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Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993)

Guidance Notes

Pressure Equipment Regulations, 2009

Regulation 1 - Definitions

 

In these Regulations any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act shall have the meaning so assigned and, unless the context otherwise indicates —

 

"accreditation authority"

means the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) established by section 3 of the Accreditation for Conformity Assessment, Calibration and Good Laboratory Practice Act, 2006 (Act No. 19 of 2006);

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"appliance"

means an appliance as defined in SANS 1539;

 

Notes:

(a) Definition out of SANS 1539: complete operating unit that uses LPG and Natural Gas as operational fuel
(b) Refer also to the definition of gas system and reticulation

 

"ASME"

means the American Society of Mechanical Engineers;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"authorised person"

means a person who is registered as competent within the scope of work for which an organisation approved by the chief inspector has registered that person;

 

Notes:

(a) SAQCC (CP) competent persons for in service inspection
(b) SAQCC (IPE) inspector of pressurised equipment
(c) SAQCC (Gas) registered gas practitioner in the applicable field
(d) SAQCC (Fire) registered fire technician

 

"certificate"

means a written declaration of conformance to these Regulations;

 

Notes:

(a) For Regulation 17 a Certificate of Conformance (CoC) is issued by a Gas Practitioner that certifies that the gas installation and pressure equipment conforms to the PER. Where the gas practitioner is also the manufacturer only one certificate is required.
(b) certificate of manufacture means written declaration of conformance by the manufacturer or authorised person to the relevant health and safety standard(s) and to the relevant national legislation

 

"construction"

includes materials, design, fabrication, modification, repair, installation, examination, inspection, testing and certification;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"dangerous substance"

means a substance defined and classified as such in terms of SANS 10228;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"design pressure"

means the gauge pressure used in the design formulae to determine the dimensions of the component parts of the pressure equipment;

 

Notes:

(a) When equipment is subjected primarily to static head and the applied pressure above the liquid level of the equipment is less than 50 kPa, then such equipment is excluded from the PER.
(b) PER does not regulate external pressure (vacuum)

 

"design temperature"

means the temperature used in the design formulae to determine the dimensions of the component parts of the pressure equipment;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"design verification"

means verification that the pressure equipment complies with the applied design of the relevant health and safety standard and the requirements of these Regulations;

 

Notes:

(a) Independent process to run separate calculations to confirm correctness of the original design. Refer to SANS 10227

 

"fire extinguisher"

means a rechargeable container which has a fire extinguishing substance that is expelled by the action of internal pressure for the purpose of extinguishing a fire;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"fluid"

means gases, liquids, vapours in pure phase and mixtures thereof and may contain solids in suspension;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"gas"

means gases, liquefied gases, gases dissolved under pressure, vapours and those liquids whose vapour pressure at the design temperature is greater than 50 kPa above normal atmospheric pressure;

 

Notes:

(a) For example: Liquid water at 300°C at elevated pressure is defined as a gas.
(b) When containment is lost and the fluid changes from liquid to gas (flashes), then the fluid is defined as a gas.

 

"gas system"

means an assembly of tubes, pipes or similar ducts, fittings and valves for the reticulation, circulation and conveyance of a gas, excluding a pressure vessel or transportable gas container connected to the system;

 

Notes:

(a) Refer also to the Definition of Reticulation
(b) General process piping in processing plants is not deemed to be gas systems but shall comply with the requirements of SANS 347.
(c) This includes fixed gaseous fire suppression systems.
(d) gas system means reticulation and/or recirculation including all related piping, pressure and safety accessories.
(e) recirculation means a refrigeration system referring to the movement of refrigerant gas via piping and heat exchangers through the process of condensation and evaporation;

 

"latent defect"

means a fault inherent in pressure equipment, resulting from deficiencies in the design or manufacturing process that may cause a health and safety risk;

 

Notes:

(a) means a defect in a component that could not be discovered by a reasonable inspection or test method which could include design error but does not include patent defect which should have been easily discovered by a reasonable inspection or test method

 

"manufacturer"

means any person who has overall control and is responsible for the construction of the pressure equipment;

 

Notes:

Where the design, material supply, part construction and the installation are done by different parties, a contractual agreement may be required to define who the manufacturer is. The intent is that the party that is in overall control of the above mentioned actions will take this responsibility and liability. This party is then responsible for issuing the Certificate of Manufacture. This can be for example the engineering contractor, the user, etc.

 

"modification"

means any change to the original design conditions of pressure equipment, including re-rating, or the addition or removal of elements that could affect the integrity of the pressure equipment, and

 

Notes:

(a) Component replacement with different material types is deemed a modification
(b) Component replacement with different material grades or the replacement of obsolete materials can be deemed as a modification, depending on the rules and requirements of the applicable health and safety standard or in-service health and safety standards.

 

"modify"

has a corresponding meaning;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"non-metallic"

means glass, thermoplastic or thermosetting polymeric reinforced and unreinforced materials or combinations thereof;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"pipeline"

means piping or a system of piping designed for the transport and distribution of any fluid from an installation that is onshore or offshore, starting from and including the last isolation device located within the confines of the installation, including all the auxiliary equipment designed specifically for that pipeline;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"piping"

means pipes, tubes or flexible pressure hose elements intended for the transport or distribution of any fluid at a pressure of 50 kPa or above when connected together for integration into a system, including heat exchangers consisting of pipes for the purpose of cooling or heating air;

 

Notes:

(a) Instrument tubing is included in the PER

 

"pressure accessory"

means devices with an operational function having pressure-bearing housing;

 

Notes:

(a) Some examples include but are not limited to: pressure gauges, bladder and piston type accumulators, level gauges, valves, strainers, bellows, flow meter, magnetic level indicators and instruments.

 

"pressure equipment"

means a steam generator, pressure vessel, piping, pressure accessory and safety accessory, transportable gas container, and fire extinguisher and includes, but is not limited to an accumulator, a hot-water geyser and hyperbaric chambers;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"pressure vessel"

means a housing designed and manufactured to contain a fluid under a design pressure equal to or greater than 50 kPa;

 

Notes:

(a) Includes but is not limited to storage vessels, beer kegs, plate heat exchangers, mobile pressure vessels, road tankers, rail tankers, intermediate bulk containers (ICB’s), ISO containers, accumulators other than bladder or piston type, multi element gas containers, fired heaters, hermetic compressors, etc. but excludes transportable gas containers and fire extinguishers which have their own definitions.

 

"provincial director"

means the provincial director as defined in regulation 1 of the General Administrative Regulations promulgated by Government Notice No. R 1449 of 6 September 1996;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"re-certification"

means activities undertaken to determine appropriate design parameters for pressure equipment where such data is unknown or unavailable;

 

Notes:

(a) See PER 9 Note (c)
(b) Equipment that was not previously certified cannot be re-certified. The intent is that it only applies to equipment where traceability or identification is lost. (Use proposed future Annex to SANS 347 as a guide)

 

"repair"

means restoration to original standard by the application of heat or welding to any pressure equipment, or the replacement of expanded tubes, and in the case of non-metallic equipment it means the application of heat, welding, solvent cement, laminate or curing of thermo-set;

 

Notes:

(a) Component replacement with different material grades or the replacement of obsolete materials can be deemed as a repair where no changes to the original design are effected. The repair shall be in accordance with the rules and requirements of the applicable health and safety standard or in-service health and safety standards.

 

"re-rating"

means any change in the design parameters of pressure equipment which affects the certification;

 

Notes:

(a) Re-rating includes up-rating and down-rating
(b) See PER 9 Note (d).

 

"reticulation"

means the conveyance of gas by pipeline with a general operating pressure of no more than 200 kPa to the ultimate points of consumption;

 

Notes:

(a) This does not include transmission or distribution systems.
(b) General process piping in processing plants is not deemed to be reticulation, distribution or transmission systems.
(c) Refrigeration and air conditioning systems are closed recirculation systems and are not deemed to be a gas reticulation systems
(d) The design pressure may be more than 200kPa
(e) reticulation means the conveyance of gas by piping from or within a property boundary up to and including the ultimate points of consumption;

 

"risk-based inspection"

means an inspection scope based on the results of a formal risk assessment, including inspection and test intervals;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"safety accessory"

means a device designed to protect pressure equipment;

 

Notes:

(a) For example pressure relief valves or bursting disks
(b) This excludes non-pressurised safety accessories

 

"SANS 151"

means the Standard Specification for fixed electric storage water heaters, SANS 151, published by the South African Bureau of Standards;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"SANS 347"

means the Standard Specification for categorisation and conformity assessment criteria for all pressure equipment, SANS 347, published by the South African Bureau of Standards;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"SANS 10227"

means the Standard Specification for the criteria for the operation of inspection authorities performing inspection in terms of the Pressure Equipment Regulations, SANS 10227, published by the South African Bureau of Standards;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"SANS 10228"

means the Standard Specification for the identification and classification of dangerous goods for transport, SANS 10228, published by the South African Bureau of Standards;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"SANS 10254"

means the Standard Specification for the installation, maintenance, replacement and repair of fixed electric storage water heating systems, SANS 10254, published by the South African Bureau of Standards;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"SANS/ISO 17020"

means the Standard Specification for general criteria for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection, SANS 17020, published by the South African Bureau of Standards;

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"steam generator"

means any apparatus to convert water continuously into steam at a pressure higher than that due to the atmosphere and where the heat is derived from a source other than steam, and includes any super heater or economiser which is an integral part of a steam generator or is separately fired there from, fired steam and hot-water boilers, waste-heat boilers, waste-incineration boilers, and electrode or immersion-type electrically heated boilers;

 

Notes:

(a) Note that only steam generators with a design pressure equal to or greater than 50 kPa are included in the PER
(b) Autoclaves that generate steam shall be classified as steam generators. All others remain as pressure vessels.

 

"the Act"

means the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993);

 

Notes:

(a) None

 

"transportable gas container"

means any refillable vessel for the storage and conveyance of liquefied, dissolved or compressed gases, of water capacity from 0,5 litres to 3 000 litres;

 

Notes:

(a) Transportable gas container has the same meaning as the term "pressure receptacle" as defined in SANS 10019.
(b) Transportable gas containers smaller than 0,5 litres are not regulated but shall be manufactured to a relevant health and safety standard when available.
(c) Non refillable refrigerant, LP gas, butane and propane pressure receptacles compliant to SANS 10019 are deemed to be included in this definition.
(d) Where LP gas, butane or propane is used as propellants only, within non refillable pressure receptacles these are excluded from the PER.
(e) Mobile air compressors or transportable pressure vessels containing air are deemed not to be transportable gas containers but pressure vessels.

 

"unique mark"

means the mark and accreditation reference number of the approved inspection authority.

 

Notes:

(a) Accreditation reference number is the PER number (approval number) issued by the Department of Labour