Explosives for civil uses

Directive 2014/28/EU on explosives for civil use specifies in detail the essential requirements the product needs to meet in order for the manufacturer to affix the CE marking.

The directive refers to explosives defined as ‘the materials and articles considered to be explosives in the United Nations recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods and falling within Class 1 of those recommendations’. It does not apply to explosives, including ammunition, intended for use, in accordance with national law, by the armed forces or the police, to pyrotechnic articles or to ammunition, except as provided for in Articles 12 (transfers),13 (security derogations) and 14 (information exchange) of the directive.

The essential requirements specified in Annex II to the directive encompass the minimum safety requirements and rules the product design, construction and ultimately that the final product must conform to. Among others, the rules require that each explosive device must be disposable in a manner that minimises its effect on the environment. For further details, please consult Annex II and in general, please carefully consult Directive 2014/28/EU to ensure that your product complies with all the essential requirements.

A notified body verifies the compliance of a product by conducting a conformity assessment. It also ensures that the technical documentation sufficiently supports product compliance. If the notified body is involved in the production control phase, its identification number will follow the CE marking.

The conformity assessment procedures for explosives for civil use to be followed prior to affixing the CE Marking on the products are set out in Annex III to the directive.

Manufacturers can choose between 2 procedures for assessing the conformity of explosives with the harmonised safety requirements set out in the directive.

The first option is the EU-type examination (Module B, referred to in Annex III to the Directive) accompanied by one of the following four supplementary procedures, which are all described in Annex III to the Directive

• the conformity to type assessment based on internal production control (Module C2)

• the production quality assurance procedure (Module D)

• the product quality assurance procedure (Module E)

• the product verification procedure (Module F)

The second option is the unit verification procedure (Module G) referred to in Annex III.

The manufacturer will then draw up and sign the EU declaration of conformity, in accordance with the model format set out in Annex IV to the directive.

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