Occupational health and safety; application for a certificate of competence for specialists for work in compressed air

A competent person is required to manage work in compressed air and to continuously monitor the working chamber. The competent authority will issue this person with a certificate of competence upon request.

Arbeiten in Druckluft - Antrag auf Befähigungsschein nach § 18 Abs. 2 DruckLV beim Bergamt

This form can be submitted electronically (e.g. via a secure contact form using your user account with login via the electronic ID function or the ELSTER certificate) or handwritten and signed in paper form to the responsible authority.

For contact details of the responsible authoritiy and local valid information select under "Select location" a location.

Work in compressed air within the meaning of the Compressed Air Ordinance are activities in which employees are exposed to an overpressure of more than 0.1 bar. There are particular health risks here.

For commercial work under compressed air on a construction site, the employer must appoint an expert and their permanent representative to supervise the work in compressed air and constantly monitor the operation of the work chamber. The expert and their permanent representative must each have an official certificate of competence to carry out this activity.

Requirements that experts and their permanent representatives must fulfill:

Completed training in a construction-related profession or an equivalent qualification,
work in a management position,
sufficient practical experience of working with compressed air; as a rule, proof of at least 50 compressed air operations must be provided, e.g. by submitting copies of lock logs, as well as a list of these operations confirmed by the relevant expert,
sufficient knowledge of the dangers arising when working in compressed air and the measures to be taken to prevent such dangers. Proof must be provided in an examination in accordance with Part 2 No. 6 RAB 25 before an examination board in accordance with Part 2 No. 7 RAB 25.

The following documents are required:
- Proof of building qualification
- Proof of managerial activity
- Proof of compressed air use
- Proof of a passed examination in accordance with Part 2 No. 6 RAB 25

The certificate of competence must be applied for in writing or in electronic form from the authority responsible for enforcing the Compressed Air Ordinance in accordance with the samples attached as Annex B and Annex C of RAB 25 - Working in Compressed Air (Concretizations of the Compressed Air Ordinance).

Upon submission of all relevant documents and the above-mentioned requirements, a corresponding certificate of competence will be issued.

The period of validity of the certificate of competence is generally limited to 3 years. It can be extended without re-examination if the applicant has demonstrably been employed as an expert within the period of validity. Depending on the pressure level and the amount of time spent on compressed air construction sites, the scope of the certificate of competence may be limited with regard to the working pressure.