Objectives
The aim of the Regulation is to ensure a single market for appliances and fittings burning gaseous fuels by laying down the essential safety requirements and type-approval rules. Member States must ensure that the appliances specified are only placed on the market or brought into service on condition that they do not represent a risk for the safety of persons, domestic animals or property.
There was evidence from the implementation of the antecessor Directive 2009/142/EC that some of its provisions needed to be modified in order to clarify and update them and thus ensure legal certainty as regards the definitions relating to its scope. Hence the EU legislator decided to replace Directive 2009/142/EC by a regulation, which seemed to be the appropriate legal instrument as there was a need for imposing uniform, clear and detailed rules which do not give room for divergent transposition by Member States and thus ensures homogenous implementation throughout the Union.
Definitions
In its Art. 2, the regulation provides a set of definitions, inter alia of 'gaseous fuel', 'burning', 'appliances' and 'fittings'.
Contents
The Regulation establishes requirements that any gas appliance or fittings must meet when being placed on the EU market. The regulation covers domestic and non-domestic appliances and to fittings designed to be incorporated into such appliances. It includes appliances for cooking, heating, hot water production, refrigeration, lighting, washing, forced draught burners and heating bodies to be equipped with such burners. Fittings are safety devices, controlling devices or regulating devices and sub-assemblies. The appliances might be new or second hand, manufactured in the EU or imported from third countries.
The Regulation establishes obligations for manufacturers, importers and distributors of appliances and fittings. Manufacturers shall ensure that they have been designed and manufactured in accordance with the essential requirements set out in Annex I. Importers or distributors shall be considered a manufacturer and he shall be subject to the same obligations when they place an appliance or a fitting on the market under his name or trademark or when they modify an appliance or a fitting considerably.
The Regulation further establishes rules for the conformity of appliances and fittings and rules for applying the CE marking in accordance with Regulation (EC) 765/2008. The Member States must approve a national notified body that carries out the appropriate examinations and tests in order to check the conformity of the appliances and fittings. The regulation establishes rules for the conformity assessment procedure (Annex III) and for the cooperation and coordination of the notified bodies.
In its chapter V, the regulation establishs the principle of Union market surveillance and procedures for national market surveillance authorities for dealing with appliances or fittings presenting a risk. Member States shall decide on rules on penalties applicable to infringements by economic operators of the provisions of this Regulation.
Annexes
Annex I: Essential requirements
Annex II: Content of the Member States communications of the gas supply conditions
Annex III: Conformity assessment for appliances and fittings
Annex IV: Inscriptions
Annex V: EU declaration of conformity
Annex VI: Correlation table with Directive 2009/142/EC
Read the full text of this Regulation
Information on gas appliances at the European Commission's (DG Growth) website
This legal act is a regulation thus applying directly in the Member States - no national implementing measures are required.