International electrical relay safety standards & information

Electrical relay safety standards

Safety standards protect users from electrical shock and fire hazards caused by electrical equipment. They establish minimum safety standards required for electrical equipment and components. Each country has its own national safety standards according to voltages, weather conditions and safety approaches. Using safety-approved relays in equipment will exempt manufacturers from taking the relay test at the time of the application for the standard approval of the equipment.

Worldwide Electrical Safety Standards & Certifying Organizations

Worldwide Safety Standards and Certifying Organizations

Major electrical relay safety requirements

Name	National Standards	Country	Description	Certification Body	Certification Mark
IEC	-	International	Technical electric standards based on the most recent scientific technology. Forms the basis for standards in other countries.	-	-
UL	ANSI Standards	United States	To prevent fires, standards are enforced for the sale of electric products in the USA by state and city. Components must also be certified.	UL
CSA	CSA Standards	Canada	North American safety standards are applied and operated to prevent fire accidents, in the same way as in the USA.	CSA
EU	EN Standards	Europe	Standards are designed to prevent electric shock and fires, but are not legally enforced. Enforcement is achieved through strict penalties.	VDE, TUV-Rh
CCC	Chinese National Standards: GB Standards	China	Items for which certification is enforced are specified, and the import and sale of uncertified items in China is prohibited.	CCC

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International Safety Standards

Country	Standard	Level
	IEC Standards	International Level
	EN Standards	Reginal Level
Germany	VDE Standards	National Level
UK	BSI Standards	National Level
USA	ANSI Standards	National Level
Canada	CSA Standards	National Level
China	GB Standards	National Level
Japan	JIS Standards	National Level
	UL Standards	Industry Level

Basic electrical relay safety requirements

North American Electrical Relay Safety Standards

North American standards are for safety of flammability, ignition performance, and temperature rise of insulating materials used in electrical equipment and parts to prevent fire hazards caused by electrical equipment.
Major safety standards: UL (USA) and CSA (Canada).

European Electrical Relay Safety Standards

European standards cover requirements for insulation distance and tracking resistance (*) in electrical equipment and parts to prevent electrical shock accidents. Major safety standards: EN/IEC (Europe/International)

*Tracking resistance is the degree of loss of the insulation properties by the formation of a conducting path (carbon path) across the insulator surface between electrodes having a potential difference.

Area	Voltage	Hazards	Essential requirements
North America	120 / 240 Vac	Fire	Flammability
Europe	230 / 400 Vac	Electric shock	Insutation distance