ATEX harmonised standards

The ATEX Directives 94/9/EC and 2014/34/UE does not impose to the equipment, which is put on the market, to be in conformity with the last harmonized standards in an obligatory way, however the equipment must have an equivalent safety level.

The equipment which were designed and certified in accordance with old standards cannot be any more put on the market without a re-examination carried out by the manufacturer.

This re-examination consists to check if the standards used are the subject of major modifications. This kind of modifications modify the State of the Art so much so that the equipment previously declared conforms does not fill anymore the EHSR of the Directive.

Where to find these lists of significant changes:

An Annex relating to the significant changes is present in each new published standard.
Concerning, the standards published without this annex, the ExNBG published a document concerning with the modifications introduced by these various standards (see ExNB 10-388CS document).

Procedure of evaluation which the manufacturer must undertake:

• Evaluate the impact of the new harmonized standards on the product
• When equipment is related to with the changes identified as “major”, the file of certification must be updated, including if necessary an update of the EC type examination certificate, the instructions and EC declaration of conformity.
• When equipment is concerned only by minor changes, only the EC declaration of conformity must be updated, in order to indicate to the user and to the authorities which the product is not impacted by the extensions or the major changes introduced by the new standards harmonized.