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What do REACH and RoHS mean for buyers of precision components?

Anyone working in industrial procurement or engineering knows the pressure well: securing supplier qualifications, meeting specifications, passing audits. For years, compliance was a topic left to the quality team. That still holds — but REACH and RoHS are now purchasing criteria, not just quality criteria.

Grooved pins, Intervis® threaded inserts and mechanical spacers: both regulations can apply simultaneously to the same part reference. The question is not whether you are affected — but whether your supplier can provide the right documentation.

Two texts, two logics — but one common requirement

REACH (Regulation EC No 1907/2006) is a horizontal regulation: it covers all substances manufactured, imported or used in the European Economic Area, regardless of sector. For a manufacturer of precision components, this includes raw materials, alloys, surface treatments and process lubricants. The core principle is unambiguous: no data, no market access. Any substance produced or imported in quantities exceeding one tonne per year must be registered with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

RoHS (Directive 2011/65/EU, amended by 2015/863/EU) is a sector-specific directive: it restricts, above defined thresholds, ten hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). A threaded insert or a grooved pin integrated into a printed circuit board, a control housing or an embedded system falls within its scope. RoHS compliance is now tied to the CE marking of the end product.

The key difference for your procurement

REACH acts upstream across the entire chemical supply chain — down to the raw material. RoHS acts downstream, on the finished product, at the point of market entry.

A purely mechanical component with no electronics link is not subject to RoHS — but falls fully under REACH if its materials contain substances of very high concern (SVHC). One and the same LGC component can be subject to both regulations simultaneously. Both obligations coexist — and must be documented separately.

What this means in practice for your procurement

The relevant question for a buyer or quality manager is not "What is REACH?" — but: what must my supplier be able to prove, and when?

The three questions to ask for every part reference

For every reference you source or qualify, the following verification sequence is recommended:

1. Does this component contain SVHCs from the ECHA candidate list?
If yes, and if the content exceeds 0.1% by mass: duty to inform the customer, SCIP notification to ECHA, and potentially an authorisation application under Annex XIV of REACH. Your supplier must provide an up-to-date SVHC declaration and a compliant Safety Data Sheet (SDS).

2. Is this component integrated into electrical or electronic equipment?
If yes: request RoHS compliance per homogeneous material, an IEC 62474 declaration and — for critical materials — XRF analysis results. A spacer screwed onto a circuit board falls into this category.

3. Is the documentation auditable and up to date?
The ECHA SVHC list is regularly updated, and RoHS exemptions have expiry dates. A dossier compiled once is not a compliance dossier. Annual revision and an alert process for list changes are the minimum requirement.

The substances that directly affect your metal components

For buyers of fastening and precision components in steel, stainless steel or aluminium, the verification effort focuses on two substances: hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) and lead (Pb). The former is found in certain surface treatments (conventional chromating), the latter in certain free-machining alloys or soldered assemblies. Both are simultaneously restricted by RoHS and classified as SVHC under REACH — double requirement, double documentation.

RoHS currently restricts ten substances per homogeneous material: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE (since 2006), as well as DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP (four phthalates, since 2019). The threshold is set at 0.1% (1,000 ppm) for all substances, except cadmium for which it is 0.01% (100 ppm).

Why a European manufacturer like LGC Industries simplifies the answer

There is a direct answer to this documentation burden: source components from a manufacturer whose processes, materials and supporting evidence are already structured and auditable. That sounds straightforward, because it is — when the right supplier is qualified.

Made in France, documented for your audits

LGC Industries has been manufacturing grooved pins, Intervis® threaded inserts, spacers and custom precision parts since 1934 in Avrillé, at the heart of French industry. All production takes place within the European Union.

For customers integrating these components into EEE, LGC provides on request:

• SVHC declarations per product reference
• RoHS compliance declarations in IEC 62474 format
• Updated safety data sheets for surface treatments
• Confirmation of the absence of Cr VI and lead in the materials and treatments used
• Technical dossiers per EN IEC 63000:2018 for parts intended for EEE

Certifications that go beyond the paperwork

LGC Industries' IATF 16949, ISO 9001 and Ford Q1 certifications are not a formality in the automotive sector — they are a prerequisite for supplier qualification at Bosch, Continental, Renault, Stellantis and Schneider Electric. They ensure traceability at manufacturing level, increasingly required in the face of growing Scope 3 obligations.

The EcoVadis Silver certification attests to CSR performance verified by an independent third party: energy management, emissions reduction, supply chain monitoring. The underlying data is documented and auditable — a solid foundation for buyers who need to demonstrate sustainability commitments to their own customers or group requirements.

REACH and RoHS are only the first step

Anyone who has followed regulatory developments in recent years knows: REACH and RoHS are part of a fundamental shift. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the CSRD, the internal Scope 3 requirements of large industrial groups — transparency obligations throughout the supply chain are intensifying. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduces a further economic lever from 2026 onwards.

In this environment, the value of a supplier is no longer measured solely by price or responsiveness. It is also measured by the ability to produce, at any time, auditable documentation on the composition of its parts, the traceability of its materials and the compliance of its processes. A European manufacturer with documented, auditable processes is no longer a nice-to-have. It becomes a strategic requirement.

→ Discover LGC Industries' manufacturing capabilities or request a quote for your custom parts.

Official sources and useful links

The essential references for your REACH and RoHS compliance work:

• SVHC Candidate List (ECHA) — regularly updated, essential to monitor
• SCIP Database (ECHA) — mandatory notifications for articles containing SVHCs
• REACH Regulation EC 1907/2006 — consolidated text on EUR-Lex
• RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU — official text EUR-Lex
• Directive 2015/863/EU — extension to phthalates (RoHS)
• BAuA — REACH in Germany — national helpdesk for REACH and CLP

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