Commission Regulation (EC) No 1497/2007 of 18 December 2007 establishing, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, standard leakage checking requirements for stationary fire protection systems containing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2007-12-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: degree of pollution, environmental risk prevention, environmental standard, fire protection, greenhouse gas, pollution control

L 333/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.12.2007

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1497/2007

of 18 December 2007

establishing, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the
Council, standard leakage checking requirements for stationary fire protection systems containing
certain fluorinated greenhouse gases

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(6) Where there is a presumption of a leakage, it should be
followed up by a check to identify and repair it.

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on certain
fluorinated greenhouse gases (1), and in particular Article 3(7)
thereof,

Whereas:

(7)

(8)

(9)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

intercon-
In fire protection systems comprising several
nected containers installed in response to a specific fire
risk in a defined space,
fluorinated
greenhouse gases should be calculated on the basis of
the total charge of those containers in order to ensure
the checks corresponds to the
that
effective charge of fluorinated greenhouse gases.

the frequency of

the charge of

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006, records for
fire protection systems shall contain certain information.
In order to ensure the effective implementation of Regu-
lation (EC) No 842/2006, it is appropriate to provide for
further
information to be entered into the system
records.

Information on the fluorinated greenhouse gas charge
should be included in the system records. Where the
fluorinated greenhouse gas charge is unknown,
the
operator of the fire protection system concerned should
ensure that certified personnel determine that charge in
order to facilitate the leakage checking.

the

leakage

Before
certified
check is
personnel should carefully go through the information
contained in the system records
to determine any
previous issues and consult previous reports.

carried out,

to ensure an efficient

In order
the
leakage checks should focus on those parts of the fire
protection system which are most likely to leak.

leakage control,

(1) OJ L 161, 14.6.2006, p. 1.

Defective
significant
systems
after they have been put into service.

installation of new systems constitutes a
leakage. Therefore, newly installed
risk of
leakage immediately

should be checked for

In order to ensure the effectiveness of the repair to the
system, the follow up check provided for in Regulation
(EC) No 842/2006 should focus on the parts of the
system where leakage has been detected and on the
adjacent parts.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee estab-
by Article 18(1) of Regulation (EC) No
lished
2037/2000 of
the
Council (2),

the European Parliament and of

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation establishes, pursuant
to Regulation (EC)
No 842/2006, the standard leakage checking requirements for
working and temporarily out of operation stationary systems
consisting of one or more interconnected containers including
associated parts installed in response to a specific fire risk in a
defined space, hereinafter ‘fire protection systems’.

This Regulation shall apply to fire protection systems containing
3 kg or more of fluorinated greenhouse gases.

Article 2

System records

1.
The operator shall indicate his name, postal address and
telephone number in the records referred to in Article 3(6) of
Regulation (EC) No 842/2006, hereinafter ‘system records’.

The fluorinated greenhouse gas charge for a fire protection

2.
system shall be indicated in the system records.

(2) OJ L 244, 29.9.2000, p. 1. Regulation as

last amended by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 899/2007 (OJ L 196, 28.7.2007,
p. 24).

19.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 333/5

3. Where the fluorinated greenhouse gas charge for a fire
indicated in the manufacturer's
protection system is not
technical specifications or on the label of
the
operator
is determined by certified
personnel.

that system,

ensure

shall

that

it

Article 3

Checking system records

Before carrying out
1.
shall check the system records.

leakage checks, certified personnel

Special attention shall be paid to relevant information on

2.
any repeating issues or problem areas.

Article 4

Visual and manual checks

To identify damage

certified
1.
personnel shall carry out visual checks of operating controls,
containers, components and connections which are under
pressure.

and signs of

leakage,

Any presumption of fluorinated greenhouse gas leakage in
2.
the fire protection system shall be checked by certified
personnel.

One or more of the following situations shall constitute a

3.
presumption of leakage:

(a) a fixed leakage detection system indicates leakage;

(d) other signs indicating charge loss.

4.
Pressure gauges and weight-monitoring devices shall be
checked once every 12 months to ensure their proper func-
tioning.

Article 5

Repair of leakage

The operator shall ensure that a repair or a replacement is
1.
carried out by personnel certified to undertake that specific
activity.

The operator shall ensure that a leakage test is carried out

2.
prior to recharging.

Article 6

Follow-up check

Certified personnel shall, when carrying out the follow-up check
referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 3(2) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 842/2006, focus on those areas where leakages
have been found and repaired as well as on adjacent areas in
cases where stress has been applied during the repair.

Article 7

Requirements for newly commissioned systems

Newly installed systems shall be checked for leakage imme-
diately after they have been put into service.

(b) a

container

shows
temperature, of more than 10 %;

loss

a

in pressure,

adjusted for

Article 8

Entry into force

(c) a container shows a loss in extinguishant quantity of more

than 5 %;

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 18 December 2007.

For the Commission

Stavros DIMAS
Member of the Commission