PED


Pressure Equipment Derective

Pressure Equipment Directive (PED)

The Directive

The European Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) No. 97/23/EC came into force on?November 29,1999. For a period of 30 months, until May 29, 2002 implementation and application was voluntary. However, from May 30, 2002 all items of pressure equipment placed on the market in the European Economic Area (EEA) must comply with the Directive and have evidence of compliance by carrying the CE marking, as applicable.

Why apply PED Now?

Legislation across the EEA requires that all applicable items of pressure equipment placed on the market by May 2002 be fully compliant with the PED. As a result manufacturers must revise their working practice and develop the appropriate Technical Files for their full product range.

As a result, preparation cannot commence soon enough, since the PED encompasses design verification, material selection, manufacturing/fabrication practices and qualification, product testing, product marking and user instruction compilation.

For those manufacturers who are compliant prior to May 2002, placing the CE marking on their pressure equipment means that that equipment has a passport to free trade and must go into service in all Member States of the EEA, without the need to comply with current National Regulations. As a result, there can be great savings on the cost for statutory inspection as required for Member States such as France, Germany and Italy.

How to comply with PED?

The PED offers manufacturers of pressure equipment 14 different conformity assessment options which permits the pressure equipment manufacturer to demonstrate compliance by variants on Quality Assurance, Direct Inspection or Surveillance of Testing offered by the Notified Body.

Companies that are already ISO 9000 registered can take advantage of their current Quality Systems and use this as a foundation to satisfy the Essential Safety Requirements of the PED. In which case compliance can be achieved through QA assessments from their appointed Notified Body only, rather than by third party Notified Body product inspection, at great financial saving.

If the manufacturer has not been formally accredited to the ISO 9000 series, BSI can offer Notified Body services under the PED QA approaches.

As an alternative, the PED permits direct Notified Body inspection/surveillance of pressure equipment to demonstrate compliance, for which BSI can offer full inspection services.

Invensys Flow Control (UK) was the first manufacturer to be qualified to affix the CE marking under the PED by BSI in 2000. Since then, many manufacturers have taken advantage of the voluntary period to ensure that their full product range was compliant prior to the mandatory date of May 2002.