Spain · National · Royal Decree

Royal Decree 809/2021 · Pressure equipment: safe use and personnel

In force, as amended in 2023 and 2025, with updated inspection standards

Current official Spanish title: Real Decreto 809/2021, de 21 de septiembre, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de equipos a presión y sus instrucciones técnicas complementarias.

On this page
  1. What it regulates
  2. Who it applies to
  3. Key provisions
  4. History and versions
  5. Transitional provisions and application notes
  6. Official BOE legal relationships
  7. Official sources
  8. Explore the concepts in Sabentis Explore

What it regulates

It approves the pressure equipment regulation and ITC EP-1 to EP-7. Its OSH relevance concerns safe operation and maintenance, preparation for inspections, shutdown for serious risk, operator competence and reporting accidents involving personal harm.

Who it applies to

OSH selection: Articles 6, 9 and 13 of the regulation and Article 13 of ITC EP-1 on boiler operators. Categories, exclusions and each instruction’s conditions determine applicability. This entry does not comprehensively cover industrial design, registration or equipment marketing.

Key provisions

Article 9 requires compliance with manufacturers’ limits and instructions, prevention of unsafe operation, maintenance of equipment and safety devices, and retention of documentation. Maintenance examination is at least annual unless the relevant ITC provides otherwise; it does not replace statutory periodic inspections.

Article 9

Article 6 requires human and material resources to be prepared for safe inspections. Levels, maximum intervals and competent inspection bodies depend on Annex III and the relevant ITC; no single interval applies to all equipment.

Article 6

If an inspection identifies serious and imminent risk, Article 6(10) requires shutdown and immediate notification to the regional authority. Restart requires remedying the defect and prior notification by the inspecting body.

Article 6

ITC EP-1, Article 13, requires technically competent boiler operators. Class-two steam or superheated-water boilers require an industrial boiler operator qualifying through one of the specified routes; general OSH training alone is insufficient.

Article 13

Accidents causing substantial harm to people, the environment or the installation must be reported to the regional industrial authority as soon as possible and within 24 hours; a report follows within one month. Article 13 expressly preserves additional labour-law notifications.

Article 13

History and versions

Initial publication: 11/10/2021 · Initial entry into force: 02/01/2022

BOE-A-2021-16407

Published on 11 October 2021, generally effective from 2 January 2022, except final provision three. Resolutions in 2022 and 2023 updated Annex V. Royal Decree 145/2023 amended provisions of the regulation and ITC EP-3 and EP-5 from 1 July 2023. Royal Decree 770/2025 amended personnel requirements in Annex I and ITC EP-5 from 4 September 2025. The summary focuses on OSH, with the complete relationships retained in the data.

Original text: general commencement on 2 January 2022; final provision three, concerning a separate lifting-equipment instruction, took effect the day after publication.

Publication: 11/10/2021 · Effective date: 02/01/2022

BOE-A-2021-16407

Resolution of 14 July 2022: update of Annex V standards, effective from 26 July 2022.

BOE-A-2022-12362

Royal Decree 145/2023: amends Article 8(3), Annexes I and III and provisions of EP-3 and EP-5; effective from 1 July 2023.

BOE-A-2023-7056

Resolution of 29 June 2023: Annex V update, effective from 11 July 2023, with a twelve-month transition for the specified boiler inspection standard.

BOE-A-2023-16015

Royal Decree 770/2025: amends hiring arrangements for personnel under Annex I(1.9) and EP-5 Article 4(7)(b), retaining sufficient staffing and safe conditions. Effective from 4 September 2025.

BOE-A-2025-17507
Text versions of the selected OSH provisions

The table is limited to the occupational safety and health provisions covered by this record. A text version may amend only other paragraphs of the same article; the history explains the occupational changes. Changes to other subjects can be consulted in the BOE.

OSH selection: Articles 6, 9 and 13 of the regulation and Article 13 of ITC EP-1 on boiler operators. Categories, exclusions and each instruction’s conditions determine applicability. This entry does not comprehensively cover industrial design, registration or equipment marketing.

PublicationEffective dateOfficial referenceAffected provisions
11/10/202102/01/2022BOE-A-2021-16407Additional provision first, Transitional provision eighth, Final provision seventh, Article 6, Article 9, Article 13, Article 13

Transitional provisions and application notes

  • Existing equipment may retain certain earlier technical requirements, subject to the exceptions in additional provision one. There is no blanket exemption from inspections, maintenance and operating duties.

    Additional provision first
  • Regularisation of specified earlier equipment lacking registration records allowed up to three years from general commencement on 2 January 2022. That historical period must not be presented as current permission to continue operating without compliance.

    Transitional provision eighth
  • UNE references in Annex V are updated through published resolutions. The 2022 and 2023 resolutions must be read with their dates and transitions; publication of a newer technical edition does not automatically replace the legally applicable edition.

    Article 6

Official BOE legal relationships

This record covers the history of the selected occupational safety and health provisions. The official analysis also provides the relationships affecting other subjects in the legislation.

Official BOE legal relationships

Official sources

Official sources checked on 14/11/2026. Updating a database record does not by itself mean that the legislation has been amended.

  1. BOE-A-2021-16407
  2. BOE-A-2021-16407
  3. ELI identifier
  4. BOE-A-2022-12362
  5. BOE-A-2023-7056
  6. BOE-A-2023-16015
  7. BOE-A-2025-17507

Official sources checked on 14 November 2026. The original publication and subsequent provisions determine the legal scope; consolidation, where available, is informative. The editorial history focuses on OSH-relevant relationships and does not replace the sources.

Sabentis editorial translation; it is not an official translation and does not replace the official text.

Editorial information

Publication date: 14 November 2026.

Editorial responsibility: Sabentis editorial team.

Editorial review by Pablo RodríguezLinkedIn

Executive Vice President of the International ORP Foundation and Chief Financial Officer of Sabentis.

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