Australian Explosion Protection (Ex) Certification Requirements

 

Ex Equipment must comply with clause 4.4 of AS/NZS 60079.14:2017 in Australia. The related equipment, such as zener barriers or galvanic isolators for intrinsic safety, must meet the same standards. Simple apparatus in an intrinsically safe circuit, such as simple switches or resistive elements supplied by a recognised intrinsically safe isolator or barrier, are the only exception. 

This post provides a summary of the requirements. 

1. Directly acceptable certification 

In most circumstances, equipment having ANZEx or IECEx certification can be used directly in hazardous areas in Australia. 

Underground coal mines subject to firedamp (Group I) are subject to additional rules, which typically necessitate a certificate from an Australian certification authority or specific regulatory authorisation.

2. Certification to other standards 

When using equipment with acceptable certification is not practical, equipment with other certification may be used. This contains ATEX directive certificates for Europe and NRTL certificates for the United States. 

This equipment requires additional evaluation, and it must be accepted on a case-by-case basis by each end user. A Conformity Assessment Document, or CAD, is widely used for this. 

A Conformity Assessment Document (CAD) does not replace acceptable certification, but it can be used as reason by the end user to accept equipment that is not IECEx certified. 

When using equipment with acceptable certification is not practical, equipment with other certification may be used. This contains ATEX directive certificates for Europe and NRTL certificates for the United States. 

This equipment requires additional evaluation, and it must be accepted on a case-by-case basis by each end user. A Conformity Assessment Document, or CAD, is widely used for this. 

A Conformity Assessment Document (CAD) does not replace acceptable certification, but it can be used as reason by the end user to accept equipment that is not IECEx certified. 

3. Requirements for a Conformity Assessment Document (CAD) 

A compliant CAD needs to prove that the equipment and its certification offer an equivalent level of safety to equipment certified under AS/NZS or IECEx. To achieve this, the following two main elements are required: 

•  The equipment needs to have a certificate which is:
  1. Issued by a certification body who is accredited to certify Ex Equipment; 

  2. Based on testing by an accredited test laboratory, and; 

  3. Testing is to standards which offer an equivalent level of safety to the AS/NZS 60079 series. 

• And either: 
  1. The manufacturer needs to be operating a quality system which is equivalent to ISO 80079-34 and audited by an accredited certification body, or; 
  2.  The equipment needs to be individually assessed by a certification body, with specific serial numbers identified. 

3.1 Above can be satisfied by a certificate or notification to Annex IV or VII of the ATEX Directive, or by a NRTL factory surveillance scheme. 2.2 can be satisfied by product verification to Annex V or unit verification to Annex IX of the ATEX Directive, or by a NRTL field certification. 

4. ATEX Category 3 electrical equipment

Most electrical equipment that meets the ATEX directive for Categories 1 or 2 (Zones 0, 1, 20, and 21) will be able to successfully undergo CAD preparation. 

Electrical equipment for Category 3 (Zones 2 and 22) can, however, be used in Europe with merely a first-party declaration from the manufacturer. 

If the manufacturer lacks appropriate third-party certification and a quality system to meet the above requirements, the CAD will not be fully compliant and may not be accepted by an end user. 

PMV offers a variety of Hazardous Areas courses ranging from entry level UEE42620 Certificate IV in Hazardous Areas, to UEE61222 Advanced Diploma of Engineering – Explosion Protection. A good reference is our Career Pathways Flowchart. This shows the steps required to become a technical lead in Hazardous Areas.