Overview
If you manufacture products intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres and marketed in the European Union (EU), you are required by law to demonstrate that your equipment complies with the ATEX Directive and the applicable CE Marking requirements. Depending on the type of equipment, group and category you have, the following options for conformity assessment:
ATEX Certification
QPS is an ATEX Notified Body, accredited by RvA in The Netherlands with many years of experience certifying equipment used in Explosive Atmospheres, including conformity assessments to ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU.
For products intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres destined for the EU Market, we evaluate them to the applicable requirements of the ATEX Directive and the relevant EN standards for Explosive Atmospheres. Complying products may bear the following markings:
The Ex symbol indicates that the product complies with an explosion protection technique. It is followed by the equipment group and category.
II 2G – This example marking indicates that a product is explosion protected, for above ground equipment (II), Category 2 (Zone 1), for explosive gas atmospheres (G)
The CE marking followed by QPS’s notified body number 2876 is placed on products where the QAN (Module D and Module E) is issued and controlled by QPS.
The most common types of certificates are:
- EU Type examination certificate (Module B): applicable to Category 1 and 2 (Zone 0 or Zone1) Electrical Equipment where QPS undertakes the necessary evaluation and testing of equipment to EN harmonized standards to determine that the “type” meets the essential requirements of Directive 2014/34/EU and issues an EU-type examination certificate. The manufacturer(s) of the product must posses a Quality Assurance Notification or QAN or be evaluated to the other applicable modules: Conformity to type based on product verification (Module F) or Conformity to type based on internal production control plus supervised product testing (Module C1).
- Type Examination (Module A): applicable to Category 3 electrical equipment only where QPS undertakes the necessary evaluation and testing of equipment to EN harmonized standards to determine that the “type” meets the essential requirements of Directive 2014/34/EU and issues a type examination certificate. A QAN or other modules are not required for this certification type.
- Unit Verification (Module G): applicable to all categories and equipment types and where QPS examines individual equipment or protective system and carries out tests as defined in European harmonised standards, if they exist, or otherwise in European, international or national standards or conduct equivalent tests to ensure conformity with the relevant requirements of Directive 2014/34/EU and creates a unit verification certificate. A QAN or other modules are not required for this certification type.Unit Verification is sometimes known as batch certification as it applies to a limited production run. The serial or batch numbers of the equipment are controlled in the certificate.
- Quality Assurance Notification or QAN (Module D and Module E): applicable to Manufacturers producing equipment for Categories 1 and 2 whereby QPS assess the Quality System and production processes to EN 80079-34 and issues a Quality Assurance Notification and an assessment report.
Useful Links:
European Commission ATEX Webpage
ATEX Harmonized Standards List
ATEX Directive Document
ATEX Guidelines on Application
Guidance on CE marking for professionals
How can QPS Help?
Being an ATEX Notified Body and being also accredited to test and certify Haz Loc equipment in the USA, Canada and the IECEx System, QPS can save you time and money by bundling ATEX, IECEx and North American Certifications. This one stop service enables you to gain access to Europe, North America, and over 35 countries around the world quickly and efficiently.
We provide a full and comprehensive CE Marking assistance service covering a menu of options you can choose from, depending on your specific needs and capability, as follows:
- General consultation on the European Directives and CE Marking requirements.
- Testing/evaluation to the applicable requirements of the ATEX Directive, and issuance of the required Type Certificate and Reports.
- Testing/evaluation to the requirements of all other applicable Directives (such as LVD, EMC, Machinery, etc.) and issuance of the required reports.
- Assessment of your quality system to the requirements of the ATEX Directive, and issuance of the required Quality Assessment Notification (QAN).
- Assisting in the preparation of the required technical dossier.