Valves and Fittings for Gas Appliances - CE Certification

Please note: this article is applicable only for the EU market.

Regulation Update: On April 21st, 2018 the Gas Appliances Directive (GAD) became invalid and was replaced by the Gas Appliances Regulation (GAR). Any product produced after April 21st, 2018 that met GAD historically or will require a certification for usage in gas appliances, will need to meet the new GAR standards before being put on the European market.

Gas Appliances Regulation (GAR)

The Gas Appliance Regulation is a legal document that imposes essential requirements for high safety, health and environmental protection within the gas appliances product sector in a general format. Manufacturers must assess the conformity of their products with these requirements before placing them on the EU market. This can be achieved using technical solutions provided by Harmonised European Standards adopted for this regulation for different product types. For a more in-depth study over the essential requirements of this regulation, you may refer to the official publication of the Gas Appliances Regulation.

According to GAR, all appliances burning gaseous fuels and all fittings that are separately marketed for trade use and designed to be incorporated into an appliance burning gaseous fuels, must meet the essential requirements laid down under the Gas Appliances Regulation. The scope of this regulation is limited to appliances used for cooking, heating, hot water production, refrigeration, lighting, or washing (including ironing) purposes and fittings. Fittings are defined as any safety devices, controlling devices, regulating devices, or sub-assemblies. For example, a solenoid valve or a ball valve could be considered as a fitting in this context.

The table below are provided by GAR to show a list of appliances and fittings that must meet the new regulations:

Types	Appliances/Fitting Location	Exceptions
Cooking	- hotplate - cooker - barbecue/grill - baking oven (also in-shop type) - oven (also in-shop type) - range - steamer - bain marie - hot cupboard - boiling table - grill - griddle - toaster - fryer - brat pan - coffee machine (even if the water temperature in a short period exceeds 105° C) - wok cooker - humidifiers (based on the heat generation method, the appliance can also be used for heating)	- factory baking oven
Heating	- forced draught burner (FDB) - heating body (to be equipped with FDB) - gas fire - convector heater - decorative fuel effect appliance - catalytic heater - air heater with or without ducting - overhead plaque type radiant heater - overhead radiant tube heater - patio heater - boiler (inc. district heating) - heat pump (absorption and compression) - green house heater - humidifiers (see under cooking) - co-generation appliances (where the primary function is heating) - fuel cells (where the primary function is heating)	- blow lamp - cutting/brazing equipment - laboratory burner - incinerator - greenhouse heater for industrial use
Hot water production	- instantaneous water heaters - storage water heaters - circulator - combination boiler - swimming pool heater - boiling pan - bulk water boiler - cafe boiler (even if the water temperature in a short period exceeds 105 °C)	- appliances with normal water temperature > 105 °C
Refrigeration	- refrigerator - chiller - deep-freezer - air conditioning
Washing	- wash boiler - washing machine - drying cabinet - tumble dryer- dish washing machine - ironing machine	- industrial laundry
Lighting	- gas lamp - lighting appliances
Fitting Location	- appliance governor - multifunctional control - solenoid valve - flame supervision device - burner control system - ball valve - gas cock - low pressure cut-off valve - gas tap - thermostat - safety overheat thermostat - flue thermostat - pressure sensing device - filter - igniters

Does your valve require a gas appliances approval?

Please utilize our flowchart below to see if your application requires a gas appliance approved valve. For further information, please see our notable exemptions below or contact our technical support for clarification.

Common GAR Product Exemptions:

Listed below are some common exemptions from GAR¹ that is provided by the European Commission:

• Fittings that have no impact to the safe functionality of the appliance, are not considered to be covered. A fitting can be for example a valve or a pressure regulator.
• Fittings, if incorporated into an appliance or assembled to constitute such an appliance before their placing on the market and/or putting into service, are considered as part of the appliance.
• Fittings which are specifically for an appliance manufacturer’s own use, even where this manufacturer is sub-contracted, and therefore are not separately marketed for trade use, are not within the scope.
• Where the connecting hose and a regulator used to connect appliances to the fuel source, are placed on the market together as a complete appliance, they are considered as being part of the appliance which is within the scope of the Regulation. Where a connecting hose is supplied separately, it is not considered to be a fitting and therefore it is not within the scope of the Regulation. When a regulator is supplied separately, it would not normally be considered as a fitting in its own right, unless it is specifically intended for an appliance.
• Components such as, flue dampers, fanned flue systems and flue systems placed on the market with an appliance are considered as part of the appliance.
• This regulation does not apply to products for use on aircrafts and railways.
• This regulation does not apply to products for research purposes for temporary use in laboratories.
• Appliances possessing historic or artistic value and not put into service such as antique or other appliances serving exhibition or collection purposes should not be considered as appliances.
• Appliances specifically designed for use in industrial processes carried out on industrial premises are excluded from the scope of this regulation. The following examples could clarify the situation:

1. 1. Industrial process / non-industrial premises: CE Certification for GAD is necessary. An example of this situation is a supermarket where the main activity is retail sale of groceries to the public, but which has an in-store bakery making products for sale on the premises.
   2. Non-industrial process / industrial premises: CE Certification for GAD is necessary. An example of this situation is the provision of space heating and catering services for employees working in a factory.
   3. Non-industrial process / non-industrial premises: CE Certification for GAD is necessary. This includes domestic and commercial situations.

 

In case you have further questions regarding the scope of this regulation for a specific product, please contact our technical support for consultation.

¹The GAD exclusion for appliances having a normal water temperature exceeding 105°C has been removed under GAR. This would bring gas-fired steam generators, hot water boilers and steam boilers within the scope as long as they are used for one of the purposes listed (eg: space heating).

Notified Bodies

A manufacturer may choose from any of the notified bodies established in any EU Member State as long as they provide conformity assessment services for the targeted Regulation. Notified bodies that can assess conformity of appliances burning gaseous fuels against the relevant EU Regulation include but are not limited to:

• Kiwa Nederland B.V.
• DVGW CERT GmbH
• KIWA LTD T/A KIWA GASTEC

What is compliance to EN 161 and when is it needed?

EN 161 is a harmonised European standard adopted for Gas Appliances Regulation and specifies safety, construction and performance requirements for electrically operated automatic shut-off valves for gas burners and gas appliances. The purpose of these valves is to automatically shut off the source of gas on loss of power. These valves have a maximum inlet pressure up to 5 bar and are designed for combustible gases of the first, second and third family.

Based on Wobbe Index:

• First family gases cover manufactured gases such as town gas (made from coal) and coke-oven gas.
• Second family gases cover natural gases and gases associated with petroleum.
• Third family gases cover liquefied petroleum gases.

Combustion equipment are often designed to burn a fuel gas within a particular family. Automatic shut-off solenoid valves that are designed to be incorporated into an appliance burning gaseous fuels must meet EN 161 requirements.

Repair Operations on a CE Certified Appliance

Replacing a defective or worn part of a CE certified appliance by a spare part which is either identical or similar to the original part without changing the original performance is not considered an alteration to the appliance and is not subject to additional conformity assessment. Furthermore, if the original performance of a product is modified because the spare-parts used for its repair perform better due to technical progress, this product as well is not considered as altered.

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