ANZEx and IECEx [YES] - ATEX [NO]

Published 8 Jul '19
Read Time: 5 mins

ANZEx and IECEx - ATEX

There seems to be continual confusion over what may and may not be accepted in terms of explosion protected hazardous area equipment in Australia.

Categorically, ATEX equipment MAY NOT BE INSTALLED without the following being considered:

• That the model of equipment or another that would be fit for the intended purpose does not have either:
  • ANZEx certification.
  • IECEx certification.
• That only that model with ATEX certification is available anywhere
• Only if the equipment is part of a trial or prototype project
• Only if the installation was previously constructed and imported and needs to be brought into line with Australian requirements and would be too expensive to retrofit everything with ANZEx or IECEx certified equipment. This doesn’t eliminate the need for replacement of equipment with ANZEx or IECEx certified equipment as the originally installed equipment fails.
• That the ATEX certification quotes EN 60079 series standards which are harmonised to the IEC 60079 series – as the older EN 50 000 series of standards do not, in general, align with current IEC 60079 requirements, except for some Group IIA and IIB Ex d equipment.
• Given all of the above, it must be realised that a Conformity Assessment may not be possible in any case. Not all conformity assessments yield positive results.

Note: ATEX equipment may be accepted for installation in New Zealand, but not Australia.

Legal Ramifications

Note well - The Queensland Electricity Safety Act and Regulation empower AS/NZS 3000 at law. Other states empower this standard in a similar manner.

• Compliance with AS/NZS 3000, being a legal requirement, then calls up the AS/NZS 60079 series of standards in Section 7.7. Therefore, compliance to the AS/NZS 60079 series of standards is also empowered at law.
• AS/NZS 60079.14:2017 Appendix ZZ contains a listing of all the Australian and New Zealand differences to the original IEC 60079.14 requirements.
• Now, refer to Appendix ZZ (Australian) Clause 4.4.2.1 (see next page) which reinforces the above statements.

AS/NZS 60079.14 Appendix ZZ – Clause 4.4.2.1

The exact wording of this part of AS/NZS 60079.14:20017 is as follows:

4.4.2.1   Equipment with Certificates Issued under the IECEx, ANZEx and AUSEx Schemes

Equipment conformity to a Standard listed in Table 2 (refer to Standard) is acceptable when selected in accordance with this standard and meets any of the following certification criteria:

• The equipment has a current certificate under the IECEx or the ANZEx schemes.
• The equipment has a cancelled or suspended IECEx or ANZEx certificate and it can be demonstrated that the equipment was manufactured whilst the certificate was current.
• The equipment was issued with a certificate under the AUSEx scheme and the equipment was manufactured within the certificate validity period.
• (Note: The status of an IECEx or ANZEx certificate can be verified on the website of the IECEx scheme (www.iecex.com) or the ANZEx scheme (www.anzex.com.au ).

The next clause:

Clause 4.4.2.2    Equipment with certificate according to IEC Standards or AS/NZS Standards, but not issued under the IECEx, ANZEx or AUSEx schemes.

This is not a “get out of jail free” card to allow the use of ATEX certified equipment. ATEX certificates (EC or EU-Type Examination Certificates) do not fall under this umbrella, as EN (CENELEC) standards are not IEC or AS/NZS standards. Further, it must be pointed out that Declarations of Conformity are simply statements from the Manufacturer that claim compliance and are therefore not from a third party (like a testing station). These are Declarations and are not Certification Documents.

They are a requirement under the ATEX scheme for the manufacturer to “put their money where their mouth is” and state compliance. This is a requirement of the ATEX Safety Directive. Manufacturer’s Self Declarations of any nature are not acceptable under the IECEx or ANZEx schemes.

However, ATEX certification does fall under Clause 4.4.2. This states:

Clause 4.4.2.3 – Equipment with a Third Party Certificate but not according to IEC or AS/NZS standards.

The selection of equipment which has a certificate issued by a third party (a testing station - NOT the manufacturer) that is not in accordance with Clauses 4.4.2.1 or 4.4.2.2, shall be restricted to circumstances where suitable equipment with a certificate in accordance with 4.4.2.1 or 4.4.2.2 is not practical.

The justification for the use of such equipment shall be made by person(s) in control of the installation, or their nominee, and include the selection, installation and operational requirements. Any assessment of the equipment to support this justification shall be carried out by a competent person.

The justification shall be included as part of the verification dossier. Justification may be demonstrated in the form of a Conformity Assessment Document. Guidance for the preparation of a Conformity Assessment Document can be found in Appendix ZD.

Conformity Assessment of ATEX Certified Product

Appendix ZD of AS/NZS 60079.14:2017.

Refer to the Paper Conformity Assessment of ATEX Certified Product. This contains a listing of most EN (CELELEC) standards for explosion protected equipment, to which ATEX (or older certification) might claim compliance, with the IEC analogue (if any) and the AS/NZS analogue standards, listed alongside them. Due to the technical development of the IEC 60079 series of standards, even earlier IEC 60079 standards are no longer considered to be current.

What needs to be taken home from this:

• ATEX or other European Certification is generally not accepted in Australia.
• The use of the Conformity Assessment process is meant to allow for exceptions when this in unavoidable, not as a free pass to use any ATEX equipment.
• While a vendor may be legally free to sell ATEX equipment, it doesn’t mean it’s legal to install it.

If there is justification for attempting a conformity assessment, assuming that this is even possible (there are NO guarantees) then the following further limitations apply:

• The Conformity Assessment(s) are generally limited to a particular owner and a particular site
• These are not transferrable like an IECEx or ANZEx certificate of conformity
• Conformity Assessments should comply with the requirements of Appendix ZD of AS/NZS 60079.14:2017.
• The onus of providing the extensive amount of documentation and all the required photographs is on the EQUIPMENT OWNER – not the third party attempting to compile the Conformity Assessment.
• With Conformity Assessments – you get what you pay for. Cheap is generally neither compliant nor good.

This material is produced by HAZ. The information is of a general nature only and should not be relied upon.  Each set of circumstances associated with compliance of hazardous areas and Type B compliance is unique and expert advice on your particular circumstances should be sought.  HAZ accepts no liability for any reliance on the information published on this website.