IJCA - Volume I - Flipbook - Page 48
48 The International Journal of Conformity Assessment
Equipment for Use in Explosive
Atmospheres (IECEx System)
• International Electrotechnical
Commission Quality Assessment System for Electronic
Components (IECQ)
• System for Certification to
Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable
Energy Applications (IECRE)
Breakdown of the IEC
CA Systems’ Common
Elements and Governance
Although each conformity
assessment (CA) system has
unique elements, there are some
aspects common throughout.
The most important common
elements are as follows.
1. Stakeholder participation:
Every national member body
must include stakeholder
groups, such as regulatory
bodies, manufacturers, users,
installation and maintenance
groups, and conformity
assessment bodies, to avoid
dominance by any interest
group.
2. Use of international standards:
While each CA system decides
which specific standards will
be used, all are IEC or ISO
(International Organization for
Standardization) standards
3. Peer assessment: All testing
laboratories and certification
bodies are assessed for
competence and quality
control by experts from
other CA bodies within the
system. Peer assessment
may well be the feature that
makes the IEC conformity
assessment systems strong.
Each body is assessed by
its competitors (what could
be more rigorous?), and the
assessment reports are
reviewed by all the member
bodies before the CA body is
accepted into a system. All the
systems also feature periodic
reassessment
4. Mutual acceptance of results:
All the certification bodies
in a system agree to accept
each other’s test reports and
certificates of conformity as
processed through the system,
in issuing their own national
certifications. The systems
permit minimal verification
testing to validate certified
equipment; however, that
cannot approach anything
like a full product evaluation.
Regulators accept national
certification without favoring
testing done in the home
country over that done by
other participants in the CA
system.
All four CA systems are
governed by the IEC Conformity
Assessment Board (CAB). The
CAB sets the basic rules for
all the systems, oversees their
finances, and renders decisions
on issues brought to CAB by the
various systems’ management
committees.
IEC CAB is a group whose
members are elected by the four
systems’ national members.
CAB issues documents that
apply to all the CA systems on
conformity assessment and
peer assessment. While the
CAB issues basic rules, each
system has one or more rules and
operating procedures of its own.
IECEE
The IECEE-CB Scheme employs
a very large number of IEC
standards, issued by many
technical committees. Since there
are so many standards in use,
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they are organized into categories
covering similar products, such
as test, measurement, control and
laboratory equipment (category
MEAS) or household and similar
equipment (category HOUS).
The CB Scheme is an ISO Type
1a certification scheme, in that
it only covers initial testing (type
testing). A certification body that
accepts CB test certificates must
conduct factory surveillance
(follow-up service) if its own
certification scheme requires
continuing surveillance of
certified equipment, and nearly all
of them do.
IECEx
The IECEx system not only
covers Ex equipment (equipment
intended for use in explosive
atmospheres), called the
Certified Equipment Scheme,
but also certification of personal
competence in activities related
to explosive atmospheres, such
as area classification, installation,
and maintenance. There is an
IECE scheme for certification
of shops performing repair
and overhaul of Ex equipment.
IECEx is the only IEC CA system
that offers a system mark of
conformity, although demand for
the IECEx mark has been very
small to date.
IECEx uses only standards
developed by IEC TC 31 and its
subcommittees, and there is a
permanent liaison between the
IECEx Management Committee
and TC 31.
The IECEx certified equipment
scheme is an ISO Type 5
certification scheme, in which
the manufacturer’s factory
quality system is also under the
surveillance of an Ex certification
body.
IECQ
IECQ is a supply chain
management scheme that
mainly covers quality systems
throughout the production
and distribution of electronic
components. There is particular
emphasis on preventing
counterfeit components from
getting into the stream of
commerce. IECQ has conformity
assessment schemes for the
following:
• Approved processes
• Approved components,
products, related materials
and assemblies
• ADHP scheme for
aerospace, defense, and
high-performance (ADHP)
component management
• Hazardous substance
process management
• Counterfeit avoidance
program
• LED lighting
The IECQ system mostly
operates out of the public view,
as users of the system are
nearly always original equipment
manufacturers and repair shops.
IECRE
The IECRE is a certification
system for electrical generation
equipment powered by renewable
energy sources. The system
comprises three working groups:
Marine Energy, Solar PV Energy,
and Wind Energy, all reporting
to the Renewable Energy
Management Committee (REMC).
The Marine Energy scheme is
the newest, and perhaps most
interesting, sector of IECRE. It
uses only standards issued by
IEC TC 114. These standards
relate to the conversion of moving
water—wave, tidal and other water
current energy—to electrical
energy. The sector does not deal
with traditional hydroelectric
generation and standards
developed by TC 4, as of this
writing.
For comparison, the Solar PV
Energy and Wind Energy sectors
use only standards developed by
IEC TC 82 and TC 88, respectively.
Growth of the IEC
Certification Systems
Growth is a fairly good indicator
of success in any operation, and
the IEC CA systems have grown
very well.
Today, the IECEE CB Scheme has
grown to 54 national member
bodies, housing 92 national
certification bodies (NCBs) and
533 CB testing laboratories. In
1993, there were 3,501 CB test
certificates issued, and 2,673
certificates recognized by other
NCBs for certification. For
comparison, in 2019, 111,836
certificates were issued and
34,818 recognized.
The IECEx system has grown
to 36 national member bodies,
housing 60 certification bodies,
34 recognized training providers
for personal competence, and
68 Ex testing laboratories. There
were only 258 IECEx Certificates
of Conformity issued in 2005. In
2019, that number had grown to
4,554.
IECQ, a fairly new system, has 12
national member bodies with 28
certification bodies. The system
had issued 9,623 certificates of
conformity at the end of 2021.
IECRE, the newest member of
the IEC conformity assessment
family, has 15 national member
bodies. There are 13 certification
49
bodies, 32 testing laboratories
and four inspection bodies. In
2020, 119 IECRE test certificates
were issued, including the very
first Marine Energy certificate.
The IEC conformity assessment
systems’ success has been
recognized by OSHA, which is
not known for being open to new
approaches to equipment approvals. In 1995, OSHA issued a
directive that allows NRTLs to
accept CB test reports from other
certification bodies in IECEE.
That directive specifically prohibited NRTLs from accepting
IECEx certificates for hazardous
(classified) locations equipment.
In 2019, OSHA finally allowed the
NRTLs to recognize IECEx test reports, as it had been allowing CB
test reports during the preceding
24 years.
Harmonized Standards and
Reciprocal Acceptance of Testing and Certification Enhances
Product Safety and Quality
The IEC conformity assessment systems, created for the
specific purpose of facilitating
international trade in electrical
and electronic equipment and
components, have performed as
intended.
The manner in which these systems operate has considerably
reduced repeated equipment
testing across multiple jurisdictions. As a result, the total
amount of needless spending by
manufacturers, whose costs are
ultimately passed down to their
customers, cannot be measured
reliably, but it is undoubtedly
very large in aggregate. In addition to the direct financial gains,
the shortened time to market for
goods and services benefits the
public, which today has more
abundant, safe, high-quality
product choices.
