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While the majority of countries around the world use IEC standards as the basis for approving switchgear and switchgear systems, North America has its own approach: In this region, the regulations set out in either the National Electrical Code (NEC) or the Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) must be followed.
In the United States, the National Electrical Code, or NEC for short, is the safety standard for electrical installations at field level. The NEC aims to ensure that electrical procedures are carried out in a safe and standardized manner. The NEC forms the legal basis for this—its requirements are implemented via UL 508A as the product standard for machine control panels and NFPA 79 as the installation standard for electrical equipment in machines.
The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) is largely the same as the NEC, although the two electrical standards are not identical in every detail.
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The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes a comprehensive set of fire safety regulations (National Fire Codes) that are used primarily in the United States. The NEC is one of these codes and is also published under the name NFPA 70.
The groundwork of American electrical standards was laid by fire insurance companies after the introduction of electricity and some dramatic electrical fires. For this reason, they are primarily used to prevent fires: The prevention of overheating, short circuits and faults related to the technology connecting the apparatus to sources of electricity—in short, everything that can lead to a fire—is therefore a common thread throughout the standards.
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In IEC countries, the approval of industrial switchgear for sale is the responsibility of the manufacturers. The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring compliance with the relevant standards and regulations (e.g. IEC 60 947). In Europe, the CE marking on the devices and their packaging materials indicates compliance with the European Standards (EN) on the basis of these IEC standards, thereby enabling their sale across the entire European Economic Area.
In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which enforces the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act in the US, and the NEC both require the approval of devices and equipment by the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL). There are currently 19 NRTL worldwide, including the well-known Underwriters Laboratories (UL). A similar approach applies in Canada: There, all electrical products covered by the CEC must be approved in accordance with CSA standards.
However, in the US, whether or not a product is approved is ultimately the decision of the local authorities, as each state or city may enforce its own regulations in addition to those of the NEC. There are well over 20,000 independent jurisdictions in the United States, which means that differing interpretations of how to apply the standards can never be completely avoided. The approval of devices and equipment for their respective applications is carried out by local inspectors, the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). The inspectors are investigators, prosecutors, judges and executors all in one. In most cases, they are not experts in electrical safety, but fire safety experts. Although the AHJ may not necessarily grant approval for a switchgear system that has tested by an OSHA-authorized testing institute, product approvals from an NRTL are often accepted without any additional requirements.
This means that it can be very helpful for the manufacturer to obtain approval by an NRTL in the exporting country, since the first thing inspectors look for when approving equipment is an NRTL label for all of the electrical equipment. This label makes their job easier and lifts some of the responsibility from their shoulders.
Anyone who wants to export machines to North America must know and take into account the differences between the NEC and IEC. In addition to NRTL certification, products must also be approved by the local authorities. Without approval by the local inspector, the electrical equipment must not be put into operation, as doing so will put the operator's insurance cover and electricity supply at risk.
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