CELEX: 51978PC0121
Language: en
Date: 1978-03-22
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE LIMITATION OF THE NOISE EMITTED BY COMPRESSORS

N o C 94/2                         Official Journal of the European Communities                              19. 4. 78
                                                          II
                                                  (Preparatory Acts)
                                             COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Directive on the limitation of the noise emitted by compressors
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on S April 1978)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       relating to common provisions for constructional
                                                               plant and equipment, in particular, has laid down the
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   procedures for EEC type-approval and EEC
European Economic Community, and in particular                 verification; whereas it is necessary, pursuant to that
Article 100 thereof,                                           Directive, to prescribe the harmonized requirements
                                                               which each category of equipment must satisfy;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                               Whereas Council Directive . . . of . . . on the
Having regard to the opinion of the European                   approximation of the laws of the Member States
Parliament,                                                    relating to the measurement of the sound level of
                                                               constructional plant and equipment laid down the
                                                               method which should be used for establishing the
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and               acoustic criteria for compressors;
Social Committee,
                                                               Whereas owing to the effect of the noise emitted by
Whereas the 1973 and 1977 action programmes of
                                                               compressors on the environment and, more
the European Communities on the environment (*)
                                                               particularly, on human wellbeing and health, it is
reflect the importance of the problem of noise
                                                               necessary to bring about a progressive and
 nuisance and in particular the need for action to
                                                               appreciable reduction in the permissible sound
regulate the worst noise sources;
                                                               emission level of compressors;
Whereas disparity between the measures already
                                                               Whereas it is appropriate to set a sound emission
applicable or in preparation in the various Member
                                                               level applicable until 31 December 1982 and that
 States concerning the limitation of the sound
                                                               from 1 January 1983 more stringent restrictions
emission level of compressors creates unequal
                                                               should come into force;
 conditions of competition and thereby directly affects
the functioning of the common market; whereas it is
 therefore appropriate to carry out in that field the          Whereas it is necessary to be able to regulate the use
 approximation of laws for which Article 100 of the            of compressors in certain areas considered to be
 Treaty provides;                                              particularly sensitive so as to limit the nuisance
                                                               caused by the airborne noise emitted by such
 Whereas Council Directive . . . of . . . on the               compressors;
 approximation of the laws of the Member States
                                                               Whereas technical provisions must be adapted rapidly
                                                               to technical advances; whereas it is necessary to this
 (*) OJ N o C 112, 20. 12. 1973 and OJ N o C 139,              end to provide for the application of the procedure
     13. 6. 1977.                                              set out in Article 21 of the Council Directive o f . . . ,
 ---pagebreak--- 19. 4. 78                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                          No C 94/3
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                                                         Sound power level in dB (A) / 1 pW
                                                                        Corrected nominal
                                                                            air flow (')
                                                                              m'/min.              to 31. 12. 1982        from 1. 1. 1983
                         Article 1
                                                                                  <    1                102                     95
1.    This Directive applies to compressors. It lays                  1 < and < 10                      100                     95
down maximum permissible values for sound levels                     10 <         <30                   104                     99
of such equipment and prescribes the method of
                                                                                  > 30                  106                    101
measurement of that sound.
                                                                  (') International Standard ISO 1217, first edition, 1975.
2.     This is a Special Directive within the meaning of
Article 3 (2) of the Council Directive of
hereinafter called the 'outline Directive'.
                                                                  2.      Each Member State shall prescribe in its
                                                                  legislative measures whichever of the two procedures
                                                                  mentioned in Article 2 (1) and (2) of the outline
                         Article 2                                Directive         —       EEC       type-approval           or      EEC
                                                                  type-verification — it applies for the approval of
For the purposes of this Directive:                               compressors.
1. 'compressor' means any motor-driven device for                 3.      EEC type-approval or the EEC type-verification
    circulating and compressing air other than the                 certificate shall be granted for a period of five years,
    following two categories of device:                           renewable on application for a further period of five
                                                                  years.
    — fans, i.e. devices producing air circulation at a
        compression ratio of about 1.1,
                                                                                                  Article 5
    — vacuum pumps, i.e. devices or appliances for
        extracting air from an enclosed space at a
        pressure not exceeding atmospheric pressure;               1.      Every application for approval of a compressor
                                                                  as to the permissible sound emission level shall be
                                                                  accompanied by an information document, the model
2. 'approval' means the EEC type-approval or EEC                   of which is given in Annex II.
    verification procedures laid down in Article 2 ( 1 )
    and (2) of the Council Directive o f . . .
                                                                  2.      For every type of compressor which it approves
                                                                   the Member State shall complete all the sections of
                                                                   the document of which the model is given in Annex
                          Article 3                               III to the outline Directive.
                                                                  3.       For every type of compressor for which it issues
The Member States shall adopt all provisions
                                                                   a certificate, the authorized authority shall complete
necessary to ensure that compressors' as defined in
                                                                   all the sections of the document of which the model is
Article 2 shall not be placed on the market unless
                                                                   given in Annex III to the outline Directive.
they satisfy the provisions of this Directive and the
outline Directive. They may carry out controls,
though these should be limited to spot checks.                     4.      For every compressor built in conformity with
                                                                   the approved type or certified by an EEC
                                                                   type-verification the manufacturer shall complete the
                                                                   certificate of conformity of which the model is given
                          Article 4                                 in Annex IV of the outline Directive and shall state,
                                                                   in the columns for type-approval or certification of
                                                                   EEC type-verification, the date of approval or of the
 1.    The Member States shall grant type-approval                 EEC type-verification certificate.
 or, in the event of EEC type-verification, the
 authorized      authorities     shall    give    an    EEC
type-verification certificate to every type of
 compressor for which the sound power level of                                                    Article 6
 airborne noise, measured in the conditions set out in
 the Annex to Council Directive..., amended by                     Every compressor built in conformity with the
Annex I to this Directive, does not exceed the                     approved           type     or     certified        by     an       EEC
 permissible level as specified in the following table.            type-verification shall bear a clear, indelible and
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 94/4                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                  19. 4. 78
durable mark indicating the sound power level in                                              Article 9
dB(A) with reference to 1 pW guaranteed by the
manufacturer and determined in the conditions set                Each Member State shall communicate to the other
out in the Annex to the Council Directive of . . . as            Member States and the Commission a list of
amended by Annex I to this Directive. The model for              authorities authorized to carry out type-approval or
such a mark is given in Annex III to this Directive.             EEC type-verification of compressors and to issue
                                                                 EEC type-approval documents or EEC type-verifica-
                                                                 tion certificates with respect to the permissible sound
                         Article 7                               level, as well as all later amendments to these lists.
1.    Member States shall not prohibit, on grounds
relating to the permissible sound level, the sale,                                           Article 10
placing in service or use for its intended purpose of
any compressor accompanied by the certificate of                  1.     Member States shall bring into force the
conformity referred to in Article 5 (4) which is                 measures needed in order to comply with this
marked as described in Article 6.                                Directive within eighteen months of its notification.
                                                                 They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
2.    Member States shall take measures to regulate
the use of compressors in areas which they consider              2.      As from notification of this Directive, the
particularly sensitive.                                          Member States shall inform the Commission in good
                                                                 time for it to make its comments on all draft
                                                                 legislative, regulatory and administrative measures
                                                                 which they propose to take in this field.
                         Article 8
Amendments necessary to bring Annexes I, II and III
of this Directive into line with technical advances                                          Article 11
shall be adopted in conformity with the procedure
provided for in Article 21 of the outline Directive.              This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                          ANNEX 1
                   METHOD OF MEASURING AIRBORNE NOISE EMITTED BY COMPRESSORS
              SCOPE
              This measurement method is applicable to compressors. It specifies the test procedures for
              use in determining the sound power level of such equipment for the purpose of its EEC type-
              approval or EEC type-verification and testing of its conformity. These technical procedures
              comply with the requirements of the Annex to the Council Directive of . . . relating to
              determination of airborne noise emitted by machines and equipment used outdoors.
              All the points in the Annex to the Council Directive o f . . . relating to determination of airborne
              noise emitted by machines and equipment used outdoors apply to compressors, subject to the
              following amendments:
              4. Criteria for the expression of results
                 4.1. The acoustic criterion for the environment of compressors is their sound power level.
                 4.2. Not applicable.
 ---pagebreak--- 19. 4. 78                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            N o C 94/5
          6. Conditions of measurement
              6.1. During testing no tools are to be coupled to the compressor. The noise level of release
                   and escape of air from the external lines coupled to the air outlet valves of compressors
                   must be more than 10 dB lower at the measuring points than the noise level of the
                   compressor.
              6.2. Operation of the sound source during tests
                   6.2.1. Not applicable.
                   6.2.2. The compressor must be brought to its steady-state (oil) temperature within the
                           range specified by the manufacturer. It must operate at its nominal speed and its
                           nominal pressure (*).
                           In these operating conditions the air flow is to be checked as laid down in Inter-
                          national Standard ISO 1217, first edition, 1975.
              6.3. Test environment
                   The compressor is to be installed on a reflecting plane of concrete or non-porous asphalt.
                   Skid-mounted compressors are to be placed on supports 0 40 m high.
              6.4. Measurement surface
                   The measurement surface to be used for testing is a hemisphere. The centre of the
                   hemisphere is to be the vertical projection on to the reflecting plane of the geometric
                   centre of the compressor. The radius is to be:
                   — 4 m where the greatest dimension (length, width or height) of the compressor to be
                       tested is not more than 1-5 m;
                   — 10 m where the greatest dimension of the compressor to be tested is more than 1-5 m
                       but not more than 4 m;
                   — 15 m where the greatest dimension of the compressor to be tested is more than 4 m.
                   Table I in the Annex to the Council Directive of . . . gives the coordinates of the
                   measuring points.
                   However, where the radius is 15 m, only the eight points on the lower horizontal plane
                   are taken into account.
              6.5. Not applicable.
          7. Performance of the measurements
                   7.1.1. Only the background noise is to be taken into account for the purpose of cor-
                          rections.
          8. Calculation of the results
              8.3. Not applicable.
                   8.6.2. In view of 6-3, 8.6.2. is not to be taken into account anid C = O.
          (') Nominal conditions are those appearing in the directions for use supplied to the purchaser.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 94/6                              Official Journal of the European Communities                 19.4.78
                                                                 ANNEX II
           MODEL INFORMATION DOCUMENT FOR A TYPE OF COMPRESSOR WITH RESPECT
                                                     TO EEC TYPE-APPROVAL
                                                         Permissible sound level
           1. General
               1.1. Name and address of manufacturer
               1.2. Name and address of manufacturer's authorized representative (if any)
               1.3. Make (name of undertaking)
               1.4. Commercial description (mention any variants) (x)
               1.5. Type
               1.6. Location of statutory plates and inscriptions and method of fixing
           2. Dimensions
               2.1. Length                                       m
                     Width                                       m
                     Height                                      m
               2.2. Weight                                       kg
           3. Operating conditions
               3.1. Type of motor
               3.2. Nominal speed                                                          rev./min.
               3.3. Nominal pressure                                                       bar
               3.4. Corrected nominal air flow                                             1/sec.
                                                                                           m3/min.
           (J) Positive displacement (reciprocating or rotary), piston, valve or rotary-vane, etc.
 ---pagebreak--- 19.4. 78         Official Journal of the European Communities No C 94/7
                                    ANNEX III
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