs to be approved by an inspection body that has been appointed by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in liability charges for you as a manufacturer or importer in case of an incident.
Thankfully, MME Group is a reliable partner who is appointed to carry out these statutory inspections. You can choose to order a unit inspection or apply for type approval for a serial production model. Scroll down for more information about this.
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Playground equipment that is produced as a one-off needs to be inspected and certified for compliance with the applicable Dutch regulations before it can be used. Usually this unit inspection is done after installation to ascertain whether the manufacturer’s installation instructions were followed, the technical documentation is in order and any safety risks have been mitigated.
As a manufacturer, you can apply for type approval of serially produced playground equipment. This involves examination of a representative sample of the model you wish to get approved and evaluation of the production process (quality system), manuals and other technical documentation. For the evaluation of the production process (quality system) it is required to provide information by filling in the TPC questionnaire (download below). The issued Type Approval certificate is valid for all subsequently produced units of that specific model as long as the design and production process remain unchanged.
The procedure for statutory inspections consists of the following steps:
After you agree to the terms of our quotation, please fill out the Inspection Application Form (Dutch) from the downloads below. If the requested enclosures are more than 10 MB in size, please use the upload button on this page.
Encrypted upload of Technical Construction File (Max. 5 GB). Use play@mme-group.com as the recipient address:
According to the Dutch law, playground equiment is any equipment or installation that is meant for entertainment or recreation that exclusively uses gravity and/or human muscle power. This includes swings, slides, seesaws, carousels, cableways, water slides, inflatable play equipment, skate parks, etc.
All playground equipment that was in use before 26 March 1997 (water slides before 21 April 2000) doesn't have to be certified by an appointed inspection body. The equipment has to be safe for use nonetheless. This can be determined through an inspection.
Playground equipment that was produced and / or put in operation after these dates must be certified for compliance with the Dutch Commodities Act on Attractions and Playground Equipment (Warenwetbesluit Attractie- en Speeltoestellen) by an appointed inspection body such as MME Group.
According to the Dutch Commodities Act on Attractions and Playground Equipment (Warenwetbesluit Attractie- en Speeltoestellen) all playground equipment has to be certified by an inspection body that has been appointed by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to inspect and certify these objects according to the applicable standards. MME Group is one of these few Appointed Inspection Bodies. Inspection agencies are not allowed to certify new equipment and only deal with inspections after the equipment has been put into service.
Certification of playground equipment is done once. Type approval certificates are valid for newly produced units as long as the design and production process aren't changed. If a new edition of the applicable standard(s) is issued, newly produced items of a design with type approval have to be made to comply with the new standard. Owners of playground equipment have a management obligation which makes inspections at regular intervals necessary. Check the section about In-service Inspections for more information about this.
