Transport of gaseous products through pipes

Belgium does not produce natural gas, so it must import it from abroad. It is transported through pipelines. Belgium has a dense network of about 4,000 km of pipelines.

The installation and operation of facilities for the transport of gaseous and other products (natural gas, fuel gas for industrial use, oxidising gas, liquid hydrocarbons, etc.) through pipelines is subject to the issuance of federal permits and is regulated by the Act of 12 April 1965.

Legal framework for the safety of pipeline transport facilities

The regulatory framework for the safety of pipeline transport facilities consists of:

• the Royal Decree of 19 March 2017: this includes the general and basic safety measures;
• the Technical Codes: these contain the detailed technical regulations applicable to 4 particular areas (design and construction, operation, risk analysis and safety management system). These Technical Codes reflect industry best practices and European and international standards. They are updated regularly;
• the transport permits with any individual regulations.

The regulations take into account:

• the technological developments that have taken place since the basic text;
• current best practices in pipeline transport safety;
• certain elements that have come to light in incidents;
• the need for administrative simplification;
• the rules of good industry practice;
• the functional standards prepared at the European and international level, including by the technical committees for gas infrastructure of the European and international standardisation bodies.

Technical Codes

• Technical Code on Design and Construction (PDF, 707.88 KB)
• Technical Code on Operation (PDF, 1.03 MB)
• Technical Code on Risk Analysis (PDF, 619.05 KB)
• Technical Code on the Safety Management System (PDF, 988.46 KB)