The PED Directive

The PED Directive | Purpose of regulation

The Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23 / EC, known as the PED, is a new approach to the Directive which completes the regulatory reform of pressure vessels started in 1991 with the former Directive 87/404 / EEC concerning pressure vessels Simple: all companies that are active in the construction of pressure equipment must comply with these requirements.

Essential Aspects

The new approach to the construction of pressure equipment is based on three main aspects summarized in:

Standardization of product directives to create homogeneous legislative support for all member states, witnessing the will to create a common European technical environment;
Definition of only essential security requirements and not specific technical content; Therefore the conformity of the products is achieved with the respect of harmonized European standards (CEN and CENELEC) or the national rules that transpose them;
Product conformity assessment, through a variety of procedures that take into account product risk category and enterprise management systems, with the introduction of the "module" evaluation system.


CE marking

In the spirit of the new Community approach to product CE marking and their free circulation in Europe, the PED identifies the essential safety requirements for the design and construction of pressure vessels with a maximum admissible pressure of more than 0.5 bar.

Date of entry into force

Within the EU Member States, the PED Directive has come into force on an optional basis since 29 November 1999 and became mandatory since May 29, 2002.
Until that date, the marketing of pressure equipment and systems was permitted, in accordance with the pre-existing regulations.
In Italy, the directive was transposed by Legislative Decree No. 93 of 25 February 2000, revolutionizing in fact a regulatory fabric that has been in place for many decades and introducing substantial innovations that can be summarized in the following key aspects:

    The subject of the legislation comes out of the specific definition of "apparatus" and embraces sets and accessories that can be integrated and functional under pressure systems; These definitions broadly broaden the scope of application of the new Directive.
    The technical standards applicable to the design and manufacture of pressure components are no longer exclusively national ones defined by existing legislation but extend to all codes and standards recognized at Community level that ensure compliance with the essential safety requirements established by the Directive.
    The quality organization becomes a key element for product conformity assessment and allows companies already structured according to the requirements of ISO 9000 to operate in accordance with H / H1, D / D1, and E / E1 of the Directive.
    The conformity assessment of pressure components can not be entrusted by law to a single national body, but may, in the various forms provided for by the Directive, be carried out by competent technical bodies, notified at Community level and called MB.

PED Evaluation Procedures and Modules

The PED conformity assessment procedures, known as modules, are 13 and are described in Annex III of the Directive which outlines for each module the activities, duties and responsibilities of the various parties involved, and in Details of the manufacturer and the notified body:

    Form A and A1: Internal manufacturing control and final inspection surveillance
    Module B and B1: EC type examination and EC design examination
    Module C1: conforms to the type
    Module D and D1: Quality assurance of production
    Modules E and E1: guarantee of the quality of the products
    Module F: product verification
    Module G: EC verification of a single product
    Module H and H1: guarantee of total quality and guarantee of total quality with control of the design / particular monitoring of the final verification.

Categories

The evaluation procedures (modules) that can be used for each type of pressurized product must be chosen from those in the four categories (I, II, III and IV) as defined in Annex II of the Directive, namely:

CATEGORY I = MODULE A
CATEGORY II = MODULES A1, D1, E1,
CATEGORY III = MODULES B1 + D, B1 + F, B + E, B + C1, H
CATEGORY IV = MODULES B + D, B + F, G, H1

The category of a product or pressure component may be derived from the tables (1 to 9) contained in Annex II in function:

     Of the type of product (container, boiler, pipe);
     Fluid contained or conveyed;
     Of the maximum admissible volume pressure (PS x V) for receptacles, the maximum permissible pressure for the nominal size (PS x DN) for the pipes.

COS.TER sas - Pressure equipment complying with PED regulations | Melzo (MILAN - Italy) + 39.0295737504