Certificates and Approvals Related to Pressure Transmitters

Pressure sensors have different approvals and certifications in terms of environmental, regional, and various applications. For example, some certificates like CE are used for trade in a specific region such as Europe, others such as ATEX for the use of sensors in hazardous and explosive areas, EHEDG for hygienic applications, and some are utilized in marine and shipbuilding industries. Some of these certificates will be explained in the following:

Pressure Transmitters Certificates

CE

CE refers to the French “Conformite Europeenne” which indicates that the pressure sensor is designed in accordance with the EU standards of health, safety, and environmental requirements and is licensed for trade in the European Economic Area. 

Manufacturers in the European Union (EU) and abroad for market and selling their products in European countries must produce their products in accordance with the applicable principles of the CE standard in order to receive the CE mark.

ATEX

ATEX derives from its French name: ATmosphères EXplosibles is a European directive that addresses the requirements and regulations for the safety of electrical and mechanical equipment in hazardous areas (areas prone to explosion) in accordance with the EU / 94 / EC Directive. 

If an electrical or electronic device is officially ATEX certified, it means that it has been fully tested and evaluated for work in hazardous and explosive environments. ATEX certification of products is compulsory for the equipment used in potentially hazardous areas in all EU member states.

IEC 

International Electrotechnical Commission known as IEC is an organization that provides and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic, and related equipment. 

It is usually used to refer to one of the 13 power connectors defined by specification IEC 60320. Also, IEC relates more to the C13 and C14 connectors used by most computers and many AC-powered electronic instruments to connect the AC power.

IECEx

IECEx stands for Certification by the International Commission on Electrotechnics for Explosive Atmospheres. To achieve IECEx certification, all products must be monitored through the International Electrotechnical Commission to ensure the required level of safety. 

This process will determine whether the products can be used in hazardous areas or potentially explosives. This international certification facilitates international trade in equipment and services for use in explosive environments.

UL

Underwriter Laboratories or UL for short Approve devices, systems, and materials based on industry standards to determine their relation to hazards to life and property, and issue standards and certifications. 

This organization is responsible for testing products, devices, and systems safety and removing dangers of fire and electric shock caused by electric products with the goal of enhancing employee and consumer safety. 

UL also sets standards for manufacturers that innovate new products. Electrical engineering, fire prevention, anti-theft and alarms, heating and air conditioning, injuries and chemical injuries, and shipping engineering are technical sectors related to UL standards. 

UL certification involves listing certification and recognition certification. The Listing certification is generally associated with a final product, while the recognition certification is for the parts contained in a product. 

SMC’s valves and switches are mainly parts that must be included in a product and are subject to the identification certification. The products that have UL certificates are given a CCN (category control number) based on the product classification. 

A CCN, originally, contains four letters and a digit number. There are C-UL and C-UL-US variations of UL's Listing mark: C-UL mark means conformity to CSA standards. CSA standard The United States and Canada provide a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for the recognition of certifications by the other. 

When a product is approved by UL according to Canadian standards (CSA standards), the certification mark for the said product will be the C-UL mark which means conformity to CSA standards and has been evaluated to Canadian safety requirements. C-UL-US The optional C-UL-US mark indicates that the product was tested by UL and is in conformity with both Canadian and U.S. requirements.

FDA

FDA stands for Food and Drug Administration and this organization is a subsidiary of the United States Department of Health and is responsible for examining the status of all products. 

This certificate is the recognition of the manufacturing company by the FDA regarding the hygiene of the company's products and also is the order to import the products of that company. 

The FDA's export certification presents the agency's official confirmation about the status of the agency's oversight or product marketing, according to the information available at the time of issuance of the FDA certificate (including, if necessary, certificates offered by the applicant). Any manufacturer wishing to export such products to the United States or import them must obtain a set of related FDA licenses and approvals.

EHEDG 

EHEDG stands for the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group and has developed standards and techniques for checking and certifying devices according to the latest research and latest technologies. 

It provides guidelines to make sure high-quality production and processing equipment for the safety of all food products. 

EHEDG laboratories are allowed to perform extensive testing related to sanitary engineering and offer standards and requirements for devices used in food production and processing. It helps minimize food safety risks through high-quality devices and reduces cleaning costs with clean-in-place (CIP) technology.

Ship Approvals

DNV (Det Norske Veritas) 

It is an independent foundation and the industry leader in Marine Accreditation. DNV is a reputable international registration and classification organization that provides services to several industries including maritime, oil and gas, renewable energy, electricity, food and beverage, and healthcare aimed at safeguarding life, property, and the environment. It provides a uniform set of rules and procedures, used in evaluating the risk of underwriting individual vessels. The DNV helps the maritime industry to manage the hazards and risks in all stages of the life of a ship, through the classification of the ship, issuing legal certification, testing of fuel, and a range of technical, business risk, and financial and competency-related services. Also, DNV primarily offers technical support to ship owners, builders, and operators to allow them to comply with certifications and classification services needed to meet the technical regulations for the shipping industry. Each ship is required to obtain this certificate for its shipping activities.

LRS (Lloyd’s Register of Shipping) 

LRS, ship classification institute of England, is a technical and commercial services organization and a maritime rating association wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a British charity dedicated to research and development in science and engineering. The stated goals of this organization are classification, compliance, and consultancy services to the marine and offshore industries and to increase the safety of life, property, and the environment by assessing and certifying ships, systems, and facilities to help shipowners, operators, and builders (through accreditation, certification, and accreditation) to ensure the quality of design, construction, production and operation of their critical infrastructure and assets to the highest levels of safety and performance.LRS rules and regulations for the classification of ships ensure that all registered vessels are safely operated within the laws of the relevant nations.

BV (Bureau Veritas) 

Bureau Veritas is a global leader in laboratory testing, inspection, and certification providing high-quality services. Bureau Veritas helps its clients improve their performance by delivering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure, and processes meet standards, regulations, and the growing challenges of quality, health and safety, environmental protection, and social responsibility. Also, it provides information for clients that enables them to evaluate the reliability of ships and equipment and to confirm the protection of people and property.

ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) 

ABS is one of the world’s leading ship classification societies that has been committed to establishing standards for safety and excellence and classification, technical, and regulatory services to help and advance the marine and offshore energy industries. It confirms that marine vessels and offshore structures such as all materials, equipment, and machinery comply with safety rules, guides, standards, and other criteria that the organization has established for design, construction, and periodic survey to promote their safe design and assembly. ABS works with the marine industry throughout the world as they create new technologies for constructing marine vessels and offshore structures, revising and updating its certifications to fulfill the changing industry needs.

GL (Germanischer Lloyd) 

GL, another pure ship classification society, and maritime and corporate service is known as a leading player in maritime risk assessment and certification. It ensures that new buildings and constructions, existing fleets, shipyards, and port facilities comply with international regulations, recognized standards and rules on security, safety, quality, performance, seafarers' operation, and living conditions as well as environmental issues. GL provides sophisticated technical services available for all safety and risk issues of installations related to energy production, storage, and transportation.

NKK (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai) 

Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, known as ClassNK or often in the industry as just “NK”, is an international ship classification society and an accredited certification body dedicated to safer, cleaner seas. NK is actively participating in a growing range of ship-related activities and services with the goal of contributing to promoting the protection of human life and property at sea and also the protection of the marine environment. Its responsibility is to ensure that new buildings and existing ships are compliant with the rules and standards which it has developed to ensure their safety.

RS (Russian Maritime Register of Shipping) 

RS is a leading global classification society closely engaged in ice ships, high-tech icebreakers, and ice-resistant equipment to promote offshore oil-and-gas fields. Its goal is to provide standards that ensure the safety of life at sea, the safety of navigation, safe carriage of goods by sea and in inland waters, minimizing the negative impact of human activities on the environment, and preventing environmental pollution through based risk assessment and risk management procedures.

CCS (China Classification Society) 

CSS is a professional,world-leading certification and non-profit-making body that provides classification services. The target of this ship technical inspection agency is to present legal services and technical specifications and standards for the shipping, shipbuilding, offshore development, and related manufacturing industries and maritime insurance for the enhancing and safeguarding of the safety of life and property at sea and for the prevention of pollution and contamination to the environment of the ocean. CSS not only had activities in the field of ships but also provide services in the field of renewable energy, transportation, infrastructure, and large steel structure.

KR (Korean Register of Shipping) 

KR is an internationally recognized not-for-profit ship classification society aimed at promoting safe ships and clean oceans by continually providing technology and human resources related to shipping, shipbuilding, and other industrial services. This world-leading organization offers technical advice to the maritime industry to ensure the safeguards of life, property, and the environment through the promotion of excellence in its regulations and standards. KR offers a range of certification services to help users register their vessels and work them in a safe and responsible channel in their service life. You can see our selection of pressure sensors by clicking here. 

RINA (Registro Italiano Navale) 

RINA is a multinational and Italian classification society involved in the maritime transport sector. It developed its services in the field of classification, certification, testing, and inspection across maritime, energy, industrial, rail, transport, environmental, and other fields. RINA services in the assessment, control, certification, and research are in compliance with national and international rules and standards to cover risks related to lose or damage of the body and rigging of sailing ships and meet the needs of maritime operators.

You can also read the following article to get more familiar with pressure sensors:

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