How do you get CE certification 1

[REGRUMBLE]

We have a north American customer that wants us to make pressure vessels that are CE certified not ASME certified. Are there European manufacturers out there that are familiar with this. Is there anyone in North America that does this?

 

[Duwe6]

Hopefully said customer is not going to try to operate non-ASME vessels inside the USA. In all but about 2 states, there are laws requiring ASME to be used. You may want to write your contract accordingly, so it is not you committing a felony.

 

[REGRUMBLE]

I guess I should have been more specific. The parts are going to be installed in Europe which is where the CE certification not ASME is the governing requirement.

 

[fegenbush]

REGRUMBLE,

Contact your AI. There is a provision in PED (97/23/EC) that allows for a one-time-use certification. When I was with a different fabricator, we went through a different AI company than usual, and it cost a small fortune. Only later did we find out that our normal AI could have performed the necessary review and inspection.

I have omitted the name of the AI company we used and our contracted AI. I figure this isn't the place to badmouth or advertise, but if someone is genuinely interested, I can oblige.

 

[JackSam]

Sorry I don't know any North American manufacturers that make CE marked vessels. ASME do publish a book giving advice on the extra requirements:

Guide for ASME Stamp Holders for Section VIII Division 1 Vessels and the Pressure Equipment Directive BOI - 2001

ISBN 0791827127

It may be worth getting a copy to familiarise yourself with what is really needed.

 

[vesselfab]

We are in the process of fabricating 11 vessels for an offshore platform going to North Sea that are all CE approved vessels.

We are using a company out of the UK to certify them and using all local contractors that are PED/CE approved for NDE and Lab work. All materials are from PED/CE approved mills/manufactures.

It's a challenge making sure only PED approved materials are used and reverifying MTRs and making sure only WPSs that are witnessed by the CE guy during PQR and witnessed at lab are used.

It drags out the delivery of the vessels and makes the price go up.

 

[REGRUMBLE]

Vesselfab- Thank you I was not aware that the CE guy had to witness WPS's
JackSam-Thank you for the tip on the book. It is $95 but should be worth the cost.
Personally i think we do all this investigation and the cost of the job will be so high they will just order it in Europe but the boss wants me to do the leg work so thanks for the tips.

 

[JohnGP]

REGRUMBLE,

It may help to gain an understanding also of the PED itself - it is readily available,

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1997L0023:20031120:en:PDF

By first checking what Category your vessels fall in (there are charts to assist) you can see what level of AI (Notified Body) involvement is required, and hence what inspection cost you will have. The category is based on the level of risk determined by the combination of vessel volume and pressure, and whether the contents are "dangerous" liquids or gas, or not as "dangerous" (they have to be pretty bad to be classified as dangerous). If you were lucky enough for them to fall into the SEP Category, or Sound Engineering Practice, then no CE marking is required (or allowed).

There are also guidelines online

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/pressure-and-gas/files/ped/ped-guidelines_en.pdf,

and as JackSam advised the ASME Guide can help get through the maze using ASME VIII.

One thing that seemed to catch out non-European suppliers to our project was the requirement for minimum 1.43 x Max Allowable Pressure for hydrotest pressure, instead of 1.3.

Anyway, good luck.
Cheers,
John

 

[micalbrch]

Blaco Fluid Control (

http://www.blacoh.com/sentry1.aspx)

manufactures pulsation dampeners which fall under the PED and they can supply them with CE mark. They definitely cannot do what you need but I'm sure that they are not one of your competitors. Gary Cornell is their CEO and I met him on the WEFTEC some years ago. He is a very nice guy. I think he can help you how they get their certification or point you at least into a helpful direction.