Regulations on diving Tank

Regulations on diving cylinders

The reference text is the Ministerial Decree of 20 November 2017 concerning the in-service monitoring of pressure equipment and simple pressure vessels, available here:

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000036128632&categorieLien=id

What to remember from this decree:

1. Definition

- Article 2, paragraph 20 Operator: for the purposes of this decree, operator means the owner of the equipment, his representative or a duly designated representative. So you, the owner, are named "the operator"

2. On the date of commissioning:

- Article 2, paragraph 16: Date of commissioning: the date of first use of the equipment or assembly by the user, certified by the operator or, failing that, the date of final verification

3. Declaration of commissioning

- Article 9: The declaration of commissioning is made by the operator via the teleservice: https://lune.application.developpement-durable.gouv.fr.

- Article 7: This point should be noted as the declaration must be made under the following conditions: "Pressure vessels for gas with a maximum admissible pressure PS greater than 4 bar and whose product of maximum admissible pressure by volume is greater than 10,000 bar". Which means:

This is the case for a 50L x 200bar buffer cylinder (10,000 bar), for example

This is not the case for a diving cylinder whose value is lower. So there is no declaration to be made in this case

4. Tests

- Article 18: The decree specifies the conditions applicable in France since 2017, in particular:

The maximum deadline for periodic re-certifications is set from the date of commissioning or the last periodic re-certification:

• two years for cylinders for breathing apparatus used for underwater diving and for mobile containers made of non-metallic materials;

• six years for diving cylinders whose periodic inspection has been carried out at least annually or before their use when the inspection was carried out more than one year ago, under the conditions defined by the latest version of the specifications relating to the periodic inspection of metallic cylinders used for underwater diving referred to in Annex 1 of this ministerial decree;

In short, you are the operator of a diving cylinder and the date of commissioning corresponds to the reception of the cylinder at your home or, by extension, the purchase date on your invoice. At no time does this decree refer to a manufacturing date as was the case before the publication of this decree of 20 November 2017.

This decree also corresponds to an industrial reality; for example, brands such as Luxfer or Carbondive sometimes manufacture one production per year, or even one every two years for certain cylinder models.