Equipment evidence guide
Use the equipment marking, instructions, declarations, drawings and test records together with the competent workplace assessment so that the intended machine duty and project boundaries can be checked before acceptance.
This guide explains how a buyer can organise an equipment-evidence review. It is not a conformity assessment, legal opinion, hazardous-area classification or approval of a specific machine. The responsible manufacturer, importer, duty holder and competent project specialists retain their respective obligations for the actual market, installation and operating case.
ATEX-related marking identifies the assessed equipment duty and limits; it does not prove that the machine is suitable for every flammable liquid, every Zone or the buyer’s complete filling process. The marking must be read with the instructions, declaration, certificate information where applicable, area-classification inputs, product conditions and the assembled machine scope.
In Great Britain, equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres is covered by the Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2016. HSE also makes clear that workplace duties under DSEAR remain separate. A useful project therefore joins equipment evidence to the approved workplace classification without treating either document set as a substitute for the other.
The review should establish where the machine is intended to operate, the gas or vapour conditions addressed, temperature limitations, ambient and process limits, excluded uses, installation conditions and any external protective or control measures relied on for safe operation.
| Project input | Equipment evidence to review | Acceptance question |
|---|---|---|
| Approved hazardous-area information | Intended equipment location, marking, category or protection information, ambient limits and installation instructions. | Does the declared equipment duty match the actual zone, extent and operating assumptions at every machine interface? |
| Product and release scenario | Intended product duty, process limitations, material schedule, temperature limits, extraction or ventilation dependencies and cleaning restrictions. | Are normal filling, start-up, shutdown, drainage, sampling, cleaning and credible fault conditions inside the agreed scope? |
| Complete assembled machine | Equipment schedule, electrical and non-electrical assessments, drawings, control narrative and declarations for the supplied assembly. | Is the evidence for the complete machine rather than a list of individually protected components? |
| Site interfaces | Utility requirements, earthing and bonding points, extraction permissives, product-feed limits, guarding interfaces and cause-and-effect schedule. | Which conditions are supplied by Lancing and which must be designed, installed and verified by the site? |
| Acceptance and handover | FAT records, SAT open points, inspection instructions, operating limits, maintenance information and change-control triggers. | Can the buyer trace each requirement to a drawing, test, instruction or named site action? |
The document list should cover product conformity, machine operation, installation interfaces and project acceptance, while clearly distinguishing statutory documents from contract-specific evidence. Not every project uses the same certification route or document title, so the purchase specification should name the required outcome and responsible party rather than copying a generic checklist without review.
Protected motors, sensors or enclosures can support the design, but their individual documents do not by themselves establish the suitability of the assembled filling machine or its process interfaces.
Late zone information can force changes to equipment location, controls, extraction interfaces and installation. The approved basis should be available before the machine duty is frozen.
Factory testing cannot prove the final earth, ventilation performance, room classification, connected product supply or every site procedure. Those boundaries should be explicit.
Use HSE guidance on ATEX equipment and explosive atmospheres, the Great Britain guidance on the 2016 equipment regulations and current government product-marking guidance. Confirm the rules applicable when the equipment is placed on the intended market.
Buyer questions
No. Component evidence supports the design, but the complete machine still needs an assessment of its assembled electrical, mechanical, process and control arrangements. Ask how the manufacturer has addressed interfaces, non-electrical ignition sources, intended use and the conditions imposed on installation and operation.
The workplace area classification is normally a duty-holder input, not something created by the machine marking. The machinery supplier uses the approved zone, extent and substance information to define the intended equipment duty and location. Any assumptions should be recorded and controlled.
The quotation should state the available basis and identify what must be confirmed before the final duty is fixed. Where the buyer has not yet provided competent classification information, a supplier should avoid presenting a provisional label as final proof of suitability.
FAT demonstrates agreed functions and acceptance criteria on the supplied machine; conformity evidence addresses the applicable product requirements and intended use. The two evidence sets support each other but are not interchangeable, and neither replaces the final site assessment and SAT.
Review the document plan before order, the design basis before manufacture, the supplied evidence before FAT and the installed interfaces before production release. Product, container, area, utility or process changes should trigger a controlled review rather than an informal assumption that the original evidence still applies.
No. The SDS is important product evidence, but final equipment selection also needs the real process, release scenario, hazardous-area information, temperatures, containers, utilities and installation interfaces. Send the current evidence so the outstanding decisions can be identified accurately.
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