PED 2014/68/EU

The directive applies to manufacturers, importers, and authorized representatives who place pressure equipment or assemblies of pressure equipment on the market in the EU—ranging from individual pressure vessels to complete piping systems and entire plants in industrial plant construction. It is particularly relevant for companies that design, manufacture, or install equipment in the process industry, power plant construction, or the chemical industry.

• Risk Categorization: Classification into Categories I through IV based on pressure, volume/nominal diameter, and fluid group

• Design requirements: Calculation and design in accordance with recognized engineering practices, such as harmonized standards

• Material requirements: suitable, tested materials with corresponding material certificates

• Manufacturing supervision: In-house production control or involvement of a Notified Body, depending on the category

• Pressure testing: Mandatory testing prior to commissioning, typically as a hydrostatic pressure test

• CE marking: Marking indicating the identification number of the Notified Body starting with Category II

The PED specifically regulates the safety of pressure-retaining equipment—vessels, piping, steam generators, and similar components. The EU Machinery Directive, on the other hand, generally regulates the safety of machinery, regardless of whether it contains pressure-retaining components. The two sets of regulations are not mutually exclusive: If a machine contains pressure-retaining components—such as an integrated steam generator—it must comply with both the PED requirements for that component and the Machinery Directive requirements for the machine as a whole. In such cases, a careful distinction must be made regarding which requirements apply to which part of the system.

Pressure equipment may not be placed on the market in the EU without a CE marking that complies with the PED. Since pressure equipment poses a significant risk of damage in the event of a malfunction, any identified defects will lead market surveillance authorities to issue operating bans; in the event of damage, manufacturers and operators also face significant civil and criminal consequences. Furthermore, missing or incomplete pressure test records regularly delay the commissioning of entire system components.

• EU Machinery Regulation (2023/1230) – Safety Requirements for Machinery

• ATEX – Explosion Protection Directives

• EN 10204 – Material certificates and material documentation

• ISO 9001 – Basic Quality Management Standard