Materials are in contrast to components when they are manufactured by qualified and certified material manufacturers who can provide the corresponding material certificates which prove that the requirements of the harmonised material standard or material specification are fulfilled.
Where a material manufacturer has an appropriate quality-assurance system, certified by a competent body established within the Union and having undergone a specific assessment for materials, certificates issued by the manufacturer are presumed to certify conformity with the relevant requirements of this point.
For the main pressure-bearing parts of equipment in categories II, III and IV, this shall take the form of a certificate of specific product control e. g. 3.1 EN 10204.
Materials
Forgings (including forged flanges), castings and seamless tubes and seamless fittings are generally considered to be materials. Fittings made from these “materials” without sub-sequent welding or other process which could alter the material characteristics are also considered to be materials.
Continuously machine-welded tubes, i.e. tubes made from coils as starting materials in an automatic process, which are usually heat treated after welding shall be in the terms of certification procedures considered as materials provided the essential safety requirements (ESRs) of Annex I section 4 “Materials” as well as applicable ESRs of Annex I section 3 “Manufacturing” (in particular 3.1.2 and 3.1.3) are fulfilled.
Components
Welded components or other components made of “materials” whose properties change due to heating or forming are components and not materials, this applies for example to from plates manufactured welded pipes, welded heads, welded pipe fittings, tube bundle of heat exchanger or other welded components such as rings, flanges.
Components manufactured from materials such as plates, coils and bars shall meet all the relevant essential safety requirements related to the manufacturing process, e.g. welding, bending, forming. If the components are manufactured by a subcontractor such as welding, forming and/or heat treatment, the pressure equipment manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of the PED are met.
