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Tanks and Transportable Pressure Equipment

Dangerous goods which are  transported by road or rail within Great Britain must comply with the requirements of The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations (CDG 2009) SI 2009, No 1348.  These regulations implement the provisions of the European agreements, ADR, RID and the Transportable Pressure Equipment Directive (TPED) which, amongst other things, requires that tanks and pressure receptacles are tested, inspected and certified before they are first used and periodically thereafter. Only bodies appointed by the competent authority may undertake these tasks.

The Secretary of State for Transport, who is the competent authority for Great Britain, has set up an appointment scheme for conformity assessment and inspection bodies in order to meet these obligations. The scheme, which is operated by The VCA Dangerous Goods Office (VCA DGO), applies to:

• all tanks built for domestic use before 10 May 2004 (UK tanks). The test and inspection procedure for UK tanks can be found HERE
• all tanks built to the standards laid down in RID/ADR
• all transportable pressure equipment

and to bodies performing the functions of:

• verification and certification of the design and/or construction of tanks and transportable pressure equipment and/or
• initial examination and testing of tanks and transportable pressure equipment or examination and testing following a repair or modification to the tank shell and/or
• periodic or intermediate examination and testing of tanks and transportable pressure equipment

Conformity assessment and inspection bodies may be appointed for one or more of the above functions but do not take on the role of the competent authority, responsibility for which remains with VCA DGO (administrative) and The Department for Transport Dangerous Goods Division (policy).

Details of VCA appointed bodies can be found here Conformity assessment and inspection bodies,

Application for Appointment

Companies or individuals must be accredited to EN ISO17020, "General Criteria for the Operation of Various Types of Bodies Performing Inspection", by the United Kingdom Accreditation service (UKAS) before an appointment is made. However, in some circumstances, a temporary appointment may be made whilst accreditation is sought but this will be strictly time-limited

General guidance for potential applicants is given below.

• Application for accreditation to ISO 17020 should be made to UKAS directly. Details can be obtained from their web site. (www.ukas.com)(opens a new browser window)
• At the same time, application should be made to VCA DGO to minimise any delay in processing. An application form can be found here:

,Application for Appointment as an Inspection Body (PDF 217.3KB)

• Information regarding appointments will be exchanged between VCA DGO and UKAS as necessary to facilitate the appointment.
• When a temporary appointment is made to facilitate the accreditation process it will be for a maximum period of 12 months and no extension or further temporary appointment of the applicant may be made. It is therefore essential that accreditation be achieved within that period if there is to be no discontinuity in the applicant's ability to undertake inspections. It should be noted that when offered, temporary appointment for transportable pressure equipment will be restricted to old pressure receptacles (i.e. non-TPED for GB use only) as TPED pressure equipment may only be inspected by bodies notified to the European Commission and only bodies who have gained accreditation may be so notified
• Applicants should be aware that it may take several weeks for the appointment to be made once accreditation has been granted and must take this into account when scheduling regulated work.

Authorisation 289

If you have a query relating to Authorisation [289] issued under the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations relating to certain road tank vehicles, please contact Wonett Hall at the Department for Transport by telephone on 0207 944 2251 or by e-mail wonett.hall@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Fees

UKAS  charge a fee for accreditation, details of which should be obtained from them.

VCA DGO charge fees for functions relating to appointment according to the following scale:

• Initial appointment as an Appointed Person or Appointed Body: £1000.00
• Variation or extension of scope: £300.00
• Annual fee for maintaining existing appointments: £600.00

VAT is not applicable.

(Fees correct at September 2011)