European Commission

ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

ATEX Directive 94/9/EC

UNECE WP.6 Break-out session on

equipment for explosive atmospheres
Geneva, 6 November 2007

Fabrizio Sacchetti
European Commission
Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry
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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

ATEX Directive 94/9/EC

of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 March 1994
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
concerning equipment and protective systems intended for use
in potentially explosive atmospheres

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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Scope of Directive 94/9/EC

• Equipment
• Protective systems
when intended for use in a Must comply when
potentially explosive atmosphere placed on the market
and or put into service
• Devices according to Art. 1(2)
• Components

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Potentially Explosive Atmosphere

• flammable substance (gas, vapour, mist or dust)
• mixed with air
• under atmospheric conditions (*)
• after ignition, combustion spreads to entire mixture

(*) atmospheric conditions according to standards:

T = -20 °C to +40 °C, p = 0.8 bar to 1.1 bar,
dT/dt < 0,5 K/min, RH = 5% to 85 % , O2 = 20.9 ± 0.2 Vol %

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Equipment
• Intended for use in a potentially explosive atmosphere
• Must have its own potential source of ignition

Protective System
Intended to halt an incipient explosion and/or to limit the
effective range of an explosion
• When placed on the market separately as autonomous
system: Protective system in the sense of the Directive
• When integrated into equipment: To be assessed with the
complete equipment (no own CE-mark)
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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Device according to Art. 1(2)

Safety-, controlling- or regulating devices which are:
• Situated outside the potentially explosive atmosphere
• Essential to the safe functioning of equipment or protective
systems with respect to the risk of explosion

Component
• Items essential to the safe functioning of equipment or
protective systems but with no autonomous function
• Placed on the market with the explicit intention of
integration into ATEX equipment or protective systems
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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Exclusions
• Medical devices intended for use in medical environment
• Equipment for use in the presence of explosives or unstable
chemical substances
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Seagoing vessels, mobile offshore units
• Means of transport except vehicles intended for use in an
explosive atmosphere
• Equipment for military use covered by Art. 223 (1b) of the
Treaty
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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Installations and Assemblies

• Directive does not regulate “installations” or “plants”, which
are subject to workplace directives (as the ATEX “user”
Directive 1999/92/EC) or national legislation
• Not always a clear line between installation and “assembly”
The plant will usually be an installation if the end user or an installer e.g.:
– purchases parts from different manufacturers to install them under his
responsibility
– carries out a whole series of different processes, requiring the integration of
ATEX certified equipment installed according to a unique layout on site
– commissions the installation off-site, which may certainly not be a production
run, under his direct responsibility, or indirectly through a contractor
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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Classification of Equipment:
Groups and Categories
• Group I: intended for use in the underground parts of mines,
likely to become endangered by firedamp and/or combustible
dust
• Group II: intended for use in other places, likely to become
endangered by explosive atmospheres
These groups are subdivided into categories.
The way in which this categorisation has been developed
highlights one of the main distinctions of groups I and II
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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Equipment - Group I
• Category M1: for use in mines endangered by
firedamp and/or combustible dust
• Category M2: for use in mines likely to be endangered by
firedamp and/or combustible dust
Equipment - Group II
• Category 1: for use in areas in which explosive atmospheres are
present continuously, for long periods or frequently
• Category 2: for use in areas in which explosive atmospheres are
likely to occur
• Category 3: for use in areas in which explosive atmospheres are
unlikely or occur only infrequently and for a short period
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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Modules for conformity assessment

Council Decision 93/465/EEC Directive 94/9/EC

Module A - Internal Production Control Annex VIII

Module B - EC Type-Examination Annex III
Module C - Conformity to Type Annex VI
Module D - Production Quality Assurance Annex IV
Module E - Product Quality Assurance Annex VII
Module F - Product Verification Annex V
Module G - Unit Verification Annex IX
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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Equipment of Electrical
category equipment and
Involvement of M1 & 1 ; internal Other
Notified Bodies autonom. combustion equipment of
protective engines of cat. category Equipment of
systems M2 & 2 M2 & 2 category 3
Notified Body involved in
the PRODUCT DESIGN X X
phase
Notified Body involved in
the PRODUCTION phase X X
COMMUNICATION of
TECHNICAL FILE to X
Notified Body
SELF DECLARATION
of the manufacturer X X
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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Essential health and safety requirements relating to design

and construction of ATEX equipment (Annex II to the
Directive)

• Legal requirements

• Common requirements applicable to any ATEX product + supplementary

requirements for each specific category / equipment groups and protective
systems

• Based on the principle of integrated explosion safety (risks assessed and

prevented in the design phase)

• Harmonised standards developed in support of the legal requirements

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Harmonised standards

• Technical specification adopted by CEN (European Committee

for Standardisation) or CENELEC (European Committee for
Electrotechnical Standardisation) based on a mandate from the
European Commission

• Equipment, protective systems and devices constructed in

accordance with that harmonised standards, the references of
which have been published in the Official Journal of the EU,
are presumed to comply with the relevant essential health and
safety requirements covered by such standards

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Notified Bodies
• Established in the territory of an EU Member State

• Designated by the EU Member States to carry out the specific tasks foreseen for them under
the conformity assessment procedures established by the Directive

• Subcontracting possible but Notified Body retains full responsibility for the subcontractor’s
work

• Minimum assessment criteria (Annex XI to the Directive)

 Independence
 Technical competence
 Necessary staff and facilities to carry out the relevant tasks
 Staff skills (technical and professional training, knowledge of the standards, test methods, tec.)
 Impartiality of inspection staff (remuneration not linked to number of tests carried out or their
results)
 Liability insurance
 Professional secrecy

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

CE marking

• Attests conformity of a product with the provisions of the Directive

• Where a product is subject to several Directives providing for the CE

marking, its affixing indicated conformity to the provisions of all
applicable Directives

• Affixed by the manufacturer or his authorised representative after the

conformity assessment procedure has been completed (generally,
during the production control phase

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Other relevant EU Directives

• Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) (2004/108/EC)

• Low Voltage (LVD) (2006/95/EC) (only for safety,
controlling and regulating devices, other ATEX equipment
being excluded from the LVD scope)
• Machinery (98/37/EC)
• Construction Products (89/106/EEC)

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Market Surveillance

• In the EU system, market surveillance is a Member States’ responsibility in

accordance with the principle of subsidiarity

• General market surveillance obligation set out in Article 2(1) of the ATEX
Directive:
“Member State shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the equipment,
protective systems and devices … to which this Directive applies may be placed on
the market and put into service only if, when properly installed and maintained ad
used for their intended purpose, they do not endanger the health and safety of
persons and, where appropriate, domestic animals or property”

• Safeguard clause procedure: restrictive measures taken by the Member States

on CE-marked equipment are subject to the European Commission’s scrutiny

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ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

ATEX “use” Directives

• ATEX Directive 94/9/EC concerns the first placing on the market and
putting into service

• Other national and EU legislation intended to ensure the safety of

workers, including on periodical inspection, maintenance and repair,
will usually apply in relation to the use of ATEX equipment at the
workplace (obligations for the employer)

• Different EU legislation applies to land-based industries, the

underground extraction of coal and other minerals, and offshore oil
production (Directives 1999/92/EC, 92/91/EEC and 92/104/EEC)
 Minimum harmonisation, Member States free to set more stringent
requirements

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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

How to apply the Directive

 Guidelines on the application of Directive 94/9/EC

 Consideration Papers by the ATEX Standing

Committee

 ExNBG Clarification Sheets noted by the ATEX

Standing Committee

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 European Commission
ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE GENERAL

Thank you
for the attention
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/atex
atex@ec.europa.eu

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