The Pressure Equipment Directive (PED): Compliance for Equipment That Is Made, Not Just Used

The Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) is the EU law governing the design, manufacture, and conformity assessment of pressure equipment, vessels, piping, safety accessories, placed on the market. It is the "making it" regulation: it decides whether a pressure vessel or safety valve may legally be sold and installed in the first place, carrying CE marking to prove it. That makes it the front bookend to the in-service regimes that govern the equipment once it is running. Educational overview, not legal advice.

What PED covers

• Scope by pressure and volume: equipment above threshold pressures and sizes, classified into categories by the hazard it presents.
• Conformity assessment: escalating rigor by category, from manufacturer self-declaration for low-hazard equipment to notified-body involvement for higher categories.
• Essential safety requirements: design, materials, manufacturing, and testing standards the equipment must meet.
• Documentation and marking: technical file, declaration of conformity, and CE marking, plus instructions for safe use.

PED versus in-service pressure regimes

The key distinction manufacturers and operators blur: PED governs equipment as it is placed on the market, while regimes like the UK’s Pressure Systems Safety Regulations govern the same equipment in use, through written schemes and periodic examination. PED asks "was this vessel legally made and CE marked?"; PSSR asks "is this vessel being safely operated, examined, and maintained?" A compliant purchase under PED is the start of the equipment’s regulated life, not the end, and the operator inherits the in-service duties the moment it is installed.

A worked example: the modification that reset the question

A plant buys a CE-marked, PED-conformant pressure vessel, documentation in order, and installs it under a PSSR written scheme. Two years later, maintenance welds a new nozzle onto the vessel to add an instrument connection. That weld is not a maintenance detail: modifying a pressure-retaining part can affect the equipment’s conformity and integrity, and it must be controlled as a change, assessed by a competent person, with the pressure boundary re-verified (often a hydrostatic test) before return to service. Handled as ordinary maintenance, it is an uncontrolled modification of certified equipment. Handled through management of change, it keeps both the original PED conformity story and the in-service PSSR integrity story intact. The directive’s reach does not end at purchase; it is reawakened by significant modification.

Where PED touches maintenance

PED is primarily a manufacturer’s directive, but it lands on maintenance in three ways: keeping the technical documentation and conformity records that prove equipment was legally supplied; ensuring safety accessories (relief devices) are the correct certified components when replaced, not whatever fits; and controlling modifications so that repairs and alterations to pressure-retaining parts do not silently invalidate conformity or integrity. These are records-and-change disciplines a maintenance system is built to hold.

Where Fabrico fits

Fabrico is not a conformity-assessment tool and does not certify pressure equipment or perform notified-body functions. Where it contributes is the operator-side records and change discipline: pressure assets carrying their conformity documentation and certified-component details in the asset history, safety-accessory replacements recorded with the correct certified parts, and modifications routed through controlled change with re-verification captured, so a certified vessel does not quietly become an uncontrolled one. That record stays under EU governance. EU-built, with EU data residency.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between PED and PSSR?

PED is an EU directive governing the design and manufacture of pressure equipment placed on the market (CE marking); PSSR is UK legislation governing pressure systems in service (written schemes and examination). One certifies the equipment is legally made; the other governs how it is safely used and maintained. Operators are subject to the in-service regime regardless of PED conformity.

Does maintenance affect PED conformity?

Routine maintenance does not, but significant repairs or modifications to pressure-retaining parts can affect integrity and conformity and must be controlled as changes, assessed by a competent person, with the pressure boundary re-verified. Replacing safety accessories with correctly certified components is also important to preserving the safety case.

Is CE marking enough for compliance?

CE marking under PED addresses placing the equipment on the market; it does not cover the operator’s in-service duties, examination, maintenance, safe operation, which are governed by separate regimes. A CE-marked vessel still needs a written scheme, examinations, and maintenance once installed.

Want conformity records and controlled modifications kept intact across a pressure asset’s life? Book a Fabrico demo to see pressure-equipment records run through a field-ready CMMS.