Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU (PED)

The Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) 2014/68/EU covers the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies with a maximum allowable pressure PS greater than 0.5 bar. Equipment in scope must meet the essential safety requirements and, depending on its category, carry the CE marking before it is placed on the EU or the Turkish market.

For CE marking of pressure equipment, apply to CE Danışmanı (CE Consultant); we manage the whole process for you.

What counts as pressure equipment

• Vessels: housings designed to contain fluids under pressure
• Piping: components intended for the transport of fluids
• Safety accessories: devices that protect equipment against the allowable limits being exceeded
• Pressure accessories: devices with an operational function and a pressure-bearing housing
• Assemblies: several pieces of pressure equipment put together by a manufacturer as a functional whole

Classification

The category of a piece of equipment depends on its type, its pressure and volume (or nominal size for piping), and the fluid it contains. Fluids are divided into two groups:

• Group 1: substances and mixtures classified as hazardous for physical or health hazards
• Group 2: all other fluids

The result is a category from I to IV, in rising order of hazard. For each category the manufacturer chooses one of the conformity assessment procedures the Directive allows. Equipment below the lowest thresholds is designed and made according to sound engineering practice and does not carry the CE marking.

Conformity assessment

Where a notified body is involved in the production control phase, its identification number follows the CE marking. Equipment assessed by a user inspectorate does not carry the CE marking.

Essential safety requirements

Pressure equipment must be designed, manufactured, checked and installed so that it is safe when put into service under reasonably foreseeable conditions and according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In choosing the solution the manufacturer must:

1. Eliminate or reduce hazards as far as is reasonably practicable
2. Apply protection measures against hazards that cannot be eliminated
3. Inform users of residual hazards and of any special measures needed at installation or in use

After manufacture the equipment undergoes a final assessment: final inspection, proof test and inspection of the safety devices.

Manufacturer’s duties

• Carry out a hazard analysis and design the equipment accordingly
• Draw up the technical documentation
• Complete the applicable conformity assessment procedure
• Issue the EU Declaration of Conformity and affix the CE marking
• Keep the technical documentation and the declaration for 10 years

Where the equipment falls under several pieces of legislation, a single EU Declaration of Conformity is drawn up that lists all of them.

Marking and labelling

In addition to the CE marking, the equipment carries:

• Name and address of the manufacturer
• Year of manufacture
• Type, series or batch identification and serial number
• Essential maximum and minimum allowable limits

European approval for materials

Where a material is not covered by a harmonised standard, a notified body can issue a European approval for materials at the request of one or more manufacturers.

Main exclusions

• Pipelines for the conveyance of fluids to or from an installation
• Water supply, distribution and discharge networks, and penstocks of hydroelectric installations
• Simple pressure vessels covered by Directive 2014/29/EU
• Aerosol dispensers
• Equipment for the functioning of vehicles covered by type-approval legislation
• Equipment no higher than category I that is covered by the machinery, lifts, low voltage, medical devices, gas appliances or ATEX legislation
• Engines, turbines, compressors and pumps where pressure is not a significant design factor
• Ships, rockets, aircraft and mobile offshore units
• Bottles and cans for carbonated drinks, and drinks vessels with PS x V up to 500 bar x L and PS up to 7 bar
• Transportable pressure equipment covered by Directive 2010/35/EU
• Radiators and pipes in warm water heating systems
• Vessels for liquids with a gas pressure above the liquid of not more than 0.5 bar

PED together with machinery legislation

Boilers, compressors and hydraulic machines are often subject to the PED and to machinery legislation at the same time. The PED deals with pressure hazards such as bursting, leakage and material strength; machinery legislation deals with moving parts, ergonomics and noise. See machinery CE marking.

PED in Turkey

Turkey applies the Directive through its own Pressure Equipment Regulation, published in the Official Gazette on 3 March 2018 and aligned with 2014/68/EU. Imported equipment is checked at customs through TAREKS.