Safety of pressure vessel equipment and assemblies

KEY POINTS

Scope

The directive applies to the design, manufacture and conformity of pressure equipment with a maximum allowable pressure greater than 0.5 bar. It covers all pressure equipment and assemblies that are new to the EU market, whether manufactured in the EU or elsewhere. This also includes imported used items.

Wide range of applications

Pressure equipment is used widely in industries such as:

• oil,
• chemicals,
• plastics,
• food,
• glass,
• paper,
• energy production, storage and distribution.

Without stringent and effectively enforced standards, stationary pressure equipment can be inherently dangerous.

Responsibility for compliance

Manufacturers and their representatives, importers and distributors are responsible for the compliance of their products with this law. This is to ensure the health and safety of users and the safety of domestic animals and property, and to guarantee fair competition in the EU.

Manufacturer and importer details

Manufacturer details (name, registered trade name or trade mark and postal address) must be indicated on the equipment or, where this is not possible, on the packaging or in the accompanying documentation. These must be provided in a language easily understood by consumers and market surveillance authorities (public authorities that ensure products comply with legislation and are safe). Importers must provide their contact details.

Non-compliance

EU Member States must ensure that manufacturers, importers and distributors comply with the law. If there is evidence of non-compliance, they must restrict or prohibit the equipment from being sold.

Annexes

These contain detailed information on aspects such as:

• essential safety requirements to be met;
• conformity-assessment³ procedures (to test if a product meets the required standards);
• the EU declaration of conformity.

Internal market emergency mode

Amending Directive (EU) 2024/2749 seeks to avoid disruptions to the internal market in the event of an emergency by ensuring that, once an internal market emergency mode, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2024/2747 (the Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act), has been activated by means of an implementing act adopted by the Council of the European Union, designated crisis-relevant goods and services⁴ can be placed on the market as rapidly as possible.

Directive (EU) 2024/2749 amends Directive 2014/68/EU setting out how these emergency procedures would apply. Among other provisions, the new rules ensure the following.

• They require conformity-assessment bodies to prioritise applications for conformity of crisis-relevant products over those for products that are not.
• They allow Member States, on an exceptional basis and where there is a duly justified request, to temporarily authorise the placing on the market of equipment without carrying out the normal conformity-assessment procedures, where the involvement of a notified body is mandatory and can ensure all essential requirements are met.
• They permit Member States’ competent national authorities to presume that equipment manufactured in accordance with European standards, relevant applicable national standards or relevant applicable international standards developed by a recognised international standardisation body, identified by the European Commission as suitable to reach conformity and ensuring an equivalent level of protection to that offered by the harmonised standards, comply with the relevant applicable essential requirements.
• They give the Commission the possibility to adopt, by means of implementing acts, common specifications on which the manufacturers should be able to rely in order to benefit from a presumption of conformity with the applicable essential requirements. Implementing acts laying down such common specifications remain applicable for the duration of the internal market emergency mode.