"Standards" The Ultimate Guide
First and foremost, it's essential to understand that all standards are fundamentally rooted in safety. Their primary focus is ensuring a safe workplace environment.
Standards are divided across the world into US and International standards.
Let's understand the US system first.
In the US, standards are voluntary unless.. They become part of the law. You cannot say: "you violated the law IEEE Std. XYZ". What you should say: "You (your equipment) did not comply with the IEEE Std. XYZ"
So who controls the law?
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
The (most applicable) law is Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
CFR is a codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States.
The CFR is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation.
CFR Title 29 is "Labor" (DOL) and is frequently quoted in relation to the safety, safe design of equipment, and safety of personnel working or near equipment.
Title 29 is divided into different "parts" one of them is General Industry (29 CFR 1910). It is what we do in the electrical power industry.
Many "Parts" have several Subparts, i.e. 29CFR1910(A) through (Z) and each has many articles (standards). (The number 1910 does not represent years.)
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
Established in 1970 by the OSH Act, is a division of the Department of Labor and is part of the CFR, making it legally binding. OSHA controls CFR Title 29, with Part 1910, "General Industry," being particularly relevant to the electric power industry.
For example, 29 CFR 1910 Subpart "S" addresses electrical safety requirements that are necessary for practical safeguarding of employees in their workplaces.
We can access it using this link: https://www.osha.gov/lawsregs/regulations/standardnumber/1910
So far, if something is defined by law, compliance is mandatory. However, if it is only mentioned in a standard and not in the law, compliance is voluntary.
But here’s the twist: OSHA regulations (Title 29) often reference standards like NFPA, ANSI, IEEE, ASTM, and UL.
This means that portions of these standards are effectively laws. Therefore, it's crucial to distinguish between what is legally required and what is not.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
This Institute oversees the creation, promulgation, and use of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector: from acoustical devices to construction equipment, from dairy and livestock production to energy distribution. It does not develop standards.
ANSI is a private, not-for-profit organization that issues voluntary consensus standards. To be approved, a standard must go through a review cycle and gain approval from its members. This process is essentially a democratic one, requiring agreement from various organizations on the content of the standard.
ANSI's membership comprises government agencies, organizations, corporations, academic and international bodies, and individuals.
There is a public review process where we can both comment on proposed new standards or revisions. If a proposal is concerning or if an organization believes it could negatively impact their business, they have the right to review and provide feedback on these drafts.
This process is iterative; standards are revised and reviewed until a consensus is reached among all involved organizations, ensuring that the final document is widely accepted and approved.
The picture in the following figure shows some members of ANSI. The full list of members can be viewed here: https://portal.ansi.org/Info/Roster ABB, Schneider Electric, General Electric and more are included,
For example, the Acoustical Society of America might find the sound of transformers undesirable and could issue a comment to reduce it. However, this comment would still need to go through the consensus process for approval.
ANSI is a standard, however, it can be included in CFR. In OSHA part S301-399 the references to OSHA go to ANSI/IEEE C2 which is the national electric safety code. Also, NFPA 70 and NFPA 70E are written in CFR.
In the figure, there is a screenshot of that point in the document regarding OSHA part S301-399 which can be downloaded from:
Please differentiate between ANSI/IEEE C2 National Electric Safety Code (NESC), National Electric Code (NEC) NFPA 70 and NFPA 70E.
NESC is for Power Generation through Outside Transmission & Distribution Equipment.
This means it is stopped at the meter before your building. The wiring inside this building is taken care of by NEC and NFPA 70E the latter tells people how to design and install electrical systems but not how to perform the work. This is when NFPA 70E comes into place. It describes safe work practices.
NEC and NFPA 70E are related to NFPA which is The National Fire Protection Association and it is a U.S.-based international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property, and economic loss due to fire, electrical, and related hazards.
Returning to ANSI, it enjoys an unparalleled reputation and trust across various industries, both among users and manufacturers. An ANSI standard is often considered highly reliable, as it reflects broad industry support and consensus.
With these standards, organizations can collaborate or delegate responsibilities. For instance, NEMA, which previously developed many switchgear standards, decided to transfer some of these, such as IEEE C37.06, to IEEE for ongoing maintenance and development.
We will talk about NEMA once we finish IEC.
Now for IEEE (As if it was not enough).
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
IEEE is an association and it serves at least three primary functions all related to the advancement of technology.
IEEE is divided into 38 Societies, among them are:
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It is the largest professional organization in the world.
Power and Energy Society (ieee-pes.org) is one of the most active in standards and standard development. Some of PES standards are about, Electric Machinery, Substations, and Switchgear. In the latter, it has two groups of documents C37 series and IEEE series. The nomenclature for C37 is for historical reasons
Some standards of IEEE are not recognized by ANSI. However, it has the same process as ANSI, the consensus.
Negative comments are addressed and sometimes if it is valid the document is modified.
Intonational Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
IEC develops international standards for electrical, electronic, and related technologies
What is the difference between IEEE and IEC? The fundamental difference is that IEC membership is by countries, not individuals. Voting on Standards by countries (one country one vote)
There can be informative annex "in-some-country" clauses related to differing practices of a less permanent nature reflecting particular conditions existing in certain countries. These clauses may become normative in the relevant countries once the IEC standard is adopted as a National Standard.
Adoption of IEC Standards by Countries
1. Direct Adoption
Countries can directly adopt IEC standards as their national standards without any modification. This approach is common when the IEC standard aligns closely with the country’s existing regulations and industry needs.
2. National Adoption with Modifications
Some countries adopt IEC standards but modify them to address local conditions, regulatory requirements, or specific needs. These modifications may be minor or significant, depending on factors like climate, infrastructure, and legal requirements.
The adapted IEC standard can then be incorporated into a national code or regulation. This code serves as a legal requirement for businesses and industries operating within the country. For example, the Egyptian Electrical Code incorporates IEC standards and adapts them to Egyptian context.
IEC EN (European Norm) Standards
IEC EN standards are IEC standards that have been adopted by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) [in French: Comité Européen de Normalisation électrotechnique] as European Standards.
These are essentially IEC standards with minor modifications (if necessary) to align with European Union regulations or specific requirements. Once adopted, they become mandatory in all EU member states.
Although CENELEC works closely with the Eruopean Union it is not an EU institution, it has agreements with countries outside Europe.
National Standard
National standards bodies in the EU, such as DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung) in Germany or BSI (British Standards Institution) in the UK, adopt these EN standards, replacing any conflicting national standards. They are prefixed with "EN" to indicate their status as a European standard. However, there is a purely British Standard like BS 7671 (IEE Wiring Regulations) with no direct equivalent in EN, although it incorporates aspects of European and international standards. A contemporary example is BS EN 60947: This is a standard for low-voltage switchgear and controlgear. The original EN 60947 was developed by CENELEC, based on the IEC 60947 standard. The BSI then adopted it as BS EN 60947 for use in the UK, meaning it's the same standard used across Europe.
By the way BS 7671 IET is developed by Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Other examples on national standards are AS/NZS in Australia and new Zeeland, GOST (Gosudarstvennyy Standart) in Russia
International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRé)
While IEEE covers all the technical publications, papers, educational, professional development, and standards, IEC only covers standards. CIGRE [in French: Conseil International des Grands Réseaux électriques] is the technical arm of IEC. CIGRE says why this equipment shall be tested like this or this (according to IEC). It justifies this on a technical side.
CIGRE is a member-based organization divided into 16 Study Committees (SCs) across four groups. For example:
While IEEE is American influenced and IET is British influenced, CIGRE is global and focus on Generation, Transmission & Distribution
Dual Logo
For a long time, conflicts have risen due to two different Standards. Two organizations negotiated a deal to coordinate and cooperate in Standards development. It is what they call a dual logo
IEEE Agreement with IEC - IEC/IEEE Dual Logo
The agreement was originally aimed at identifying suitable IEEE standards and draft standards as candidates for processing through the IEC full-consensus procedure at the country level, It has been expanded to include the joint development of new or existing standards in parallel in both organizations.
The agreement involves a dual-logo arrangement in which the logos of both organizations will appear on documents adopted by and jointly developed with IEC.
C37.60 is now a dual logo document
It is a painful process because it has to go through each cycle and every negative comment has to be addressed.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
NEMA is the largest trade association 'not-for-profit organization' of electrical equipment manufacturers in the US. It publishes standards for electrical products. A Standard of NEMA defines a product, process, or procedure with reference to one or more of the following dimensions, tolerance, ratings, testing and etc.
NEMA is NOT a standards organization in the same way. They publish guidelines for the construction of electrical equipment, but there is no testing or policing, it's just voluntary compliance. However, many of the NEMA design guidelines have made it into other testing and listing standards, such as ANSI and also UL.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions.
Underwriters Laboratories became the parent company of a for-profit company in the U.S. named UL LLC, a limited liability company, which took over the product testing and certification business. On June 26, 2022, the companies rebranded into three distinct organizations that make up the UL enterprise.
The company is one of several companies approved to perform safety testing by the U.S. federal agency OSHA
Another interesting info about UL, it offers computer benchmarking products like 3DMark
NEMA and UL have differences, for example, the most significant difference between NEMA rated enclosures and a UL type rated is how testing is done and the compliance process.
NEMA rated enclosures are self-certified by the manufacturer. They do not require a third-party testing, or a compliance process performed by an accredited testing organization to verify the enclosure rating. The manufacturer can apply a gasket on the enclosure door to protect against dust, dirt and splashing water. Then, self-certify the enclosure to be rated NEMA 12.
UL rated enclosures must go through a rigorous testing and complete a compliance process performed by a UL accredited test facility to achieve UL Type 12 certification. For example, a UL Type 12 enclosure must survive being sprayed with a pressurized hose and exposed to blown concrete dust for a specified period of time, to be certified.
Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
The CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association; CSA) is a standard organization which develops standards in 57 areas. it is composed of representatives from industry, government, and consumer groups.
Although primarily developed for use in Canada, but they are recognized and used in other countries under specific circumstances.
International Electrical Testing Association (NETA)
Formerly, the National Electrical Testing Association is an organization that serves the electrical testing industry by offering accreditation of third-party electrical testing firms, certifying electrical testing technicians, producing Of American National Standards, hosting Power Test - Electrical Maintenance and Safety Conference, and publishing NETA World technical journal. The Association is an accredited electrical testing standards developer for the American National Standards Institute ANSI https://www.netaworld.orq
International Standards Organization (ISO)
ISO is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standard organization of member countries
ISO is about policies and procedures, not equipment. So, for instance, when a spec calls for a supplier to be certified to ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems), that is saying that an ISO approved certifying agency has audited the company and all of their facilities for adherence to a set of procedural standards regarding quality control, documentation, data retention and security, safety procedures etc. etc. Whitin that audit, an ISO inspector may look at any applicable equipment standards for the products produced and the policies those standards require, then evaluate the company's performance against those policy requirements. But they do not specifically look at the requirements of the equipment itself.
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Data Analyst | Ex PepsiCo Supply Chain Intern | Project Management | Mechanical Power Engineer
6 个月Great effort
Electrical Power Engineering Student || Substation Design || ABB Intern
6 个月Excellent article! I truly appreciate the valuable insights you shared. Thanks for sharing this.