Search Legislation

Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

 Help about what version

What Version

  • Latest available (Revised)
  • Original (As made)

Status:

This is the original version (as it was originally made). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format.

Regulation 3(2)

SCHEDULE 1

PART Ipressure systems excepted from all regulations

These Regulations shall not apply to –

1.  A pressure system which forms part of the equipment of –

(a)a vessel used in navigation;

(b)a spacecraft, aircraft, hovercraft or hydrofoil.

2.  A pressure system which forms part of, or is intended to form part of, a weapons system.

3.  A pressure system which forms part of any braking, control or suspension system of a wheeled, tracked or rail mounted vehicle.

4.  That part of a system which is only a pressure system because it is –

(a)subject to a leak test (except that this sub-paragraph shall not apply to a pipeline);

(b)pressurised unintentionally, such pressurisation being not reasonably foreseeable; or

(c)a pipeline pressurised by a relevant fluid solely as part of a test or line clearance operation, but this exception shall not apply if the pipeline –

(i)is used for the conveyance of a relevant fluid, or

(ii)is pressurised beyond its safe operating limits.

5.  Any pipeline and its protective devices in which the pressure does not exceed 2 bar above atmospheric pressure (or 2·7 bar above atmospheric pressure if the normal pressure does not exceed 2 bar and the overpressure is caused solely by the operation of a protective device).

6.  Any pressure system or part thereof which –

(a)is the subject of a research experiment; or

(b)comprises temporary apparatus being used in a research experiment,

if, in the case of regulations 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13 and 14, it is not reasonably practicable to comply with them.

7.  Any plant or equipment required by regulation 5(1)(d) of the Diving Operations at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994(1) and used or intended to be used in the course of a diving project to which those Regulations apply.

8.  A working chamber, tunnel, manlock or an airlock within which persons work in compressed air, being work to which the Work in Compressed Air Special Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1963(2) apply.

9.  A tank to which the Carriage of Dangerous Goods By Rail Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998(3) or the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(4) apply.

10.  Any pressure system being carried in a vehicle if the vehicle is engaged in an international transport operation within the meaning of the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail(5) as revised or re-issued from time to time (COTIF) and such carriage conforms in every respect either –

(a)to the provisions of the Uniform Rules concerning the Contract for International Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM) which forms Appendix B to that Convention and to the regulations (RID) made thereunder; or

(b)to the conditions determined by an agreement relating to such carriage between the United Kingdom and another State under Article 5(2) of CIM.

11.  Any pressure system being carried in a vehicle if the vehicle is registered outside the United Kingdom and the carriage is confined to Northern Ireland but nevertheless conforms with the provisions of the European Agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road signed in Geneva on 30th September 1957 as revised or re-issued from time to time (“the ADR”).

12.  Any pressure system being carried in a vehicle if the vehicle –

(a)is engaged in an international transport operation within the meaning of the ADR;

(b)complies with the conditions contained in Annexes A and B to the ADR; and

(c)is certified pursuant to the ADR as complying with it,

or if the vehicle is engaged in a transport operation subject to a special bilateral or multilateral agreement to which Article 4 of the ADR refers and to which the United Kingdom is a Contracting Party.

13.  Any pressure system being carried in a vehicle if the vehicle is engaged in an international transport operation within the meaning of Article 1(c) of the ADR, in accordance with regulation 3(1)(c)(ii) of the CDGCPL(NI) Regulations.

14.  Any pressure system which is carried, or stored as goods in transit, as part of an international transport operation, if it complies with the appropriate provisions of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code issued by the International Maritime Organisation as revised or re-issued from time to time.

15.  Any pressure system comprising a gas propulsion or a gas fired heating, cooking, ventilating or refrigerating system fitted to a motor vehicle or trailer (both within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(6)).

16.  Any water cooling system on an internal combustion engine or on a compressor.

17.  Any tyre used or intended to be used on a vehicle.

18.  Any vapour compression refrigeration system incorporating compressor drive motors, including standby compressor motors, having a total installed power not exceeding 25 kW.

19.  A mobile system of the type known as a slurry tanker, and containing or intended to contain agricultural slurry, and used in agriculture.

20.  Prime movers including turbines.

21.  Any pressure system which is an electrical or telecommunications cable.

22.  Any pressure system containing sulphur hexafluoride gas and forming an integral part of high voltage electrical apparatus.

23.  Any pressure system consisting of a water filled fluid coupling and used in power transmission.

24.  Any portable fire extinguisher with a working pressure below 25 bar at 60°C and having a total mass not exceeding 23 kilogrammes.

25.  Any part of a tool or appliance designed to be held in the hand which is a pressure vessel.

PART IIpressure systems excepted from certain regulations

1.  Regulations 4 and 5(1) and (4) shall not apply to –

(a)pressure systems to which the Medical Devices Regulations 1994(7) apply, other than those which contain or are liable to contain steam; or

(b)pressure equipment or assemblies within the meaning of the Pressure Equipment Regulations 1999(8) to which regulation 7(1), 8(1), 9(1) or 10 of those Regulations apply.

2.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), regulations 5(4), 8 to 10 and 14 shall not apply to a pressure system containing a relevant fluid (other than steam) if the product of the pressure in bar and internal volume in litres of its pressure vessels is in each case less than 250 bar litres.

(2) Until 21st December 2004 regulations 8 to 10 and 14 shall not apply to a pressure system brought into operation before the coming into operation of these Regulations if the product of the pressure in bar and internal volume of its pressure vessel with the largest internal volume is less than 250 bar litres.

3.  Regulations 4, 5, 7 to 10, 13 and 14 shall not apply to a tank container if –

(a)it is intended to be used in the carriage of dangerous goods to which the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 apply, or would apply but for an exception specified in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 thereof and is present solely for the purpose of being loaded with the goods to be carried; or

(b)it has been used in such carriage, has been temporarily removed from a vehicle and is present solely for the purpose of unloading the goods from it.

Regulation 3(5)

SCHEDULE 2MODIFICATION OF DUTIES IN CASES WHERE PRESSURE SYSTEMS ARE SUPPLIED BY WAY OF LEASE, HIRE, OR OTHER ARRANGEMENTS

1.—(a) This paragraph applies where a person supplies an installed system by way of lease or hire, and agrees in writing to be responsible for discharging the duties of the user under all the provisions of regulations 8(1) and (2), 9(1), 11(1), 12 and 14.

(b)During such time as the agreement is in force the supplier shall discharge the duties of the user under the said provisions.

(c)It shall be a defence in any proceedings against the user of an installed system –

(i)for an offence for a contravention of any of the said provisions; or

(ii)in any civil proceedings for breach of duty (mentioned in Article 3(2) of the 1978 Order) imposed by any such provisions,

for that person to prove that the supplier had agreed in writing to be responsible for discharging the user’s duty at the relevant time.

(d)During such time as the agreement is in force the following provisions of this paragraph shall have effect.

(e)Where the competent person who is to carry out the examination under the scheme of examination is a person other than the supplier, the supplier shall notify the competent person that any reports required to be sent or given to the user under regulation 9(3) or 10(1) shall be sent or given to the supplier as well.

(f)On being so notified under sub-paragraph (e) above, the competent person shall comply with regulations 9(3) and 10(1) as if the reference therein to sending or giving a report to the user also included a reference to sending or giving a report to the supplier.

(g)On receipt of a report from a competent person under regulation 9(3) or 10(1) (or in the case where the supplier is also the competent person, on the making by him of that report) the supplier shall take all practicable steps to ensure that the pressure system will not be operated in contravention of regulation 9(6) or 10(2), as the case may be.

(h)The references in regulation 9(7) (in both places where it appears) and 9(8) to the user shall be read as references to the supplier.

(i)The reference in regulation 14(2)(a) to the premises where the system is installed shall be read as a reference to the premises in Northern Ireland where the leasing or hiring out of the system is controlled.

2.  Where a person supplies a pressure system to another (“the customer”) under a hire-purchase agreement, conditional sale agreement, or lease, and –

(a)he carries on the business of financing the acquisition of goods by others by means of such agreements, or, if financing by means of leases, the use of goods by others;

(b)in the course of that business he acquired his interest in the pressure system supplied to the customer as a means of financing its acquisition by that customer (or, in the case of a lease, its provision to that customer); and

(c)in the case of a lease he or his agent either has not had physical possession of that pressure system, or has had physical possession of it only for the purpose of passing it on to the customer,

the customer and not the person who provided the finance shall be treated for the purpose of these Regulations as being the owner of the pressure system, and duties placed on owners in these Regulations shall accordingly fall on the customer and not on the person providing the finance.

3.  Article 7(9) of the 1978 Order(9) and the Health and Safety (Leasing Arrangements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993(10) shall apply to these Regulations as they apply to the remainder of Article 7 of that Order.

Regulation 5(4) and (5)

SCHEDULE 3MARKING OF PRESSURE VESSELS

The information referred to in regulation 5(4) is as follows –

1.  The manufacturer’s name.

2.  A serial number to identify the vessel.

3.  The date of manufacture of the vessel.

4.  The standard to which the vessel was built.

5.  The maximum allowable pressure of the vessel.

6.  The minimum allowable pressure of the vessel where it is other than atmospheric.

7.  The design temperature.

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 4PREMISES AND ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL SEA

Interpretation

1.—(1) In this Schedule –

  • “activity” includes a diving operation;

  • “designated area” means any area designated by Order under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964(11) and “within a designated area” includes over and under it;

  • “diving operation” has the same meaning as it has in the Diving Operations at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994(12) save that it includes an activity in which a person takes part as a diver wearing an atmospheric pressure suit and without breathing in air or other gas at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure;

  • “energy structure” means a fixed or floating structure, other than a vessel, for producing energy from wind or water;

  • “offshore installation” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 2(2) and (3);

  • “supplementary unit” means a fixed or floating structure, other than a vessel, for providing energy, information or substances to an offshore installation;

  • “stand-by vessel” means a vessel which is ready to give assistance in the event of an emergency on or near an offshore installation;

  • “vessel” includes a hovercraft and any floating structure which is capable of being staffed.

(2) For the purposes of this Schedule, any structures and devices on top of a well shall be treated as forming part of the well.

(3) Any reference in this Schedule to premises and activities includes a reference to any person, article or substance on those premises or engaged in, or, as the case may be, used or for use in connection with any such activity, but does not include a reference to an aircraft which is airborne.

Offshore installations

2.—(1) This paragraph shall apply to and in relation to –

(a)any offshore installation and any activity on it;

(b)any activity in connection with an offshore installation, or any activity which is immediately preparatory thereto, whether carried on from the installation itself, in or from a vessel or in any other manner, other than –

(i)transporting, towing or navigating the installation; and

(ii)any activity in or from a vessel being used as a stand-by vessel;

(c)a diving operation involving –

(i)the survey and preparation of the sea bed for an offshore installation;

(ii)the survey and restoration of the sea bed consequent on the removal of an offshore installation.

(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), in this paragraph, “offshore installation” means a structure which is, or is to be, or has been, used while standing or stationed in water, or on the foreshore or other land intermittently covered with water –

(a)for the exploitation, or exploration with a view to exploitation, of mineral resources by means of a well;

(b)for the storage of gas in or under the shore or bed of any water or the recovery of gas so stored;

(c)for the conveyance of things by means of a pipe; or

(d)mainly for the provision of accommodation for persons who work on or from a structure falling within any of the provisions of this sub-paragraph,

together with any supplementary unit which is ordinarily connected to it, and all the connections.

(3) Any reference in sub-paragraph (2) to a structure or unit does not include –

(a)a structure which is connected with dry land by a permanent structure providing access at all times and for all purposes;

(b)a well;

(c)a structure which has ceased to be used for any of the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (2) and has since been used for a purpose not so specified;

(d)a mobile structure which has been taken out of use and is not yet being moved with a view to its being used for any of the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (2); and

(e)any part of a pipeline.

Wells

3.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), this paragraph applies to and in relation to –

(a)a well and any activity in connection with it; and

(b)an activity which is immediately preparatory to any activity in head (a).

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) includes keeping a vessel on station for the purpose of working on a well but otherwise does not include navigation or an activity connected with navigation.

Pipelines

4.—(1) This paragraph applies to and in relation to –

(a)any pipeline;

(b)any pipeline works;

(c)the following activities in connection with pipeline works –

(i)the loading, unloading, fuelling or provisioning of a vessel;

(ii)the loading, unloading, fuelling, repair and maintenance of an aircraft in a vessel,

being in either case a vessel which is engaged in pipeline works.

(2) In this paragraph –

“pipeline” means a pipe or system of pipes for the conveyance of any thing, together with –

(a)

any apparatus for inducing or facilitating the flow of any thing through, or through part of, the pipe or system;

(b)

any apparatus for treating or cooling any thing which is to flow through, or through part of, the pipe or system;

(c)

valves, valve chambers and similar works which are annexed to, or incorporated in the course of, the pipe or system;

(d)

apparatus for supplying energy for the operation of any such apparatus or works as are mentioned in heads (a) to (c);

(e)

apparatus for the transmission of information for the operation of the pipe or system;

(f)

apparatus for the cathodic protection of the pipe or system; and

(g)

a structure used or to be used solely for the support of a part of the pipe or system;

but not including a pipeline of which no initial or terminal point is situated in the United Kingdom, within the territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom, or within a designated area;

“pipeline works” means –

(a)

assembling or placing a pipeline or length of pipeline including the provision of internal or external protection for it;

(b)

inspecting, testing, maintaining, adjusting, repairing, altering or renewing a pipeline or length of pipeline;

(c)

changing the position of or dismantling or removing a pipeline or length of pipeline;

(d)

opening the bed of the sea for the purposes of the works mentioned in heads (a) to (c), and tunnelling or boring for those purposes;

(e)

any activities incidental to the activities described in heads (a) to (d);

(f)

a diving operation in connection with any of the works mentioned in heads (a) to (e) or for the purpose of determining whether a place is suitable as part of the site of a proposed pipeline and the carrying out of surveying operations for settling the route of a proposed pipeline.

Mines

5.—(1) This paragraph applies to and in relation to a mine within the territorial sea or extending beyond it, and any activity in connection with it, while it is being worked.

(2) In this paragraph “mine” has the same meaning as in the Mines Act (Northern Ireland) 1969(13).

Other activities

6.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), this paragraph applies to and in relation to –

(a)the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, maintenance, cleaning, use, operation, demolition and dismantling of any building, energy structure or other structure, not being in any case a vessel, or any preparation for any such activity;

(b)the transfer of people or goods between a vessel or aircraft and a structure (including a building) mentioned in head (a);

(c)the loading, unloading, fuelling or provisioning of a vessel;

(d)a diving operation;

(e)the construction, reconstruction, finishing, refitting, repair, maintenance, cleaning or breaking up of a vessel except when carried out by the master or any officer or member of the crew of that vessel;

(f)the maintaining on a station of a vessel which would be an offshore installation were it not a structure to which paragraph 2(3)(d) applies;

(g)the operation of a cable for transmitting electricity from an energy structure to shore;

(h)the transfer of people or goods between a vessel or aircraft and a structure mentioned in head (f).

(2) This paragraph shall not apply –

(a)to a case where paragraph 2, 3, 4 or 5 applies; or

(b)to vessels which are registered outside the United Kingdom and are on passage through the territorial sea.

(5)

Cmnd. 8535

(9)

Article 7(9) was amended by the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (S.I. 1987/2049 (N.I. 20))

(11)

1964 c. 29; section 1 was amended by the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (1982 c. 23), Schedule 3, paragraph 1

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as made version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources