Reserved Technical Equipment (VTZ): a Complete Guide

The Decree divides technical equipment into four categories by type, further subdividing each into groups A, B and C. The overview is based on Annex 1 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll., which has four parts.

It is precisely the classification into group A or B that determines whether only a person with a valid licence card may operate the equipment, or only a person with a certificate may carry out repairs, or whether a written confirmation from an inspection technician suffices. Correct classification of equipment into the appropriate group is therefore the first and most important step when drawing up an inspection plan.

In everyday speech people refer to 'revisions', but the Decree uses the more precise term professional inspection and professional test (abbreviated OPaOS). Under § 13 ods. 1 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll., a professional inspection and test monitors the safety condition of VTZ after the completion of manufacture, assembly or installation at the future place of operation, reconstruction and repair, and during its operation. OPaOS is carried out within the scope and at the intervals set out in Annexes 5 to 10 and in accordance with safety and technical requirements. What is the difference between an inspection and a test? A professional inspection is a visual and functional check — the inspection technician assesses the condition of the equipment by inspection, measurement and verification of the functionality of safety elements. A professional test is more thorough and usually subjects the equipment to stress (for example, a pressure test of a pressure vessel at a higher pressure or a load test of a crane). A test is therefore carried out at longer intervals than an inspection. For pressure equipment, a distinction is made between an external inspection, an internal inspection and a pressure test; for electrical equipment, OPaOS also relies on STN technical standards.

The second important distinction is between the initial and the periodic (repeat) OPaOS. The initial OPaOS is carried out before the equipment is first put into service — after manufacture, assembly or installation at the future place of operation — and its report is retained for the entire service life of the equipment. The periodic OPaOS is carried out during operation at regular intervals in accordance with the Decree's annexes, and its purpose is to detect wear, ageing and damage. In addition, there is the extraordinary OPaOS — under § 9 ods. 2 písm. c) of the Decree, a safety condition inspection is carried out, for example, before re-commissioning after a shutdown of more than one year, after disassembly and re-assembly, after reconstruction and repair, and if use of the equipment was prohibited by a labour inspector. For group A equipment, an official test and a repeat official test under § 12 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll. come into play. An official test is carried out before commissioning on VTZ of group A and on selected gas equipment. A repeat official test is carried out at the intervals set out in Annexes 5, 7 and 10, and for electrical equipment at most every ten years of operation (§ 12 ods. 2). An official test and a repeat official test are carried out exclusively by an authorised legal entity, not by an independent inspection technician. Under § 13 ods. 2, an official or repeat official test replaces the professional inspection and test if it was carried out within the same interval.

After carrying out an OPaOS, the inspection technician prepares a report. Under § 16 ods. 2 of the Decree, it must contain, among other things, the name and registered office of the operator, the date of carrying out, the certificate number of the inspection technician, the type of OPaOS, the designation and parameters of the equipment, measurement data, deficiencies identified and their severity, an overall assessment of the equipment's fitness for continued operation and proposed measures for remedying the deficiencies. This report is the key document during a labour inspectorate inspection.

Intervals are among the most frequently sought information but are also the most complex — the precise intervals are not in the text of the paragraphs but in Annexes 5 to 10 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll., where they are presented in the form of extensive tables by group and type of specific equipment. When determining an interval, the rule always applies that if the manufacturer's technical conditions specify a shorter interval, that shorter one applies. For electrical installations, under Annex 8 the shorter interval of two tables is used — by type of building and by classification of external influences. The following table gives an indicative overview of the most common intervals for periodic OPaOS during operation. These are always the latest permissible deadlines — a specific piece of equipment may have a shorter interval according to the manufacturer's instructions or external influences.

For electrical installations, the intervals are determined by Annex 8 of the Decree — for brick residential and office buildings 5 years, for schools, nurseries, crèches and accommodation facilities 3 years, for buildings for the assembly of more than 250 persons or high-rise buildings 2 years and for temporary installations on construction sites 0.5 years. For lightning protection systems, the interval for protection level I and II is 2 years, for levels III and IV 4 years and for buildings with an explosion hazard zone 1 year.

For pressure equipment (Annex 5), for a fixed pressure vessel of group A the external inspection is carried out once a year, the internal inspection once every 5 years and the pressure test once every 10 years, and the repeat official test is carried out by an authorised legal entity every 10 years. For steam boilers of group A the intervals are stricter — external inspection once every 6 months, internal inspection once a year and both the pressure test and the repeat official test every 6 years. For gas equipment (Annex 10), for an appliance with a capacity of 5 kW to 0.5 MW a professional inspection is carried out every year and a professional test every 3 years; for gas pipeline distribution, inspection every 3 years and test every 6 years. Given the complexity of the tables and the number of exceptions, we recommend verifying the specific interval for a given piece of equipment directly in the relevant annex of the Decree, or having an inspection plan drawn up by an expert. For electrical installations, the rule also applies that the shorter of the intervals by type of building and by external influences is always binding, so the actual interval may be shorter than the indicative overview shows.

VTZ inspections may not be carried out by just anyone. The Decree and the Act specify precisely who is authorised to carry out individual actions and distinguish between an inspection technician and an authorised legal entity. A professional inspection and test is carried out by an inspection technician. Under § 16 ods. 1 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll., an inspection technician is a natural person who has the technical education and professional experience specified in Annex 11 and who, within the scope of the certificate issued, may carry out a professional inspection and test in accordance with the working procedure prepared. For electrical equipment, the inspection technician is defined separately in § 24 of the Decree. The inspection technician's certificate is tied to a specific type and group of equipment — an inspection technician with a certificate for pressure equipment may not carry out inspections of gas or lifting equipment and vice versa.

A type test, official test and repeat official test are carried out by an authorised legal entity. This is defined in § 14 of Act No. 124/2006 Coll. as a legal entity that holds an authorisation issued by the National Labour Inspectorate (NIP) to verify compliance with the safety requirements for technical equipment. An authorised legal entity must be independent — it may not itself carry out design, construction or supply activities in the field of technical equipment, thereby ensuring the impartiality of the inspection. The professional competence of an inspection technician is evidenced by a certificate; the professional competence of an operator is evidenced by a licence card (§ 15 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll.). Following the amendment of Act No. 124/2006 Coll. effected by Act No. 73/2021 Coll. with effect from 1 April 2021, licence cards and certificates for carrying out activities are issued by the authorised legal entity (§ 16 ods. 1 of Act No. 124/2006 Coll.); previously they were issued by the competent labour inspectorate. The text of the Act is therefore binding, not the older wording of the Decree.

For the operator, the practical conclusion follows: when ordering an inspection, it is necessary to verify that the inspection technician or the contracting company holds a valid certificate specifically for the type and group of equipment to be inspected. If a company carries out inspections, repairs or filling of pressure vessels for others on a contracting basis, it must also hold an authorisation under § 15 of Act No. 124/2006 Coll. issued by an authorised legal entity. The list of authorised legal entities and issued authorisations is published by the National Labour Inspectorate.

The obligations of the operator are set out primarily in § 8 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll. The operator ensures the safety of the technical equipment if, during its operation, it complies with safety and technical requirements and at the same time fulfils four basic obligations.

• Maintains the accompanying technical documentation of the technical equipment, including records of inspections, checks and tests carried out (§ 8 písm. a)). Documentation under § 6 and Annex 3 contains data on the manufacturer, instructions for operation, maintenance and testing, requirements for the professional competence of the operator and acceptance documents (passport or inspection book, attestations, certificates).
• Maintains a register of the reserved technical equipment with data according to Annex 4 corresponding to the actual state (§ 8 písm. b)). The register contains the name and type designation, manufacturer, serial number, year of manufacture, location and technical parameters. It is the first thing a labour inspectorate inspector typically requests.
• Issues a local operating regulation for the operation of VTZ of group A if the technical documentation does not reflect the actual operating conditions (§ 8 písm. c)).
• Ensures that a safety condition inspection is carried out under § 9 (§ 8 písm. d)) — i.e., timely professional inspections, professional tests and official tests within the prescribed intervals.

A particular and frequently underestimated obligation is the remedying of identified deficiencies. Carrying out the inspection alone is not enough — the operator is obliged to remedy the identified deficiencies. If the inspection technician states in the report that the equipment poses an immediate threat to life and health, it recommends that it be taken out of service (§ 16 ods. 2 písm. i)) and the operator must take it out of service. Before the start of the inspection, the operator is obliged to prepare the equipment for inspection and to ensure the necessary protective measures (§ 9 ods. 3) — for example, to provide access to the switchgear, to disconnect the power supply or to ensure degassing. These obligations are supplemented by the general obligation under Act No. 124/2006 Coll. — under § 6 the employer is obliged to ensure safety and health at work (BOZP) and under § 9 to continuously monitor the safety condition of technical equipment. Documentation, records and inspection reports together form the system by which the operator demonstrates fulfilment of the statutory obligations.

The safety of VTZ does not depend solely on the condition of the equipment, but also on the competence of the people operating it. Under § 17 ods. 1 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll., only a person with a valid licence card may operate VTZ if it is a steam and liquid boiler of class I. to V., a mobile or tower boom-type crane and a mobile elevating work platform on a motor-powered chassis of group A intended for use on public roads, or a gas technical equipment of group A (with exceptions). For load slinging on group A cranes, a load slinger's licence card is required (§ 17 ods. 2). Other VTZ not listed in § 17 ods. 1 may be operated by a person who holds a written confirmation of verified professional knowledge prepared by an inspection technician (§ 17 ods. 3). A common misconception should be noted here. The written confirmation of professional competence to operate, sling loads or repair equipment not listed in § 17 ods. 1 and § 18 ods. 1 is governed by § 15 ods. 7 of Decree No. 508/2009 Coll. — not § 16 ods. 7, which does not exist at all in § 16 (Inspection technician), as § 16 of the Decree has only paragraphs 1 to 3. The obligation itself to undergo updating professional training does not arise from the Decree but from Act No. 124/2006 Coll.

Under § 16 ods. 8 of Act No. 124/2006 Coll., a natural person who holds a licence card, certificate or confirmation is obliged within five years of its issue to undergo updating professional training with a person authorised for education and training, and to undergo further updating professional training always within five years of completing the previous one. If this obligation is not fulfilled, the licence card, certificate or confirmation loses its validity (§ 16 ods. 12 písm. c)). In addition, the holder is obliged to undergo a preventive medical examination in relation to work, also on a five-year cycle (§ 16 ods. 6); the validity of the document is thus tied to the same interval as the updating professional training. For the employer this means that it must keep track not only of the intervals for inspections of equipment, but also of the validity of the licence cards and certificates of its employees and the dates of their updating professional training and medical examinations. An employee with an invalid licence card may not operate the equipment and their deployment constitutes a breach of regulations, for which a sanction is applicable.

Compliance with the obligations associated with VTZ is enforced by the labour inspection on the basis of Act No. 125/2006 Coll. on labour inspection. State administration is carried out by the National Labour Inspectorate and regional labour inspectorates. A labour inspector is authorised to enter a workplace without prior notice and to inspect the safety condition of technical equipment, documentation and inspection reports. Fines are governed by § 19 of Act No. 125/2006 Coll. Under § 19 ods. 1 písm. a), the labour inspectorate may impose a fine on the employer of up to EUR 100,000 for breach of obligations arising from occupational health and safety (BOZP) regulations. If an occupational accident resulted from the breach, the Act sets minimum fines — for serious bodily harm at least EUR 20,000 and for death at least EUR 33,000. This differentiation by the consequences of the accident was introduced by Act No. 73/2021 Coll. with effect from 1 April 2021.

For carrying out activities without the required authorisation, certificate, licence card or permit, the labour inspectorate will impose under § 19 ods. 2 a fine of from EUR 300 to EUR 33,000. For serious breach of obligations, the fine ranges from EUR 1,000 to EUR 200,000, and for failure to comply with a measure imposed by a labour inspector from EUR 300 to EUR 100,000. Senior employees and statutory bodies who by their fault breached obligations or gave instructions to breach them may be fined up to four times their average monthly earnings (§ 19 ods. 1 písm. c)). Under § 20, for obstructing the exercise of labour inspection or failure to fulfil reporting obligations an order fine of from EUR 100 to EUR 1,000 may also be imposed. In addition to direct sanctions, indirect consequences also apply. If an accident occurs or damage is caused to equipment that did not have a valid inspection, the insurer may reduce or refuse the insurance payout entirely. In serious cases where the neglect of obligations led to endangerment of life or to an accident, criminal liability of the responsible persons may also come into consideration.

Labour inspectorate practice shows that breaches of VTZ obligations follow recurring patterns. Knowing them means knowing how to avoid them.

• Missed inspection deadline. Deadlines run objectively and exceeding them means that the equipment is operated without a valid safety verification. With a large number of pieces of equipment with different intervals, manual tracking is unreliable — a register with automatic reminders is recommended.
• Missing or incomplete documentation. If the equipment passport, operating instructions or proof of a previous inspection is missing, this constitutes a separate breach regardless of the technical condition of the equipment.
• Incorrect classification of equipment into a group. If the operator underestimates the equipment and classifies it in group C instead of B or A, it omits mandatory inspections and exposes itself to the risk of a sanction. The classification under Annex 1 must be assessed professionally.
• Failure to remedy deficiencies identified by the inspection. An inspection report stating deficiencies does not itself fulfil the obligations — the deficiencies must be remedied and the remedy documented. At the next inspection it will also be checked whether and how the deficiencies from the previous OPaOS were remedied (§ 16 ods. 2 písm. f)).
• Operating equipment by an unqualified person — an employee without a valid licence card or with a licence card whose validity has lapsed due to failure to undergo updating professional training.
• Ordering an inspection from a technician without a certificate for the relevant type and group of equipment — such an inspection is invalid and the operator is in the same position as if no inspection had been carried out.

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