§ Baroness Gardner of Parkesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether collectors' working models of steam-powered road and rail vehicles, old and new, will be exempted from the new proposed pressure equipment regulations; and whether they will be exempted in other European Union member states. [HL4095]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThe Pressure Equipment Regulations 1999 set out the essential safety requirements for the design and manufacture of pressure equipment placed on the market or put into service in the Community for the first time. They do not apply to the use, maintenance and repair of such equipment. The regulations do not apply, however, to the manufacture and import of pressure equipment for own non-commercial use and it is therefore only where equipment is manufactured in the course of business that the manufacturer must ensure that it meets the requirements of the regulations. All member states have a duty to transpose the directive (which these regulations implement in the UK), which does not contain an exemption for model steam-powered road and rail vehicles. However, it is important to note that for those with a pressurised volume of no more than two litres they will only have to manufacture to current sound engineering practice and not with the essential requirements.