ATEX Certification & IECEx Certification of Hazardous Area Equipment

Published 13 Mar 2020

Thorne & Derrick & SGS Baseefa

Article Republished with Kind Permission of SGS Baseefa | 2 of 5 Articles 
Uploaded by Natalie Lundie | Supply Chain: Marketing Lead at Thorne & Derrick International

ATEX Certification & IECEx Certification of Equipment

Helping To Protect Employees & Plants from the Risk of Explosion in Hazardous Areas

Thorne & Derrick, the Experts in Equipment for Explosive Atmospheres, with the permission of SGS Baseefa are providing a series of articles to advocate the importance of independent services that ensure the protection of employees and property from explosion risk in hazardous areas – this is achieved through the provision of training and ensuring that equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres is correctly certified according to ATEX and IECEx international classifications by a accredited Notified Body.

Part 2

ATEX is a legal prerequisite for selling within the European Economic Area, but IECEx gives maximum international acceptance and, if feasible, most customers elect to have certificates for both schemes issued at the same time.

SGS Baseefa have long been recognised as being at the forefront of international product certification within the IECEx Equipment Certification Scheme, having issued more certificates in this field than any other certification body in the world. They are also one of the major Notified Bodies in Europe for issuing the documentation required by the European ATEX Directive.

A core principle of our operations is to encourage direct dialogue between our engineers and our customers’ engineers, avoiding the potential difficulties and misunderstandings that can occur when working through non-technical sales staff. Before a certification project is established, you are welcome to make use of our technical advice service to help you start the process of bringing your project to a successful conclusion.

There are two parts to product certification:

Type Examination is the process of assessing, testing and defining the prototype or representative sample
Production QA, or Product Verification, are alternative ways of confirming that future production is identical to the ‘type’ that was assessed

ATEX & IECEx Certification | hazardous area equipment certification from SGS meets the legal requirements for products used in explosive atmospheres.

ATEX treats the two aspects separately and the manufacturer issues the ‘Declaration of Conformity’ that brings both parts together. IECEx requires that the certification body is responsible for ensuring all production supervision is in place and monitored in order for the on-line IECEx Certificate to be issued and remain ‘current’. The status of all IECEx certificates may be monitored from the on-line certificate database.

In this respect, IECEx may be regarded as a full Type 5 Product Certification System, whereas ATEX is a hybrid, encompassing the possibility, for some types of equipment, of a manufacturer issuing all documents directly, without involving a Notified Body.

A UK WORLD LEADER FOR A WORLD-WIDE SERVICE

Based in Buxton, Derbyshire, SGS Baseefa’s staff has over 300 years experience of Ex equipment between them and is a major contributor to developing the standards for Ex equipment, at UK, European and international level.

ABOUT SGS BASEEFA

SGS Baseefa

Research work into explosions in hazardous atmospheres has been carried out at our Buxton site since the 1920s. SGS Baseefa is now one of the largest organisations in the world with a laboratory dedicated to certification in this area and a world leader in the field.

In Europe, SGS Baseefa is one of the most recognised Notified Bodies for issuing the certification required by the European ATEX Directive. We are at the forefront of international product certification within the IECEx Equipment Certification Scheme, having issued more certificates in this field than any other certification body in the world.

Beyond certification we also provide an accessible yet authoritative source of expertise in many related areas. With extensive experience and knowledge of the application of industry standards in many areas we actively participate in committees formulating standards both at the European and international levels.

Through our global network we can offer a truly worldwide service to you, wherever you may be, providing documentation to support your sales throughout the world and to give your customers confidence in the products you sell.

Further Reading

EXPERTS IN EQUIPMENT FOR EXPLOSIVE ATMOSPHERES

Thorne & Derrick are leaders in the development and distribution of Product Innovations that deliver significant improvements to clients plant, people and operational safety in the explosive atmosphere industries.

Your proactive problem solvers experienced in succession planning for the replacement of obsolete, non-conformant and legacy equipment in hazardous areas.

Your first-choice provider of innovative and competitive solutions to ensure ATEX & IECEx Compliance for Hazardous Area Electrical, HVAC & Process Instrumentation Equipment to UK and international projects.