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IEC SYSTEM FOR CERTIFICATIONTO STANDARDS RELATING TO EQUIPMENTFOR USE IN EXPLOSIVE ATMOSPHERES
Unit Verification Certificates
Ron Sinclair
The Baseefa Experience
What is Unit Verification ?
The certification of a defined item (or items) of equipment by serial number without the existence of a QAR
For IECEx purposes, also includes “Product Verification” as defined within ATEX
ATEX has two separate conformity assessment modules paralleling the single procedure in IECEx
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ATEX 94/9/EC comparison
Annex III – EC-Type Examination
Annex IV – Production Quality Assurance
Annex V – Product Verification
Annex VI – Conformity to Type
Annex VII – Product Quality Assurance
Annex VII – Internal Control of Production
Annex IX – Unit Verification
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ATEX 94/9/EC comparison
Top Level Documents
IECEx – Certificate of ConformityIssued by ExCB having considered both ExTR and QAR (Type 5 Certification)
ATEX – Declaration of ConformityIssued directly by the manufacturer without certification body (Notified Body) involvement (Not Type 5 Certification)Based on separate documents for different modules (May be EC-Type Examination Certificate + QAN)
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ATEX 94/9/EC comparison
Unit Verification (single document)
Intended for single items or small numbers of items manufactured at the same time
Cannot be used for repeat orders
Documentation can be simplified“As built” drawings without tolerancesPhotographs
Every item fully tested and inspected
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ATEX 94/9/EC comparison
Product Verification (two documents)
Chosen by some manufacturers as an alternative to Production QA
May be applied to repeated batches of items
EC-Type Examination Certificate (design) plus Product Verification Certificate (inspection and routine test of each item)
Type Examination documents as if for serial production with QAN (toleranced drawings)
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Baseefa recommendation - ATEX
The work for Unit Verification is only slightly less than for EC-Type Examination plus Product Verification
Normally Unit Verification will be poorer value for money as the work cannot be carried forward easily for later production
Using the Product Verification route costs very little more and provides “future proofing”
Baseefa has one customer that gets a batch of about 15 items examined twice a year
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Application within IECEx
Unit Verification Certificate introduced within the last year
Can do the equivalent of both ATEX modules as the split can be made at ExTR level to cover the equivalent of ATEX Unit Verification and ATEX Product Verification
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Unit Verification
ExCB and ExTL issue a single ExTR
Contains all the Type Test and Assessment information
Contains the inspection information for all the individual items identified by serial number on the associated Unit Verification Certificate
IECEx Unit Verification Certificate issued listing single ExTR
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Product Verification (equivalent)
ExCB and ExTL issue a “normal” ExTR covering the Type Tests and Assessments for the product
ExCB and ExTL issue a separate ExTR covering Routine Tests and Inspection records for each individual identified batch of equipment to be listed on the Unit Verification Certificate.
This can be repeated each time there is a new batch of equipment
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Product Verification (continued)
IECEx Unit Verification Certificate issued listing both ExTRs
A new IECEx Unit Verification Certificate can be issued each time a batch of equipment is inspected and subjected to routine tests, based on the original “normal” ExTR plus a new ExTR for the inspection and routine test aspects
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Baseefa Experience
Frequent use of the EC-Type Examination Certificate plus Product Verification route for ATEX
Single issued IECEx Unit Verification Certificate to date
Provides some useful discussion points
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