From 1 February 2018, SigmaCert and BMWT-Keur will recognise each other's certification. The Belgian and Dutch periodic safety inspections had existed side by side since 2011.
Every year, more than 280,000 machines receive a periodic safety inspection according to BMWT-Keur. In 2011, Sigma created the Belgian Safety Label SigmaCert for both lift trucks (material handling machinery) and construction machinery (civil engineering/construction) and concrete pumps. Because SigmaCert and BMWT-Keur are structured in the same way, Sigma and BMWT found that an additional periodic safety inspection for deployment in another country does not contribute to increased safety.
The two parties decided to mutually recognise each other's inspections of work equipment. This means that a machine that has been inspected in the Netherlands under BMWT-Keur does not have to be re-inspected when deployed in Belgium. This way, companies that deploy a machine alternately in Belgium and the Netherlands will be relieved of unnecessary (extra) costs and time lost from an inspection. Mutual recognition covers those machines that are inspected under both quality systems. These include forklift trucks, traction batteries and loaders, excavators, wheel loaders, telehandlers and concrete pumps.
