Coffee machine PSSR examinations by brand and model

A bean-to-cup machine arrives on a coffee supply contract. Nobody in the buying chain thinks of it as pressure equipment, and the supplier’s maintenance contract looks as though it covers everything. It does not cover the statutory examination. Across our own records these are the single largest category of machine with no Written Scheme at all.

The boiler is sealed inside the body, behind the brew unit and the grinders, and on most models it holds between 0.8 and 8 litres. That does not put it out of scope. Steam is a relevant fluid under PSSR 2000 and steam systems are in scope at any pressure and any volume — a sealed vessel is still a pressure vessel.

The highest working pressures across the automatic machines we publish are significantly higher than the 1.2 bar standard found across the traditional estate as a whole. Higher pressure on a smaller, thinner vessel is exactly the combination a Written Scheme exists to catch.

Sealing the vessel changes how it is examined, not whether. On a sealed stainless boiler the examination is external — wall thickness, corrosion at the fittings, and the condition of every connection — with internal inspection by borescope only where the vessel design allows access. The safety valve, expansion valve, pressure sensor and thermal cut-outs are tested individually.