AS/NZS 2430.3.

1:2004
AS/NZS 2430.3.1

Australian/New Zealand Standard™

Classification of hazardous areas

Part 3.1: Examples of area

classification—General
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 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004
This Joint Australian/New Zealand Standard was prepared by Joint Technical
Committee MS-011, Classification of Hazardous Areas. It was approved on behalf
of the Council of Standards Australia on 31 March 2004 and on behalf of the
Council of Standards New Zealand on 30 April 2004. It was published on
20 May 2004.

The following are represented on Committee MS-011:

Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce
Australian Association of Certification Bodies
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Australian Gas Association
Australian Industry Group
Australian Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association Limited
Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation
Certification Bodies (Australia)
Department of Labour New Zealand
Department of Natural Resources and Mines (Qld)
Electricity Supply Association of Australia
Gas Association of New Zealand Inc
Institute of Electrical Inspectors
Institute of Instrumentation and Control Australia
Institution of Engineers Australia
LPG Association of New Zealand (Inc)
Ministry of Economic Development (New Zealand)
National Electrical and Communications Association
New Zealand Association of Marine, Aviation and Power Engineers
New Zealand Chemical Industry Council Inc
New Zealand Oil Companies
Victorian WorkCover Authority
WorkCover New South Wales

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the on-line catalogue.
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This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 03559.

 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004

Australian/New Zealand Standard™

Classification of hazardous areas

Part 3.1: Examples of area

classification—General

Originated in Australia as part of AS 1076.2—1977.

Originated in New Zealand as part of NZS 6101P:1972.
Previous edition AS/NZS 2430.3.1:1997.
Second edition 2004.
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COPYRIGHT
© Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand
All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without the written permission of the
publisher.
Jointly published by Standards Australia International Ltd, GPO Box 5420, Sydney, NSW 2001
and Standards New Zealand, Private Bag 2439, Wellington 6020
ISBN 0 7337 5968 8
 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004 2

PREFACE
This Standard was prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand
Committee MS-011, Classification of Hazardous Areas, to supersede, in part,
AS/NZS 2430.3.1:1997, Classification of hazardous areas, Part 3.1: Examples of area
classification—General
The objective of the AS/NZS 2430.3 series of Standards is to provide guidance to the
industries and statutory authorities concerned with the classification of hazardous areas.
Changes to the 1997 edition include—
(a) rewording of Clause 1, Scope;
(b) correction of typographical errors; and
(c) update of referenced documents.
This series of Standards details examples of area classification of commonly occurring
situations, based on the principles of AS/NZS 60079.10, Electrical apparatus for explosive
gas atmospheres, Part 10: Classification of hazardous areas.
The AS/NZS 2430.3 series is as follows:
AS/NZS
2430.3 Classification of hazardous areas—Examples of area classification
2430.3.1 Part 3.1: General (this Part)
2430.3.2 Part 3.2: Vehicle workshops, vehicle parking, fuel dispensing stations and
aircraft hangars
2430.3.3 Part 3.3: Flammable liquids
2430.3.4 Part 3.4: Flammable gases
2430.3.5 Part 3.5: Refineries and major processing plants
2430.3.6 Part 3.6: Laboratories including fume cupboards and flammable medical
agents
2430.3.7 Part 3.7: Landfill gas, sewage treatment and sewage pumping plants
2430.3.8 Part 3.8: Surface coatings and adhesives
2430.3.9 Part 3.9: Miscellaneous
The AS 2430 series of Standards for classification of hazardous areas used to be formed by
AS 2430.1, AS 2430.2 and AS 2430.3.
AS 2430.2 was replaced by AS/NZS 61241.3 in 1999 and AS 2430.1 was replaced by
AS/NZS 60079.10 in 2004.
In 1997, AS 2430.3 was split into a Series of nine Parts – 3.1 to 3.9; these initial nine Parts
have been superseded by this 2004 edition.
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The terms ‘normative’ and ‘informative’ have been used in this Standard to define the
application of the appendix to which they apply. A ‘normative’ appendix is an integral part
of a Standard, whereas an ‘informative’ appendix is only for information and guidance.
 3 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004

CONTENTS

Page
1 SCOPE........................................................................................................................ 4
2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS.................................................................................. 5
3 DEFINITIONS............................................................................................................ 5
4 MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES .......................................................................... 7

APPENDICES
A METHODS OF CLASSIFICATION ........................................................................... 8
B VENTILATION ........................................................................................................ 10
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 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004 4

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA/STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND

Australian/New Zealand Standard

Classification of hazardous areas

Part 3.1: Examples of area classification—General

1 SCOPE
This Standard provides examples of area classification and is based on the internationally
accepted concept which recognizes the different degrees of probability with which
explosive (flammable) concentrations of flammable gas or vapour may arise in installations
in terms of both the frequency of occurrence and the probable duration of existence on each
occasion. The recommended classifications of this Standard are based on the assumption
that plant and equipment are adequately maintained. The Standard is part of a series which
recommends the classifications of several commonly occurring situations.
NOTE: Appendix A provides methods of classification.
This Standard details general matters which must be taken into account when using any
other of the AS/NZS 2430.3 series of Standards for the purpose of conducting an area
classification.
This Standard covers risks due to both fire and explosion.
The examples in this Standard may not apply to specific occupancies where—
(a) the quantity of release is either very large or very small, in such cases dispersion
calculations may be required;
(b) the design of a particular plant does not comply with the appropriate Australian or
New Zealand Standards; or
(c) ventilation, use of inert gases, vapour barriers or other methods, are used to reduce
the extent or degree of risk of a particular hazardous area.
In all cases classification may be made using the fundamental principles detailed in
AS/NZS 60079.10.
In general, classifications in accordance with the following codes are acceptable, subject to
any additional provisions or modifications as required by the authority:
(i) UK IP (Institute of Petroleum), Model Code of Safe Practice for the Petroleum
Industry, Part 15: Area Classification Code for Installations Handling Flammable
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Fluids.
(ii) API (American Petroleum Institute) RP 505, Recommended Practice for
‘Classification of Locations for Electrical Installations at Petroleum Facilities
classified as Class I, Zone , Zone 1 and Zone 2’.
(iii) BS 5908, Code of practice for fire precautions in the chemical and allied industries.
Attention is drawn to the fact that an area classified non-hazardous, in accordance with this
Standard, may not necessarily be safe in all respects, e.g. toxic and chemical hazards.
Unless otherwise specified, the classifications given throughout this Standard are based on
the ventilation criteria given in Appendix B.

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2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
The following documents are referred to in this Standard:
AS
1482 Electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres—Protection by ventilation—
Type of protection v
1940 The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids
2030 The verification, filling, inspection, testing and maintenance of cylinders for
the storage and transport of compressed gases (all parts)
AS/NZS
2430.3 Classification of hazardous areas—Examples of area classification
2430.3.5 Part 3.5: Refineries and major processing plants
60079 Electrical apparatus for explosive gas atmospheres
60079.10 Part 10: Classification of hazardous areas
BS
5908 Code of practice for fire precautions in the chemical and allied industries
API (American Petroleum Institute)
RP 505 Recommended Practice for ‘Classification of Locations for Electrical
Installations at Petroleum Facilities classified as Class I, Zone , Zone 1 and
Zone 2’
UK IP (UK Institute of Petroleum)
Model Code of Safe Practice for the Petroleum Industry, Part 15: Area
Classification Code for Installations Handling Flammable Fluids.
ADG Code Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail
Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act

3 DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of this Standard, the definitions given in AS/NZS 60079.10, and those
below apply.
3.1 Approved package
A container used to store or transport material and which complies with the requirements of
the ADG Code, for Australia, or, for New Zealand, the UN Code.
3.2 Area, hazardous
An area in which an explosive atmosphere is present, or may be expected to be present, in
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quantities such as to require special precautions for the construction, installation and use of
potential ignition sources.
NOTES:
1 For the purpose of this Standard, an area is regarded as a three-dimensional region or space.
2 Examples of potential ignition sources are electrical equipment, naked flames, sparks from
grinding and welding operations, and hot surfaces.
3.3 Area, non-hazardous
An area in which an explosive atmosphere is not expected to be present in quantities such
as to require special precautions for the construction, installation and use of potential
ignition sources.
NOTE: Abbreviated as ‘NH’ throughout the AS/NZS 2430.3 series of Standards.

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 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004 6

3.4 Authority, authority having jurisdiction

The authority having statutory (legal) control of the subject area.
3.5 Capacity (of a tank or cylinder)
The total volume, in litres, of the space enclosed within the tank or cylinder.
NOTE: This is often referred to as ‘water capacity’.
3.6 Cylinder
A vessel, other than a tank, which is constructed in accordance with AS 2030 (all parts) for
Australia, or, for New Zealand with the requirements of the Hazardous Substances and New
Organisms (HSNO) Act.
3.7 Drum
A container capable of being sealed having a nominal capacity not more than 250 L.
NOTE: See also Clause 3.1.
3.8 Gas capacity (of a tank or cylinder)
For lighter-than-air gases, the maximum volume of gas, at metric standard conditions, that
the tank or cylinder can contain, expressed in cubic metres.
3.9 Laboratory
Facility for which the principal use is testing, analysis or research.
3.10 Metric standard conditions (MSC)
A temperature of 15°C and a pressure of 101.325 Kpa absolute.
3.11 Pail
An open container having a nominal capacity not exceeding 25 L.
NOTE: See also Clause 3.1.
3.12 Pressure relief device
A device incorporated in gas equipment to protect equipment against excessive pressure by
venting gas when a pre-determined pressure is exceeded.
3.13 Shop
A building or portion of a building where surface coatings or adhesives, in approved
packages, are available for sale.
3.14 Source of ignition
A source of energy sufficient to ignite a flammable atmosphere. Such sources include but
are not limited to flames, incandescent material, electrical sparks, hot surfaces and
mechanical impact sparks.
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3.15 Storage cabinet

A purpose built enclosure for the storage of flammable goods that complies with the
requirements of AS 1940 in Australia, or, with the Hazardous Substances and New
Organisms (HSNO) Act legislation in New Zealand.
3.16 Tank
A receptacle, other than an intermediate bulk container, having a capacity in excess of
250 L for liquids and 500 L for gases.
3.17 Vapour barrier
A wall or other barrier constructed and placed with the object of preventing the passage of
vapour between adjacent areas.

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3.18 Warehouse
A building or portion of a building where surface coatings and/or adhesives which are in
approved packages are stored with no access to the general public.

4 MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES
Distances may be measured in a horizontal plane around the end of any vapour barrier
which intervenes, provided that it is not lower than the height specified in the relevant
requirement. Figure 1 exemplifies the interference of a vapour barrier on a nominal 3 m
zoning.

DIMENSIONS IN METRES

FIGURE 1 EFFECT OF A VAPOUR BARRIER ON THE

MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES
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 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004 8

APPENDIX A
METHODS OF CLASSIFICATION
(Informative)

A1 INTRODUCTION
The two main methods of assessing the area classification of plant and equipment are the
Source of Release Method and the Generalized Method.
The Source of Release Method is based on an assessment of the risk associated with each
potential source of release and uses experience and quantitative methods.
The Generalized Method, as its name implies, uses a broadly based ‘generalized’ or
‘blanket’ type approach and is likely to result in a less precise classification.
Both methods seek to—
(a) identify those parts of plants in which flammable hazards exist including, where
appropriate, the interior of process equipment;
(b) assess the severity of the flammable hazards identified, thereby establishing the
appropriate zonal classification; and
(c) assess the extent of the flammable hazards identified, thereby establishing the
appropriate extent of the zones.
It is the exactness of the approach which differentiates the two methods.

A2 SOURCE OF RELEASE METHOD

A source of release is defined as any point from which flammable material might be
released so as to create a hazardous area.
This method looks at the release potential of each item of equipment and grades each source
of release according to the risk of release (grade of release) and then evaluates the likely
extent of these individual releases. Refer to AS/NZS 60079.10 for further details.
When all the sources of release have been identified, the overall classification and extent of
Zones can be assigned.
For most adequately ventilated situations the resultant classification using this method is
likely to be one in which the plant areas will be predominantly Zone 2, within which there
are a number of Zone 1 areas.
For situations which are inadequately ventilated the zonal classification will probably be of
a different pattern to those where adequate ventilation exists.
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A3 GENERALIZED METHODS
Where, through lack of detailed data or operating experience, it is not possible to identify
and assess individual sources of release in a plant, a Generalized Method may be used.
Generalized Methods require judgements to be made, usually for quite large sections of the
plant, on whether the overall hazard is high (Zone 0 or Zone 1) or low (Zone 2). The
judgement is best made by reference to a set of criteria based on industry experience and
appropriate to the particular plant. The Generalized Method is that found in
AS/NZS 2430.3.5.
These Generalized Methods use broadly based zonal delineation and result in the following:
(a) Large Zone 1 areas.
(b) Large Zone 2 areas enclosing large Zone 1 areas.

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Larger zone areas are characteristic of Generalized Methods, stemming from the ‘blanket’
type approach and the necessity to apply more stringent zonal classification where doubt
exists as to the hazards involved. These methods can err on the side of safety but this may
result in a more costly plant due to the additional quantity of explosion-protected equipment
required. The ‘blanket’ type approach has the weakness of possibly missing Zone 1 areas
within Zone 2 areas due to lack of specific recognition of individual sources of release.

A4 COMBINATION OF SOURCE OF RELEASE AND GENERALIZED METHODS

The use of either or both methods for classification of a plant at various stages of its
development or for various parts of the plant may be appropriate.
For example, at the initial conceptual stage of a plant the Generalized Method may be
appropriate to set out the equipment separations, plant layout and plant boundaries. This
might be the only method that could be applied due to lack of detailed data on sources of
release. As the plant design proceeds and detailed data is available on the potential sources
of release, the classification might be upgraded using the Source of Release Method.
In some cases the Generalized Method can be applied to a group of similar equipment in
sections of plant (e.g. sections of piping with flanges, such as pipe racks) while applying
the Source of Release Method to the more significant potential sources of release (e.g. relief
valves, vents, gas compressors, pumps and the like).
In many cases the classification examples provided in the AS/NZS 2430.3 series can, where
appropriate, be used to classify some components of larger plants.
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 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004 10

APPENDIX B
VENTILATION
(Normative)

B1 SCOPE
AS/NZS 60079.10 provides an explanation of ventilation with respect to dilution and
dispersion of gases and vapours.
To specify that plant or equipment is located in ‘open air’ or in some ‘sheltered area’ does
not clearly define the ventilation condition to determine whether there is ‘adequate’ or
‘inadequate’ ventilation to promote the dispersion of any hazardous gas or vapour, or that
artificial ‘dilution ventilation’ is required (refer also to AS 1482).
Unless otherwise specified, the classifications given in this Standard are based on the
ventilation criteria given in Table B1.

TABLE B1
VENTILATION CRITERIA
Adequate ventilation Inadequate ventilation
1 Open-air An open-air situation with natural Natural ventilation limited by
ventilation, without stagnant areas, and topography, nearby structures, weather
where vapours are rapidly dispersed by conditions
wind and natural convection. Air
Artificial ventilation may be necessary
velocities should rarely be less than
to meet adequate ventilation and this is
0.5 m/sec and should frequently be
normally easily achieved
above 2 m/s*
2 Sheltered structures (a) Within a structure having no more Structures having less wall and roof
than three walls (see Figure B1) and ventilation than that given in (a)
where all walls have continuous or
Structures which have a low profile or
virtually continuous ventilation
are extensive
openings along their full length
comprising not less than 0.4 m high
effective opening at the bottom,
0.3 m high effective opening at the
top of the walls and 0.3 m virtually
continuous effective opening at the
highest part of the roof
(b) A structure having effective Structures having less wall and roof
openings equal to at least 10% of ventilation than that given in (b)
wall surface in all walls at both top
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Structures which have a low profile or

and bottom of all sides, and 0.3 m
are extensive
continuous, or virtually continuous
effective opening at all ridges of the
roof
(c) For LP Gas cylinder filling (other —
than in situ), a structure having no
more than two closed walls
* Typically air velocities of not less than 0.5 m/s would suffice.
NOTE: Where air movement is limited due to topographical features, other nearby structures or unusual
meteorological conditions, artificial ventilation may be required by the provision of suitably located fans to
improve the ventilation in order to achieve adequate ventilation (see AS 1482 for further guidance).

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 11 AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004

DIMENSIONS IN METRES

FIGURE B1 EXAMPLE OF SHELTER WHICH MAY BE TREATED

AS AN ADEQUATELY VENTILATED LOCATION
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AS/NZS 2430.3.1:2004
12

NOTES
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