Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU (PED)

Directive 2014/68/EU the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), is one of a series of measures intended to create a single European market in which the technical requirements for goods are identical, thus allowing manufacturers easy access to a market with a spending power greater than that of the Yen or the Dollar.
The purpose of the PED is to provide for a legal structure whereby pressure equipment can be manufactured and sold throughout the European community without having to go through a local approval regime in every member state. The means by which this is achieved is to ensure common standards of safety in all pressure equipment sold within the European Economic Area. Manufacturers are therefore able to meet the requirements for approval in any member state of the EU, and do not have to repeat the process when selling goods in any other state.
Scope
PED applies to the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies with a maximum allowable pressure greater than 0.5 bar gauge.
Vessels, piping, safety accessories and pressure accessories are all included.
Typical examples of pressure equipment covered include:

• shell and water tube boilers
• heat exchangers
• plant vessels
• pressurised storage containers
• industrial pipework

as would be used in the chemical, petrochemical, biochemical, food processing and energy industries. However, gas cylinders (including cylinders for breathing air) and certain compressed air equipment, as would be used in any general engineering process, are also included.
Typical examples of safety accessories include:

• safety valves,
• bursting disc safety devices,
• buckling rods,
• controlled safety pressure relief systems

and

• pressure switches
• temperature switches
• fluid level switches

where these are used in safety related applications.