Appliances burning gaseous fuels

KEY POINTS

Scope

• Regulation (EU) 2016/426 applies to gas appliances and fittings where:
  • appliances are appliances burning gaseous fuels used for cooking, heating, hot water production, refrigeration, lighting or washing along with forced draught burners¹ and heaters to be equipped with such burners;
  • fittings are safety devices, controlling devices or regulating devices and their parts, designed to be fitted into an appliance burning gaseous fuel or used to build such an appliance.
• The regulation does not apply to specially designed appliances for use:
  • in industrial processes carried out on industrial premises;
  • on aircraft and railways; or
  • for temporary research purposes in laboratories.

Conditions to be met when placing appliances or fittings on the market

• Appliances and fittings must comply with the regulation – the essential requirements of which are set out in Annex I – before they can be placed on the market and put into service in the EU.
• Appliances covered by the regulation must be designed and built in such a way as to operate safely and present no danger to people, domestic animals or property when used normally².
• All appliances must be accompanied by:
  • technical instructions for the installer, containing all the instructions for the installation, adjustment and servicing required to ensure that those operations are correctly performed and that the appliance may be used safely, including, for example, details of the type of gas and supply pressure used, the flow of fresh air required and the conditions for the dispersal of combustion products;
  • instructions for use and servicing intended for the user containing all the information required for safe use and drawing the user’s attention to any restrictions on use;
  • warnings indicating the type of gas to be used, the gas supply pressure and any restrictions on use, in particular the restrictions on installing the appliance only in areas where there is sufficient ventilation.

Type-examination

• The manufacturer must submit an application for an EU type-examination with a single notified body³. This application must include:
  • the manufacturer’s name and address;
  • a written declaration that the application has not been lodged with any other notified body;
  • technical documentation, as described in the regulation.
• If the type meets the criteria laid down by the regulation, the notified body must issue an EU type-examination certificate to the applicant.

Declaration of conformity

• Before placing an appliance or a fitting type on the market, the manufacturer must subject it to a production phase surveillance by a notified body.
• After a successful conformity assessment⁴ of the product, the manufacturer must draw up an EU declaration of conformity⁵ declaring that the product concerned conforms to the requirements of this regulation.
• The gas appliance or its data plate must bear the CE marking (under Decision No 768/2008/EC) and the following information:
  • the manufacturer’s name;
  • the registered trade name;
  • the appliance category;
  • the gas supply pressure; and
  • the last two digits of the year in which the CE marking was added.
• Manufacturers must:
  • keep the relevant technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity for 10 years after the placing on the market of the appliance/fitting;
  • inform the national authorities of any appliance that might pose a risk.
• Importers must ensure that appliances and fittings that they place on the market comply with this regulation, that conformity assessment procedures have been carried out and that the CE marking and documentation drawn up by the manufacturers are available for inspection by the authorities. The importer’s name and contact details should be indicated on the appliance or fitting.
• Distributors must:
  • act with due care to ensure that their handling of an appliance or fitting does not affect its compliance;
  • verify that any appliance they make available on the market bears the CE marking and is accompanied by a declaration of conformity.
• EU Member States must inform the European Commission of the notified bodies that are authorised to carry out conformity assessment.
• The Commission coordinates the mutual collaboration between national authorities.
• Member States were required:
  • to inform the Commission by 21 October 2017 of the types of gas and corresponding supply pressures used on their territory, and to notify any subsequent changes in these conditions in advance;
  • to have penalties in place for any violations of the law by 21 March 2018.

Internal market emergency mode

Amending Regulation (EU) 2024/2748 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 services⁶ can be placed on the market as rapidly as possible.

Amending Regulation (EU) 2024/2748 adds a chapter to Regulation (EU) 2016/426 detailing how these emergency procedures would apply. The new chapter:

• requires conformity-assessment bodies to prioritise applications for conformity of crisis-relevant products over those for products that are not;
• allows Member States, on an exceptional basis and where there is a duly justified request, to temporarily authorise the placing on the market of specific appliances and fittings without carrying out the normal conformity-assessment procedures, where the involvement of a notified body is mandatory and can ensure that all essential requirements are met;
• permits Member States’ competent authorities to presume that appliances and fittings manufactured in accordance with EU standards, relevant applicable national standards or relevant applicable international standards developed by an accredited international standardisation body, identified by the 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;
• gives the Commission the possibility to adopt, by means of implementing acts, common specifications on which the manufacturers can 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).