An Entity in Charge of Maintenance (ECM) plays an important safety role in the European railway system by ensuring that the vehicles for which it is in charge are in a safe state of running by means of a system of maintenance.

To facilitate the relations with railway undertakings, a European system of certification for ECMs has been set up in Regulation (EU) 445/2011.

This regulation sets out:

• The requirements and assessment criteria applicable for the certification of ECMs for freight wagons and the certification of maintenance workshops; and
• The criteria to be applied for the accreditation or recognition of ECM’s and maintenance workshops’ certification bodies.

The system of certification provides evidence of responsibility and traceability of the maintenance undertaken on freight wagons. It sets out also a certification process that ensures a transparent and structured management system for all workshops and will help to reduce the burden and duplication of controls and/or audits across the rail sector.

Driving these certification processes, mandatory certification schemes for ECMs and maintenance workshops are available for the sector and form the reference to conduct the certification activities.

ERA publishes the list of accredited and recognised certification bodies, as well as the ECM certificates in the ERADIS database.