Legal PSSR compliance for coffee machines
in 48 hours

PSSR stands for the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000. Steam inside a commercial espresso boiler is classed as a relevant fluid and steam systems are in scope at any pressure and any volume, so any workplace coffee machine with a steam boiler — in a café, restaurant, hotel, office or staff canteen — must have a Written Scheme of Examination and be examined periodically by a competent person. If you employ staff or hold commercial insurance, you are expected to be able to produce that certificate.

The interval is set out in your Written Scheme of Examination and is commonly 12 to 14 months for a commercial espresso boiler. We record the due date in your compliance file and remind you before it expires, so a renewal never lands during a busy week.

With PSSR.uk, a standalone examination costs from £265 + VAT on a 1 or 2 group machine and £295 + VAT on a 3 group machine. A combined service and PSSR bundle is £405, £440 or £500 + VAT for 1, 2 or 3 group machines, and a certified safety valve where one is required to pass is £35 + VAT. To put that in perspective: it is less than a single emergency breakdown visit once parts are added, and it buys the paperwork your insurer, landlord or a future buyer will ask to see.

A standalone PSSR examination takes around 60 to 90 minutes. A combined service and PSSR bundle takes roughly 2 to 3 hours depending on group count. Most sites are booked before opening or after close, so no service is lost. Emergency slots are available for breakdowns. Across a year that is under 0.05% of your opening hours — a rounding error against the insurance cover it protects.

The attending engineer explains in plain terms what additional work is needed to bring it into compliance — which component failed, why, and what rectification involves. If the vessel cannot be certified at all, you are told directly why, and what the realistic options are. Findings come in writing with photographs and a fixed quote to put it right. The published examination rate applies either way; there is no separate failure charge. Where a certified safety valve is the only item required to pass, it is charged at £35 + VAT plus fitting.

Consumable service parts — group gaskets, shower plates and anti-vac valve seals — are included in the bundled packages. Additional components such as certified safety valves, steam valve assemblies, elements and grinder burrs are quoted and charged separately. Your quote states exactly what is included before we travel.

No. Steam is a relevant fluid under PSSR 2000 and steam systems are in scope at any pressure and any volume, so boiler size does not create an exemption. A coffee machine is classed as a minor system, which affects how the examination is carried out rather than whether one is required.

No. A service invoice is not a certificate. PSSR compliance documentation is a Written Scheme of Examination plus a report of examination from a competent person. A service improves reliability; it does not discharge the statutory duty, which is why we carry both out in a single visit.

If the machine contains a steam boiler or another pressure vessel holding a relevant fluid, it is in scope. Many bean-to-cup machines generate steam in a smaller boiler or flash heater, so the deciding factor is whether steam is present under pressure rather than the machine category. Send the make and model and we will confirm.

Yes. We act as the technical sub-contractor for wholesale roasters, restaurant and café groups, hotel operators, commercial landlords and facilities managers. Five or more London locations unlocks a fixed 20% discount across all site invoices with consolidated reporting and one point of contact.

PSSR does not license individuals and does not require a commercial scheme provider. Regulation 8 requires the scheme to be drawn up, or certified as suitable, by a competent person — someone with the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience to detect defects and assess their importance. The Written Scheme of Examination that PSSR.uk issues is written and backed by CoffeeSafe, who act as the competent person for the scheme.

Your PSSR.uk quote covers the examination, the Written Scheme of Examination and the certificate, and there is no separate charge for the certification itself. If your insurer, landlord or group requires submission to a particular registry, tell us at booking and we will confirm any cost in writing before we travel.

The Written Scheme of Examination is written and backed by CoffeeSafe, who act as the competent person for the scheme under regulation 8 of PSSR 2000. The examination itself is carried out by an independent, CoffeeSafe-registered engineer from our network, who attends and certifies in their own right. The scheme, the examination and the signed report therefore rest on the same certification basis.

If the boiler fails, causing property damage or injury, your insurer will ask for your compliance records. Commercial policies carry a condition requiring you to comply with statute, and PSSR 2000 is statute. Without a valid Written Scheme of Examination and a current report, an insurer can decline the claim and leave the business owner personally liable for the damage and the legal costs. It also matters before any incident: a landlord, a franchisor or a buyer's solicitor will ask for the same two documents.

Yes. Staggered renewal dates across several sites are an administrative problem, not a legal one, and they can be consolidated. We pro-rata or adjust the cycles so every site in the group falls due in the same week. Five or more UK locations unlocks a fixed 20% discount, consolidated billing and one point of contact.

The boiler has to be drained and cool to handle for an internal inspection, so the heating element should be switched off about three to four hours before the appointment. We agree that timeline with you at booking, around your opening hours, so the machine is not lost to a morning's trade. You do not need to remove panels or drain anything yourself — isolation and draining are part of the visit.

A pressure system needs a Written Scheme of Examination and an examination before it is first operated. That comes from regulations 8 and 9 of PSSR 2000, and a manufacturer's warranty does not satisfy it. If your installer did not supply a certified scheme, the machine can be out of compliance on its first day. A commissioning scheme is quick to arrange and starts the renewal clock from the right date.

Heavy scale on an element, a probe or a boiler weld can obscure the endoscope view and hide stress cracks underneath. If the engineer cannot make a proper structural assessment they will not certify it, but they will show you exactly what was found and what is needed to clear it so it can pass on a return visit, with photographs and a fixed quote. Scale is the most common defect we record in hard-water areas.

Yes. The compliance record belongs to the machine, not the company. The digital asset record, the Written Scheme of Examination and the signed report travel with the equipment, which is why an up-to-date history is worth having when you sell. Buyers' surveyors and their solicitors ask for exactly this file during due diligence.

No. Losing 90 minutes of lunchtime trade costs more than the examination does, so early-morning, evening and weekend slots are charged at the standard published rate. A 1 or 2 group machine is £265 + VAT whenever it is booked, with no premium for the hour and no travel loading added.

A service engineer keeps the machine reliable: gaskets, screens, valves, calibration. A competent person under PSSR 2000 has to assess structural condition and certify it — the vessel, the protective devices and the pipework that could give rise to danger. The two jobs overlap but they are not the same, and a service invoice does not discharge the legal duty. Every engineer in our network is independent, vetted and CoffeeSafe-registered to meet that threshold.

Anything drawing steam or pressurised water from the machine's own boiler is covered by that machine's examination. A separate pressure system is not — a wall-mounted bulk boiler such as a Marco or Calomax font has its own vessel and needs its own entry on the scheme. Tell us at booking if you run both and they can go on one visit and one quote.

Two documents. An active Written Scheme of Examination, which sets out how and when the system is examined, and a signed Report of Examination issued within the last 14 months by a competent person. A repair invoice is not a substitute for either. Both are archived digitally against your site, so they can be produced on a phone or tablet during an unannounced visit.

A Purity C300 cartridge is £107, or £144 as a complete starter system with the bypass head, two hoses, mains adapter and wall bracket. The C500 is £153 (£190 as a system) and the C1100 is £200 (£220 as a system). All prices exclude VAT and cover supply; fitting is included when the filter is changed during a PSSR examination, service, breakdown call-out or water test. We do not post cartridges out: every filter is fitted on site by an engineer. Ordered with no other work, the standard call-out applies.

It depends on volume and hardness, not on machine size alone. At a typical UK hardness of 10°dH with a 30% bypass, the C300 yields about 3,464 litres and suits a 2-group machine in a normal-volume shop. The C500 yields about 6,800 litres for a busy 2 or 3 group machine, or a site running a combi oven too. The C1100 yields about 11,500 litres for high-volume multi-group or bean-to-cup equipment. We test your water and set the bypass to match rather than guessing from the model.