Certain types of technical equipment pose particular hazards to employees and the general public. Possible cases of damage would be, for example, explosions of steam boilers or pressure vessels (e.g. gas tanks), fires in chemical plants and storage facilities or falls from elevators.
For this reason, regulations have been issued for the nature, construction, assembly and operation of such plants. The plants are generally referred to as "plants requiring inspection".
The regulations specify safety requirements for the systems, testing requirements prior to commissioning, and regularly recurring tests. As part of their supervisory activities, the trade supervisory offices at the governments monitor, among other things, whether the inspection intervals are being observed and the plants are being operated in a safe condition.
Depending on the type of plant, a permit may also be required from the trade supervisory office.
In most cases, inspections by approved monitoring bodies are also required, e.g. before initial commissioning, at regular intervals or after extensive modifications.
Details are specified in the law on plants requiring monitoring or in the industrial safety ordinance. The factory inspectorate may impose additional requirements in individual cases. In the event of an accident, it will arrange for the necessary investigations to prevent recurrences.
If you select a location under "Localization" the contact details of the responsible authority and, if applicable, locally valid information will be displayed.