On the Pressure Equipment Directive

On the Pressure Equipment Directive and related topics

The PED sets out the legally binding safety standards for pressure equipment in the European Economic Area. Only pressure

equipment and assemblies meeting the essential requirements and certification and inspection procedures of the PED may

be placed on the Community market. The implementation of the PED presumes that manufacturers, distributors and supply

chains, third-party bodies and other economic operators as well share a consistent level of knowledge.

Furthermore the new PED 2014/68/EU brings significantly extended obligations of the parties involved.

However, in practice, some of the provisions of the PED need further interpretation provided by European guidelines.

By subcontracting manufacture of equipment and components to subcontractor chains the responsibility and liability risks

of the manufacturer will increase. An advanced understanding of the manufacturer’s degrees of freedom and the functioning

of the PED is therefore needed.

As from June 1, 2015 the fluid groups definitions have been aligned to the Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 on Classification,

Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures (CLP-Regulation), with impact on the assignment of risk-category and

conformity assessment procedures to be applied.