Technical Regulation of the EAEU 043/2017

Having come into force in 2020, the Technical Regulation (TR) of the EAEU 043/2017 “On the requirements for fire safety and fire extinguishing equipment” has, on the one hand, made it easier to import fire equipment into the Eurasian Economic Union by replacing the national fire regulations (in some countries in part, and in others – fully). On the other hand, it has established many new standards and requirements for the equipment that are to be controlled by each governments’ authorized certification bodies (CBs).

It’s worth mentioning that there are very few CBs that are capable of providing the necessary tests and issuing the TR EAEU 043 certificates. 

The same goes for the Declarations: to issue a Declaration, the applicant must carry out the tests of the equipment and get the relevant test reports – and since the only available schemes for the Declaration for this TR EAEU are 3d (series), 4d (batch) or 6d (series with manufacturer’s site audit), the tests can only be carried out in accredited EAEU fire laboratories.

WorldWideBridge has already highlighted this regulation once, and the list of the equipment subject to it is given here.

Certificate of Conformity of  TR EAEU 043

Now we’re going to talk about the process itself and consider a few cases. Let’s take water spray nozzles for instance. These nozzles are used as metering devices to control the flow of water and other spray liquids. They are subject to TR EAEU 043 and require the Certificate of Conformity. Just like any other equipment, they undergo multiple tests to prove their conformity. As this regulation is among those under full and strict control of different government bodies, the tests provided in accordance with the standards applicable for the equipment must be carried out to the full extent with no exceptions. 

If we again take the nozzles as an example, the standard for them requires 28 samples of each type of nozzle for testing. Some manufacturers may find this number bizarre, but there is really nothing they can do about it. That’s the nationally developed requirement to be obeyed, and if you’re not prepared to provide the necessary number of samples, think twice before trying to import fire equipment to the EAEU. 

EAC certificate for TR EAEU 043

Back to the nozzles. The process of getting the EAC certificate for TR EAEU 043 doesn’t actually differ much from getting the certificate for other regulations. The steps include the registration of the application (which is to be approved by both the manufacturer and the certification body), the site audit with the selection of samples, which is available via video conference due to the closure of the borders, the tests of the samples in the EAEU-accredited laboratory and, finally, the issuance of the certificate. Note that there may be many types of nozzles claimed, and although all the types of the nozzles will be included in one certificate, every type of nozzle must be tested. As a rule, the type of water spray nozzles is defined by the K-factor, so the figure for the K-factors equals the number of the types and in turn the number of test reports needed to issue the certificate. 

TR EAEU 043: the technical documentation 

Another important issue here is the technical documentation. Because TR EAEU 043 is a very “strict” regulation, the documents must be in full compliance with all the requirements laid down in the standards. There are various standards for the documentation of fire equipment. There must be a full technical description with the relevant specifications, drawings, etc. One of the documents that’s always required under TR EAEU 043 is the technical passport. It goes without saying that it must be in the Russian language. It must be developed by the manufacturer and, as we’ve just mentioned, comply with GOST regarding the technical documents. For instance, the passport for nozzles must contain the information regarding general descriptions, K-factors, service life, requirements of resistance to external impact, connection threaded dimensions, the information about the operating pressure, diagrams, hydraulic parameters and various other features. Many manufacturers are unaware of the proper way to complete a passport, and WorldWideBridge is always here to help.

Sometimes, getting the EAC approval documents issued can be tricky. Who knows what else might be requested once the project has started. When it comes to TR EAEU 043, here is the best example, because the regulation includes one thing you can’t find anywhere else. Apparently, a lot of equipment that is subject to the regulation does not adhere to the standards necessary for providing tests thereof.  Nevertheless, they still require either the Declaration or the Certificate of conformity.

"Technical solution" for TR EAEU 043

 In all other regulations the tests are carried out only according to certain standards, but here, we have another option – what is known as a “technical solution”. This is a document that’s made by the certification body based on the technical description and the drawings of the equipment. This document shows what tests must be carried out for the equipment in the event that there’s no relevant GOST for the equipment, how many samples are required and so on. So, the test reports here are based not on GOST, but on the technical solutions. The work on developing the testing technique is always arduous, requires approximately a month, and it’s always charged separately. As for the GOST standards for TR EAEU 043, they’re still in development. There will surely be new standards to come and the devices requiring technical solutions will thin out.

As an example, there are several types of equipment that almost always require technical solutions for testing:

• fire hydrants,
• hose connections,
• hose cabinets,
• certain valves,
• etc.

Regardless of the final document (Declaration or Certificate) technical solutions are required.

In conclusion, it would be fair to say that this regulation is not that easy to deal with, but at the same time, nothing is impossible. WorldWideBridge will always do their best to provide due assistance and consulting for requests and projects dealing with TR EAEU 043/2017 “On the requirements for fire safety and fire extinguishing equipment”.

If you want to get know more about TR EAEU 043 our employees can help you. Please contact us: [email protected].

By Dmitry Kondratsky
Certification Specialist. EAEU / CIS Department