Illustrious lord:

Recently, some anomalies have been revealed that have occurred in the recharge of extinguishers, which make it advisable to modify some articles of the complementary technical instruction MIE-AP-5 of the Regulation of the Pressure, in order to correct as much as possible the aforementioned anomalies.

In its virtue, this Ministry has had to dispose:

First.

Article 1 (1) of the supplementary technical instruction MIE-AP-5 of the Regulation of Apparatus to Pressure, adopted by Order of 31 May 1982, is hereby amended as follows:

" Item 1. Application Field.

The requirements of this complementary technical instruction shall apply to the following mobile or fixed extinguishers:

With powder or halon load not exceeding 100 kilograms.

With water or foam load not exceeding 100 litres.

With carbon dioxide charge not exceeding 10 kilograms. "

Second.

Article 4. of the same supplementary technical instruction shall be worded as follows:

" Art. 4. Type record.

The type record shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of the Rules of Apparatus to Pressure, including in addition to the data indicated below:

a) extinguishing agent and propellant gas to be used, with indication of the quantity thereof.

b) Types of fire for which the fire extinguisher must not be used.

(c) Description of the facilities intended to manufacture the type to be registered, as well as the quality control systems, to be used.

The manufacturer or importer of an extinguisher, the type of which has been registered, is obliged to submit to the competent authority of the Administration a certificate drawn up by a contributing entity, which is empowered to apply of the Rules of Procedure to Pressure, in which it is established that the extinguisher concerned is fully in line with the one in the draft submitted for the registration of type. This certificate shall be added to the test protocol, extended by an accredited laboratory, in which the tests included in the standard UNE-23-110, which by the end of the year, are shown to have been carried out in the extinguisher. Order are made to be enforced.

Those certificates and the protocol of tests shall be submitted to the competent authority at the time of the manufacture in the case of an extinguisher manufactured in Spain and before the importation in the case of an extinguisher originating in Spain. foreign countries.

To request the corresponding design plates to be placed on the extinguishers, national or imported, copies of the certificate and test protocol referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be presented. "

Third.

Article 5. of that supplementary technical instruction shall be drawn up as follows:

" Art. 5. No. Makers, importers and rechargeable.

Manufacturers: They will comply with the provisions of article 9. of the Regulations of Apparatus to Pressure, except the obligation to carry the book of registration and in addition the following conditions:

1. Have at least one Technical entitled, Senior Engineer or Technical Engineer, who will be the technical officer.

2. To be covered by the liability which may be incurred from the action, by means of an insurance policy, with a minimum amount of 5 000 000 pesetas per claim, which must be updated on 1 January of each year, in accordance with the variation of the consumer price index, published by the National Statistics Institute.

Importers: They will comply with the requirements of the manufacturers in points 1 and 2.

Rechargeable: The refills of the fire extinguishers can be performed:

1. For manufacturers, only when they are extinguishing by them manufactured.

2. For importers, only in the case of fire extinguishers imported, if they have previously been authorised by the respective foreign manufacturers, and provided they have at least, according to the types of fire extinguishers, which they are charged with Following installations:

Base powder Tolva.

Installing for halogenated hydrocarbon loading.

Installing compressed air.

Fixed installation for hydraulic testing.

Fixed installation for reloading of driving gases.

3. For companies authorised by the competent authority of the Administration if they meet the following requirements:

(a) Have the authorization of the manufacturer or importer, who in turn has the authorization of the corresponding foreign manufacturer, to recharge the types of extinguishers for which he is requested to be authorized.

b) Dispose in template, at least, a qualified technician, Senior Engineer or Technical Engineer, who will be the technical officer.

c) Having subscribed to a liability insurance policy of at least 25,000,000 pesetas per claim, in order to respond to its actions, which must be updated on 1 January of each year, according to the variation of the consumer price index, published by the National Statistics Institute.

d) Dispose of the facilities referred to in the previous second point, depending on the types of fire extinguishers to be recharged.

4. Where recharging services cannot be taken care of by the manufacturer or the authorised importer or refillators, the competent authority of the Administration may authorise the extinguishers to be recharged by another operator, provided that the which meet the following conditions:

(a) That the manufacturer of the type of extinguisher to be recharged has disappeared or has refused the applicant the authorisation to recharge, indicating, by written communication, the causes of his refusal.

(b) the applicant has at least the means referred to in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of point 3 above and those other than in the opinion of the competent authority of the Administration as it considers appropriate for recharging the type of the extinguisher in question.

c) That the same extinguishing agents, propellant gases and other components authorised in the type register are to be used in the reloading.

d) The rechargeable authorization granted does not authorize the repair of the extinguisher.

Annually, the authorized rechargeable, in accordance with points 3 and 4 above, to continue to act as such, must prove that it has the material and human means mentioned above by presenting the bulletins tc-1 and tc-2 of Social Security contribution to the Social Security of the staff of the staff corresponding to the previous 12 months.

The refillator shall place in any extinguisher that has reloaded a label in which its approval number, name, address and date on which the operation has been carried out, and the owner of the apparatus is also provided. a certificate stating the extinguishing agent, the propellant gas and any observations it deems appropriate. The label shall not cover the original label of the extinguisher in whole or in part.

The manufacturer or importer that is rechargeable will only need the insurance policy required to be a manufacturer or importer.

The reloaders will carry a log book that will feature the fire extinguishers that you reload.

There will be a record in which the authorized reloaders are enrolled. "

Fourth.

Article 7. of the same supplementary technical instruction shall be worded as follows:

" Art. 7. º

The calculation of the extinguishers included in this complementary technical instruction shall be performed in accordance with the UNE-23-110 standard, or with an internationally recognized design code, provided that the thicknesses are not lower than those of the standard, with the limitation that when the test pressure is greater than 60 bar no welded bottles may be used.

The materials that can be used are: Carbon steel, stainless steel and special aluminum alloys: The use of other materials will require authorization from the Steering Center of the Ministry of Industry and Energy. in Industrial Security, prior to the report of a contributing Entity for the application of the Regulation of Apparatus to Pressure.

In any case, the calculation thicknesses shall be increased according to the characteristics of the extinguishing agent in order to compensate for the effects of corrosion if it is not avoided by another procedure. "

Fifth.

The last paragraph of Article 9. of the abovementioned supplementary technical instruction shall be worded as follows:

" The life of the extinguisher shall not exceed 20 years from the date of the first test, after that time limit may not be used as pressure vessel and pressure tests, both initial and periodic, shall be of a hydrostatic type. "

Sixth.

Article 10 of the said supplementary technical instruction shall be as follows:

" Art. 10.

The extinguisher shall be provided with a design plate (see figure 1), which shall bear the following data:

Design pressure (maximum service pressure).

The number of the design board to be assigned to each appliance, which will be unique for each fire extinguisher.

Date of first test and successive, and mark of who performs it.

The fixing of this plate shall be permanent, either by rivet or welding, by being authorised in the extinguishers which do not have the support for the same as the plate is adhered to by another means, provided that its immobility is guaranteed.

These plates, to be provided by the respective competent authorities of the Administration, shall be metallic, with the following thicknesses: Laton and aluminium, between 0,4 and 1,2 millimetres; stainless steel, between 0,1 and 0,8 millimetres. In any case, the action of the external agents, with which they are normally in contact throughout the life of the extinguisher, must be resisted without any appreciable deterioration, so that their indications are legible at all times.

The extinguishers included in point 1.1 of Article 3. of this supplementary technical instruction shall be exempt from the above requirements, which shall bear the statutory markings for the gas cylinders.

All fire extinguishers shall, in addition, be provided with a feature label, which shall contain at least the following data:

The name or social reason of the manufacturer or importer who has registered the type to which the fire extinguisher corresponds.

Maximum and minimum service temperature.

Content and quantity of products.

Effectiveness for portable fire extinguishers according to the UNE-23-110 standard:

Fire types for which the fire extinguisher should not be used.

Job Instructions:

Date and password for the type record.

The design plate and feature label will be written at least in Spanish. "

Seventh.

At the end of the supplemental technical instruction a new item will be added that will say the following:

" Art. 14.

The following rules are declared to be enforced:

UNE-23-110 standard, in its following parts:

Part 1-75. " Fight against fires. Portable fire extinguishers '': Complete.

Part 2-80. 'Portable Fire Extinguishers' ': Point 2.1 (Verification) and 5 (Special Provisions).

Part 3-84. '' Portable Fire Extinguishers '': All.

Part 4-84. " loads. Minimum required homes '': Complete.

Part 5-84. 'Supplementary specifications and tests': points 6 (identification of the extinguisher), 7 (periodic maintenance) and 8 (type C homes). '

Eighth.

The amendments referred to in this Order shall enter into force in the month of their publication in the "Official Gazette of the State", except in those paragraphs requiring the conduct of tests by an accredited laboratory, which will be one year.

Ninth.

The specifications of standard UNE-23-110, part 3-84, "portable fire extinguishers", points 4 (test methods) and 5.3 (tests) shall enter into force five years after the publication of this technical instruction complementary in the "Official State Gazette".

Tenth.

The types of fire extinguishers that have been registered prior to the entry into force of this Order shall be adapted to the requirements of this Order within one year of their publication.

What I communicate to V. I. for its knowledge and effects.

Madrid, 31 May 1985.

CATALAN SOLCHAGA

Ilmo. Mr. Undersecretary.