The European Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) 97/23/EC came into force on 29 November 1999. All items of pressure equipment placed on the market in the European Economic Area (EEA) after May 2002, must comply with the Directive and have evidence of compliance by carrying the CE marking as applicable. BSI was appointed as a Notified Body for the PED in January 2000.
Why apply the PED?
Legislation across the EEA requires that all applicable items of pressure equipment must 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. The PED encompasses design verification, material selection, manufacturing/fabrication practices and qualification, product testing, product marking and user instruction compilation.
For those manufacturers who were compliant prior to May 2002, placing the CE marking on their pressure equipment means 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. This can result in savings on the cost for statutory inspection as required for Member States such as France, Germany and Italy.
How do I comply with the PED?
The PED offers manufacturers of pressure equipment 14 different conformity assessment options which permit the pressure equipment manufacturer to demonstrate compliance by variants on Quality Assurance, Direct Inspection or Surveillance of Testing offered by the Notified Body.
Companies already ISO 9000 compliant 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. 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.
BSI can also offer:
- Assistance with technical file preparation
- PED compliant quality system preparation
- Gap analysis visits.
- Welding procedure qualification to ASME IX and/or BS EN ISO 15614 and welder qualification to ASME IX and/or BS EN 287
- Brazing procedure qualification to both ASME IX and BS EN 13134 and brazer qualification to both ASME IX and BS EN 13133
- Particular Material Appraisal approval to Annex 1 section 4.2b
- Specially arranged training courses and seminars on compliance tailored specifically to your needs, technical file preparation and compliance quality system preparation.
The benefits of using BSI Product Services:
- A complete compliance service on products including design assessment (modules B/B1), from fire extinguishers to major industrial installations.
- An expert and dedicated PED team to support you through every step of the certification process.
- Our understanding of the commercial realities under which you operate mean we help you achieve PED compliance with minimal or no interruption to production, inspections/audits focused on how the required standards can be implemented into today’s engineering practices and consideration to keeping your costs down.
As your appointed Notified Body, BSI is qualified to offer the full range of PED Quality Assurance Certification or product inspection/surveillance to permit you to affix the CE marking to your pressure equipment.
For further information about the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), please Contact Us.
