---
title: "Our product works under pressure"
description: "Equipment with a maximum allowable pressure above 0,5 bar falls under the Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU, unless a more specific act covers it. Simple air or nitrogen vessels made in series fall under Directive 2014/29/EU, and aerosol dispensers under Directive 75/324/EEC. Find the right act, classify the equipment, run the conformity procedure for its category, and keep the documentation for 10 years."
type: "problem"
url: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/pressure-equipment/"
markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/pressure-equipment.md"
locale: "en"
language: "en"
updated: "2026-10-04"
author: "Conphora compliance team"
publisher: "Conphora"
source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014L0068-20260530"
tags: ["PED", "SPVD", "AerD", "placing-on-market"]
license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page"
---

# Our product works under pressure

Equipment with a maximum allowable pressure above 0,5 bar falls under the Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU, unless a more specific act covers it. Simple air or nitrogen vessels made in series fall under Directive 2014/29/EU, and aerosol dispensers under Directive 75/324/EEC. Find the right act, classify the equipment, run the conformity procedure for its category, and keep the documentation for 10 years.

## Why this happens

Pressure rules start with a number. The Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU applies to the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies with a maximum allowable pressure PS greater than 0,5 bar (Article 1(1)). Pressure equipment means vessels, piping, safety accessories and pressure accessories (Article 2(1)). The directive then excludes a long list in Article 1(2): among them simple pressure vessels covered by Directive 2014/29/EU, aerosol dispensers covered by Directive 75/324/EEC, equipment of no higher than category I covered by the machinery, lifts, low voltage, medical device, gas appliance or ATEX rules, products with a flexible casing such as balls used for play, bottles or cans for carbonated drinks, and radiators and pipes in warm water heating systems. [1]

Inside the directive, the hazard decides the route. Article 4(1) sets limits by pressure, volume or nominal size and by fluid group; group 1 covers substances and mixtures classified as hazardous, such as flammable or acutely toxic ones, and group 2 everything else (Article 13(1)). Equipment above the limits meets the essential safety requirements of Annex I and is classified in categories I to IV under Annex II. Category I uses module A; the higher categories use the modules listed in Article 14(2), all of which involve a notified body (Annex III). Equipment at or below the limits is made by the sound engineering practice of a Member State, comes with adequate instructions, and does not bear the CE marking under this directive (Article 4(3)). The manufacturer keeps the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity for 10 years (Article 6(3)). [1]

Simple pressure vessels have their own directive. Directive 2014/29/EU covers welded vessels made in series to contain air or nitrogen at more than 0,5 bar, not intended to be fired, made of the steels or aluminium it names, with a maximum working pressure up to 30 bar and PS × V up to 10 000 bar.L (Article 1(1)). Fire extinguishers are excluded (Article 1(2)(c)). Vessels above 50 bar.L meet Annex I, go through EU-type examination before manufacture (Article 13(1)) and carry the CE marking and the Annex III inscriptions; smaller ones follow sound engineering practice and carry the inscriptions but not the CE marking (Article 6(1) and (2); Annex III point 1.1). [2]

Aerosols follow an older, shorter text. An aerosol dispenser is a non-reusable container of metal, glass or plastic holding a gas under pressure, fitted with a release device (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 2); dispensers with a maximum capacity under 50 ml, or above the capacities set in its Annex, are outside it (Article 1). The person responsible for marketing affixes the '3' symbol, the inverted epsilon (Article 3), and the label carries that person's name and address or trade mark, the batch code, the details in point 2.2 of the Annex and the net contents by weight and by volume (Article 8(1)); a dispenser with flammable components that is not classed as flammable states their percentage by mass (Article 8(1a)). Member States may require their national language on the label (Article 8(2)). [3]

Both pressure directives are listed in Article 4(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Such equipment may therefore be placed on the market only if a manufacturer, importer, authorised representative or fulfilment service provider established in the Union holds the declaration and can supply the documentation on request (Article 4(1) to (3)). [4]

## How to solve it

1. **Find out which pressure act covers the product** Start with the most specific act. A non-reusable spray can of 50 ml or more is an aerosol dispenser under Directive 75/324/EEC. A welded, unfired vessel made in series for air or nitrogen, up to 30 bar, is a simple pressure vessel under Directive 2014/29/EU. Other equipment above 0,5 bar goes to the Pressure Equipment Directive, which lists its own exclusions in Article 1(2).
2. **Classify the equipment under the Pressure Equipment Directive** Note the maximum allowable pressure PS, the volume or the nominal size, and whether the fluid is in group 1 (hazardous) or group 2. Compare them with the limits in Article 4(1). Equipment above the limits is placed in category I to IV with the tables in Annex II.
3. **Run the procedure for the category** Category I uses module A, internal production control. Categories II, III and IV use the modules listed in Article 14(2) and set out in Annex III, and each of those procedures involves a notified body. You may always choose a procedure for a higher category. Where a notified body takes part in production control, its number follows the CE marking (Article 19(4)).
4. **Treat small equipment by sound engineering practice** Equipment at or below the Article 4 limits is designed and made by the sound engineering practice of a Member State and comes with adequate instructions. It does not carry the CE marking under this directive, though another act may still require one.
5. **Close the file and mark the product** Draw up the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity, affix the CE marking before placing the equipment on the market, and supply instructions and safety information in the language of each country of sale. Keep the documentation and the declaration for 10 years.

## What you need to show

- **A scope and classification note: the act chosen, PS, volume or DN, fluid group and category** — The manufacturer (Directive 2014/68/EU Articles 1, 4 and 13 and Annex II)
- **Technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity** — The manufacturer, kept for 10 years after placing on the market (Directive 2014/68/EU Article 6(2) and (3); Directive 2014/29/EU Article 6(2) and (3))
- **Certificates or decisions from the notified body, where the module requires one** — The notified body (Directive 2014/68/EU Article 14 and Annex III)
- **For aerosols: the label particulars and the batch code** — The person responsible for marketing the aerosol dispenser (Directive 75/324/EEC Articles 3 and 8)

## If you do nothing

- **No EU operator, no placing on the market** — Products under the Pressure Equipment Directive and the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive may be placed on the market only if an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for the declaration, the technical documentation and cooperation with the authorities (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 Article 4(1), (3) and (5)).
- **Corrective action ordered by the authority** — Where a product does not conform, the authority requires the operator to bring it into compliance, withdraw or recall it within a set period; if that does not happen, the authority ensures withdrawal, recall or a prohibition (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 Article 16(2), (3) and (5)).
- **A compliant aerosol can still be stopped** — A Member State that notes, on a substantive justification, that an aerosol dispenser presents a hazard despite complying may provisionally prohibit its sale or set special conditions (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 10(1)).

## Questions

### Is a pressure cooker covered?

Yes. Article 4(1)(b) of the Pressure Equipment Directive names all pressure cookers among the fired or otherwise heated equipment that must meet the Annex I essential safety requirements (Annex II, table 5).

### Our compressor tank holds air at 10 bar. Which act applies?

If it is a welded, unfired vessel made in series of the steels or aluminium the directive names, with PS up to 30 bar and PS × V up to 10 000 bar.L, it is a simple pressure vessel under Directive 2014/29/EU (Article 1(1)). The Pressure Equipment Directive excludes vessels covered by that directive (Article 1(2)(c)).

### Do inflatable products or balls count as pressure equipment?

No. Pressure equipment consisting of a flexible casing, such as tyres, air cushions, balls used for play and inflatable craft, is excluded (Directive 2014/68/EU Article 1(2)(o)).

### Do small spray cans need the inverted epsilon?

The aerosol directive does not apply to dispensers with a maximum capacity of less than 50 ml (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 1). For those in scope, the person responsible for marketing affixes the '3' symbol as proof of conformity (Article 3).

### Can equipment approved under the old directive still be sold?

Member States may not impede the making available of equipment that conforms to Directive 97/23/EC and was placed on the market before 19 July 2016 (Directive 2014/68/EU Article 48(2)).

## Regulations involved

PED, SPVD, AerD

## Sources

1. [Directive 2014/68/EU on pressure equipment (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014L0068-20260530) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04
2. [Directive 2014/29/EU on simple pressure vessels (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014L0029-20260530) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04
3. [Council Directive 75/324/EEC on aerosol dispensers (consolidated text of 12 February 2018)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01975L0324-20180212) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04
4. [Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products (consolidated text of 12 August 2026)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02019R1020-20260812) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04