CE marking and the ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU

Many times, we receive a request for assistance from a customer for a project that involves, “CE marking and ATEX.” While there is nothing wrong with calling ATEX out separately from other CE marking requirements, we note that the ATEX Directive is a CE marking Directive.

What does this mean?

Good question. What it means is that ATEX is just another CE marking requirement, as important but no more important than any other CE marking Directive like the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU, or the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU.

The ATEX Directive has many complicating factors, for instance, there are three category classifications and those are cross-referenced with two sets of risk zones: three for dust and three for gas. Next, the compliance path requires categorization by the designation of Group I (underground mine equipment) or Group II (all other equipment).

Once the above is settled, Annex I of the ATEX Directive must be reviewed to determine the available compliance module (i.e., the allowable path to compliance in the ATEX Directive for your product).

There are seven compliance modules:

* Annex III – MODULE B: EU-TYPE EXAMINATION

* Annex IV – MODULE D: CONFORMITY TO TYPE BASED ON QUALITY ASSURANCE OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESS

* Annex V – MODULE F: CONFORMITY TO TYPE BASED ON PRODUCT VERIFICATION

* Annex VI – MODULE C1: CONFORMITY TO TYPE BASED ON INTERNAL PRODUCTION CONTROL PLUS SUPERVISED PRODUCT TESTING

* Annex VII – MODULE E: CONFORMITY TO TYPE BASED ON PRODUCT QUALITY ASSURANCE

* Annex VIII – MODULE A: INTERNAL PRODUCTION CONTROL

* Annex IX – MODULE A: INTERNAL PRODUCTION CONTROL

Yes, ATEX will complicate your project somewhat… but it is just a CE marking Directive and companies like F2 Labs have experience navigating through it and helping manufacturers comply with it.

To illustrate this, see Annex X, the EU declaration of conformity. Just like all the other CE marking Directives:

F2 Labs is here to help. Have a question or a comment? We can be contacted via this link. We can be reached by phone at 855-652-7281 and are here to help you.

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