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Article 18 **A licensing system shall be implemented for the production of special equipment in accordance with the principle of classified supervision and management. Production units of special equipment shall meet the following conditions and obtain permission from the department responsible for the safety supervision and management of special equipment before they can engage in production activities: (1) They must have professional technical personnel suitable for such production ； (II) Have equipment, facilities, and work premises suitable for production ； (III) It has sound systems for quality assurance, safety management, and job responsibilities. Interpretation of the provision: This article sets out the principles regarding the administrative licensing for the production of special equipment and the requirements that manufacturing units of such equipment must meet. I. The purpose of establishing a production licensing system for special equipment. (Regulations) The production licensing system for special equipment is an important market access mechanism, as well as a key administrative measure for the supervision of safety in the field of special equipment. To improve administrative efficiency and the effectiveness of safety supervision, while minimizing social safety costs as much as possible while ensuring safety, the special equipment safety supervision and management department under the State Council shall design, establish, and implement a production licensing system for special equipment in accordance with the principles of classified supervision and management, taking into account the characteristics, level of risk, and complexity of different types of special equipment, as well as the distinct features of the production activities carried out by units responsible for the design, manufacture, installation, modification, and repair of such equipment. The design of special equipment determines important aspects such as the materials used, parameters, main manufacturing methods, inspection and testing procedures, as well as the safety requirements that must be observed during use. It has a significant impact on safety and represents the starting point of all production processes; any errors in its design can lead to a series of problems, resulting in severe economic losses. Therefore, strict management is essential. At present, our country implements licensing regulation for design units of pressure vessels and pressure pipelines. The licensing system for the manufacture of boiler and pressure vessels has been in use in China for nearly 30 years, playing an important role in ensuring the quality of such devices and regulating the market. Elevators, lifting machinery, large-scale amusement facilities, as well as certain specialized motor vehicles used within factories and plants, and pressure pipeline components were previously subject to the industrial product production licensing system. During the administrative approval reform carried out by the State Council at the beginning of 2003, it was decided to include these products under the special equipment manufacturing licensing system, thereby enabling comprehensive safety supervision of all special equipment and contributing to an improvement in their safety standards. The licensing system for the installation and modification of special equipment such as boilers, pressure vessels, pressure pipelines, elevators, and lifting machinery has been in place in China for over 20 years, playing an important role in ensuring the quality of such equipment and regulating the market. Since most special equipment undergoes final installation, debugging, and functional testing on the site where it will be used, on-site installation is equivalent to the installation process in the factory. Effective control of installation quality is one of the most important factors in ensuring the intrinsic safety of such equipment, and this must be achieved through market access controls ； And modification and repair are equivalent to a specific form of manufacturing; the permit for modification and repair is itself a special form of manufacturing permit. II. Conditions for obtaining a manufacturing license for special equipment. Production activities such as the design, manufacturing, installation, modification, and repair of special equipment have a direct impact on the quality and safety performance of these devices, and they form the basis for ensuring their safe operation. Some major accidents are caused by poor production quality, and manufacturers of special equipment must meet certain requirements in order to engage in such production activities. Based on decades of management experience both domestically and internationally, these regulations stipulate that such enterprises must meet the following conditions: they must have professional technical personnel suitable for production ； There are equipment, facilities, and workspaces suitable for production ； There are sound systems for quality assurance, safety management, and job responsibilities. Due to the different characteristics of design, manufacturing, installation, modification, and repair activities, the requirements that enterprises must meet to carry out these activities also vary. Therefore, when issuing permits, separate requirements should be established, and permits should be granted based on the various conditions that each enterprise possesses.