Does the ATEX directive apply to non-electrical equipment such as pumps, fans and gearboxes?
Abstract
Yes. Directive 2014/34/EU covers any equipment with its own potential ignition source, electrical or not. Pumps, fans, gearboxes, compressors and brakes are in scope; hand tools, ladders and hand-operated valves are not. Assessment follows ISO 80079-36 and -37 (Ex h).
Yes. Directive 2014/34/EU defines equipment by whether it can cause an explosion through its own potential sources of ignition, not by whether it is electrical. Pumps, fans, gearboxes, compressors, mixers and mechanical brakes intended for a potentially explosive atmosphere are therefore in scope when they can create hot surfaces, friction sparks or static charges themselves. Simple items without their own ignition source, such as hand tools, ladders and hand-operated valves, are outside the directive.
Short answer
- Test: does the item, operated as intended (including malfunctions according to its category), have its own potential ignition source? If yes, ATEX applies; if no, it does not, and it must not be ATEX marked.
- Typical in scope: pumps, fans, gearboxes, compressors, mixers, mechanical brakes, rotary valves used for dosing.
- Typical out of scope: hammers, spanners, saws, ladders, hand-operated valves and pumps, tanks and fixed pipework.
- Method: an ignition hazard assessment to ISO 80079-36, with protection by constructional safety "c", control of ignition sources "b" or liquid immersion "k" to ISO 80079-37; marking
Ex h. - Conformity route: category 3 is self-declared; category 2 non-electrical equipment uses internal production control with the technical file lodged at a notified body; category 1 needs EU-type examination.
Why mechanical equipment is covered
Article 2 of 2014/34/EU defines "equipment" as machines, apparatus, devices, control components and instrumentation intended for the generation, transfer, storage, measurement, control and conversion of energy or the processing of material, which are capable of causing an explosion through their own potential sources of ignition. Nothing in that definition limits it to electricity.
The European Commission's ATEX 2014/34/EU Guidelines (6th edition, January 2026) explain that when non-electrical equipment has a potential ignition source, it usually comes from moving parts that can create hot surfaces or friction sparks, and name gears, fans, pumps, compressors, mixers and brakes as examples. Their general list of potential ignition sources also includes electrostatic discharges, flames and hot gases, and compression. Before ATEX, European directives regulated only electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres; non-electrical equipment has been covered since the first ATEX product directive, 94/9/EC, applied from 1 July 2003.
Where the line falls
| Item | In scope? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Centrifugal pump driven by a motor | Yes | Seal friction, bearing failure, dry running, hot liquid |
| Fan or blower | Yes | Impeller rubbing the casing, bearing heat, static |
| Gearbox, mechanical brake | Yes | Frictional heat, sparks of mechanical origin |
| Rotary valve | Yes | Moving parts in dust, friction |
| Hand-operated valve | No | Moves slowly, cannot form hot surfaces |
| Hammer, spanner, saw, ladder | No | No own source of ignition |
| Plastic pipe, container or bucket charged only by the process | No | Charging comes from the process, not the item |
| Tank, vessel, fixed pipework | No | Static process equipment without own energy |
The guidelines add that some mechanical items move so slowly or take so little power that they cannot form an ignition source even in a rare malfunction; the manufacturer must assess this, and if they cannot ignite an atmosphere they are not ATEX equipment. Items outside the directive are still part of the employer's risk assessment under 1999/92/EC; a plastic container can still charge up in use.
Tools are a separate question for the workplace, covered in Do non-sparking tools really prevent ignition?.
How non-electrical equipment is assessed and marked
ISO 80079-36:2016 sets the basic method. Its scope covers non-electrical equipment, components, protective systems and assemblies with their own potential ignition sources, and excludes hand tools and manually operated equipment without energy storage. The core is a documented ignition hazard assessment of every potential ignition source, including those created by operation, such as a pump surface heated by the hot fluid it handles.
The Equipment Protection Level follows from that assessment:
| Ignition sources not effective during... | EPL | Usual ATEX category |
|---|---|---|
| Normal operation | Gc / Dc | 3 |
| Normal operation and expected malfunctions | Gb / Db | 2 |
| Normal operation, expected and rare malfunctions | Ga / Da | 1 |
Where measures are needed, ISO 80079-37 provides constructional safety "c", control of ignition sources "b" (for example a temperature sensor that stops a bearing before it gets too hot) and liquid immersion "k". The marking uses the single code h, for example Ex h IIB T4 Gb. The guide Non-electrical equipment in hazardous areas explains the three types.
Example: A pump and its motor are supplied separately for a Zone 1 solvent transfer. The motor is category 2 electrical equipment with an EU-type examination certificate. The pump is category 2 non-electrical equipment: its manufacturer performs the ignition hazard assessment, lodges the technical file with a notified body, declares conformity and marks it II 2 G Ex h IIB T4 Gb. If the pump can run dry, the instructions may require a dry-running protection device; that condition then belongs in the employer's Explosion Protection Document. A split-tube (canned) motor pump, where pump and motor cannot be separated, is assessed as a single item of electrical equipment.
Common mistakes
- Buying an Ex motor and a standard pump. The combination is only as safe as its weakest part; the pump needs its own ATEX conformity.
- Asking for an EU-type examination certificate for a category 2 gearbox. The directive does not require one; the notified body keeps the technical file instead.
- ATEX marking items that have no ignition source. The guidelines say such items must not be marked under the directive.
- Ignoring process heat. A pump marked T4 may only stay within T4 if the fluid temperature stays within the limits in its instructions.
Related on excodex
- Non-electrical equipment in hazardous areas: Ex h, constructional safety c, control of ignition sources b and liquid immersion k
- ATEX explained: the two EU directives 2014/34/EU and 1999/92/EC in plain language
- Do non-electrical ATEX category 2 products need a notified body?
- Is ATEX certification mandatory or only a recommendation?
- Standards spaces: ISO 80079-36, ISO 80079-37; tool: Ex marking check
Standards and further reading
- Directive 2014/34/EU, Article 2 (definition of equipment) and Article 13 (conformity assessment): EUR-Lex
- European Commission, ATEX 2014/34/EU Guidelines, 6th edition (January 2026), sections on "own" ignition sources, non-electrical equipment, simple products and assemblies: single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu
- ISO 80079-36:2016, non-electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres, basic method and requirements (public copy): law.resource.org
- ISO 80079-37:2016, non-electrical types of protection: constructional safety "c", control of ignition sources "b", liquid immersion "k"
- EN 1127-1, explosive atmospheres: explosion prevention and protection, basic concepts and methodology
This article is general technical information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable standards, the equipment certificates and instructions, national regulations or the assessment of a competent person.