EEMUA 223 : 2010

Pertains to 'in-service' situations, such as testing after major modification, significant repair or re-rating, rather than new build.

This Publication relates to “in-service” situations, such as testing after majormodification, significant repair or re-rating, rather than new build. It has beendeveloped to assist owners and operators of pressure equipment to determinewhere it may be permissible to waive a hydrostatic pressure test beforere-introducing equipment into service and instead rely on other forms of integrityassurance.As explained in the previous Section, new equipment may or may not behydrostatically tested. The focus of this Guide is on vessels, pipework and othercomponents which may be found in pressure systems and which wouldtraditionally be hydrostatically tested during new build and where today, inservice, a pressure test waiver may be justified.The Guide does not at this stage major on the in-service considerations of plantand equipment where safety assurance during new build is developed bytechniques other than hydrostatic testing. However, it is envisaged that suchguidance could form part of a future edition of this publication.The contents of this Guide are primarily relevant to systems and pressureequipment covered by the UK Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR), butare also applicable to other pressure equipment normally subject to pressuretesting to safeguard against loss of containment. This Publication does not coverthe special case of atmospheric storage tanks; users are referred instead to theguidance in EEMUA Publication 159.The key aspects of pressure testing existing (in-service rather than new) pressureequipment are discussed. The relative advantages of pressure testing and nondestructiveexamination are described. A specimen form is provided to formalisean assessment of the need to pressure test and to record, where applicable, thejustification for waiving one.This publication has been prepared by the Engineering Equipment and MaterialsUsers’ Association, in consultation with the GB Health and Safety Executive.