§ Legislation, Standards and Technology
Marking of explosion-protected
equipment
New ruling in IEC 60079-0, 2007 and EN 60079-0, 2009
by Roger Peters
Devices for use in potentially explosive at-
mospheres have to be marked. The require-
ments on markings come from different
sources. So EU Directive 94/9/EC (ATEX 95)
stipulates in Europe, which information has
to be given on the type label. These are the
minimum requirements that have to be sup-
plemented by further information required for
safety. The required safety-relevant data and
their order on the type label are stipulated in
the European standards.
The requirements on electrical devices for
use in explosive gas atmospheres are includ-
ed in standard series EN 60079. For devices
that are intended for use in areas with com-
bustible dust standard series EN 61241 has to
be applied. For many years now these stand-
ards have been prepared on an international
level by the IEC and then adopted as Europe-
an standards.
Up to now marking has been specified in IEC
60079-0 / 2004 and in IEC 61241-0 / 2004. To
clearly identify the device, the type identifi-
cation and the serial number have to be stat-
ed as well as, the manufacturer’s name or his
trademark. For devices subject to certifica-
tion the name of the notified body issuing the
certificate and the certification number have
to be given. Additionally, a special coding is
required that describes the applicable use of
the device:
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› the symbol for an explosion-protected
device
› the symbol of each type of protection that
has been applied
› group IIA, IIB or IIC for explosive gas at-
mospheres
› temperature class for explosive gas at-
mospheres or the maximum surface tem-
perature in °C for areas with combustible
dust.
Examples:
Ex d e IIC T4
Ex d [ia] IIB T5
Ex pD21 T120 °C
With associated electrical equipment in
type of protection intrinsic safety that is to be
installed in the safe area, the symbols for this
type of protection have to be put into square
brackets, e.g. [Ex ia] IIC. If the equipment is
to be mounted in hazardous areas it has to be
protected by another type of protection. Then
only the mark for intrinsic safety is put into
square brackets, e.g. Ex d e [ib] IIC T6.
In the past, the marking pursuant to the
European standard changed from ›Ex‹ to
›EEx‹. This was done to relate to the Europe-
an standards (EN 50014 serie) that then dif-
fered from the IEC-standards. With the cur-
rent state of the standards this is no longer
required so that in Europe the new devices
are only marked ›Ex‹ as well.
From the previous marking the protection lev-
el of the device in regard to explosion protec-
tion cannot be clearly seen right away.
Only knowledge of the possible application of
the different types of protection indicates the
application of the device in the respective
zones. This problem was noticed in Europe at
an early stage. So with the European Direc-
tive 94/9/EC (ATEX 95) the equipment catego-
ries 1, 2 and 3 were introduced. Transfer of
these categories from the Directive to the
standards, however, has only been done in
the EN-standards and not in the IEC-stand-
ards.
When an associated electrical equipment
with an intrinsically safe circuit ia has been
fitted into a flameproof enclosure, for exam-
ple, make it possible to install it into Zone 1,
the following marking is required: Ex d [ia Ga]
IIC T4 Gb.
Groups
The suitability of devices for use in different
hazardous areas is determined by groups. Up
until now two groups have been defined: de-
vices intended for use in mines at risk
through firedamp belong to Group I. Group II
stands for devices that may be used in areas
other than mines, specifically areas that are
at risk through flammable gas. 

New marking

In the IEC 60079-0 / 2007 the devices for
use in explosive dust atmospheres have been
included. So the general requirements on de-
vices for use in explosive gas and dust at-
mospheres are covered in this standard.
Marking has now been supplemented
with the protection level of the equipment.
This equipment protection level (EPL) con-
sists of two letters. The first one gives infor-
mation on the type of explosive atmosphere:
G for gas, D for dust. The actual protection
level is defined by the letters a, b or c (table
1). These letters are already used for some
types of protection to mark the respective
protection level: ia, ib, ic.
The symbol for the equipment protection
level is added to the existing standard mark-
ing: example: Ex d e IIC T4 Gb. With associat-
ed electrical equipment, the EPL-symbol has
to be mentioned after the type of protection:
example: [Ex ia Ga)] IIC.
EPL Ga Equipment for explosive gas atmospheres, having ensuring a "very high" level of
protection for use in explosive gas atmospheres, which is not a source of ignition
in normal operation, during expected malfunction, or during rare malfunction.
EPL Gb Equipment for explosive gas atmospheres, ensuring a "high" level of protection,
which is not a source of ignition in normal operation or during expected malfunc-
tions,
EPL Gc Equipment for explosive gas atmospheres, ensuring an "enhanced" level of protec-
tion, which is not a source of ignition in normal operation and which may have
some additional protection to ensure that it remains inactive as an ignition source
in the case of regular expected occurrences (for example failure of a lamp)
EPL Da Equipment for explosive dust atmospheres, ensuring a "very high" level of protec-
tion, which is not a source of ignition in normal operation, during expected mal-
functions, or during rare malfunctions
EPL Db Equipment for explosive dust atmospheres, ensuring a "high" level of protection,
which is not a source of ignition in normal operation or during expected malfunc-
tions
EPL Dc Equipment for explosive dust atmospheres, ensuring an "enhanced" level of pro-
tection, which is not a source of ignition in normal operation and which may have
some additional protection to ensure that it remains inactive as an ignition source
in the case of regular expected occurrences (for example failure of a lamp)
Table 1: Marking and definition of Equipment Protection Level EPL

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Marking of explosion-protected equipment

Further sub-division of this Group II into three
sub-groups IIA, IIB and IIC determines which
type of gas the device is suitable for. With the
IEC 60079-0 / 2007 a new group III has been
introduced. It stands for devices that are in-
tended for areas in which an explosive dust
atmosphere may be expected. Devices have
to meet different requirements for different
dusts. So, similarly to Group II, further sub-di-
vision are also planned for Group III :
› IIIA: combustible flyings
› IIIB: non-conductive dusts
› IIIC: conductive dusts
Thus the devices can be assigned to the
different types of dust and their different re-
quirements. Example: Ex tb IIIC T120°C Db.
So EPL marking can be omitted.
Example:
› Ex db eb IIC T4
› Ex db [ia] IIB T5
› Ex tb IIB T120°C
Table 3 shows the currently possible alter-
nate marking of the different types of protec-
tion. Old, new and alternate marking is
shown in table 2.
The manufacturer may decide which
marking he will use. However, the alternate
marking seems to be more coherent as re-
dundant information are eliminated.
Marking according to ATEX 95
In Europe, in addition to the marking ac-
cording to standard, the requirements ac-
cording to EC Directive 94/9/EC (ATEX 95)
have to be fulfilled.
ATEX 95 Directive Annex II requires the fol-
lowing marking:
› name and address of the manufacturer
› serial number, year of manufacture
› mark with the identification number of
the notified body
› and category 1, 2 or 3
› and for Group II the letter G (gases) or D
(dust)
Example: 2 II G

Example for marking according to ATEX

Alternate marking Directive and standard EN 60079-0:
0158 2 II G Ex d b eb IIC T4
Standard IEC 60079-0 / 2007 allows alter- On devices that are marketed within the
native marking to the one described in the EU, marking according to the Directive has to
previous chapter, which gives information be added to the required marking of an inter-
twice in some cases. With the introduction of national standard
Group III the suitability of a device for gas at-
mospheres (II) or dust atmospheres (III) can
be seen directly through the group number.
So the letter G or D in the equipment protec-
tion level does not give additional informa-
tion.
With some types of protection the protec-
tion level is marked by supplementing the let-
old marketing new marketing alternate marketing
ters a, b or c to the symbol of the type of pro-
tection. Alternate marking intends to add this Ex d IIB T4 Ex d IIB T4 Gb Ex db IIB T4
distinguishing letter to all types of protection.
Ex de IIC T4 Ex de IIC T4 Gb Ex db eb IIC T4
E.g., flameproof enclosures ›d‹ will then be
marked ›db‹. This then clearly shows the ap- Ex ia IIC T4 Ex ia IIC T4 Ga Ex ia IIC T4
plication range of a device in regards to the Ex d [ia] IIC T6 Ex d [ia Ga] IIC T6 Gb Ex db [ia] IIC T6
potentially present explosive atmosphere and
Ex tDA21 IP 65 T225 °C Ex tb IIIC T 225 °C Db Ex tb IIIC T 225 °C
the protection level without stating the EPL.
Table 2: Comparison of the different markings according to IEC 60079-0

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 use for gas atmospheres use for dust atmospheres
Type of protection
Zone 0 Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 20 Zone 21 Zone 22
Flameproof enclosures db
Increased safety eb
Intrinsic safety ia ib ic ia ib
Encapsulation ma mb mc ma mb mc
Oil-immersion ob
Power filling qb
Pressurized enclosure pxb, pyb pzc pb pc
Protection by enclosure ta tb tc
Non-sparking device nAc
Devices and components nCc
Restricted breathing enclosures nRc
Table 3: Symbols of the type of protections according to the alternate marking

Non-electrical devices › Marking of the different types of protec- Type of protection symbol
tion for non-electrical devices is given in
Standards for non-electrical devices have up table 4. Constructional safety c
until now only been prepared by CEN for Eu-
Control of ignition source b
rope. On an international level only the first Example for marking according to Direc-
steps towards standardization have been tive and standard EN 13463-1: Flow restricting enclosures fr
taken. 2 II G d IIB T4
Pressurized enclosure p
Marking strongly follows the definitions for
electrical devices. Liquid immersion k
Exceptions:
Flameproof enclosure d
› ›Ex‹ is not stated as the marking according
to ATEX Directive already includes the Table 4: Marking of the types of protection of non-
symbol which indicates explosion pro- electrical equipment
tection.
› Equipment protection level is not stated
as this has not been defined in the re-
spective standards up until now. By stat-
ing the category as required by the Direc-
tive it can be seen which protection level
the device has and in which zone it can
be mounted.

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