{"id":2035,"date":"2023-02-22T11:40:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T10:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/approfondimenti\/%tipologia_approfondimento%\/standard-tecnici-nord-america\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T10:17:58","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T09:17:58","slug":"standard-tecnici-nord-america","status":"publish","type":"approfondimento","link":"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/en\/insights\/ul-and-csa-conformity\/standard-tecnici-nord-america\/","title":{"rendered":"What standards to follow in the USA and Canada?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n    \n        <section\n            data-name=\"Contenuto testuale con immagine\"\n            class=\"bow-gte-testo-media u-spacer-base\"\n            id=\"\"\n        >\n            \n<div class=\"o-text-media px-side-spacer sm:px-side-spacer-sm lg:px-side-spacer-tablet 2xl:px-side-spacer-desktop flex flex-wrap items-start md:block\">\n\n    \n        \n                    <div\n                class=\"h-auto mb-6 md:mb-4 lg:mb-8 xl:mb-9 float-left mr-6 md:mr-4 lg:mr-8 xl:mr-9  overflow-hidden shadow-content-image w-full md:w-2\/3\"\n            >\n                \n\n    \n        \n            \n                \n                    <picture\n                        class=\"\"\n                                            >\n                                                                                                        <source\n                                media=\"(max-width: 150px)\"\n                                width=\"150\"\n                                height=\"150\"\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/North-American-Electrical-Safety-Standards-150x150.jpg.webp\"\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\n                            \/>\n                                                                                <source\n                                media=\"(max-width: 300px)\"\n                                width=\"300\"\n                                height=\"225\"\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/North-American-Electrical-Safety-Standards-300x225.jpg.webp\"\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\n                            \/>\n                                                                                <source\n                                media=\"(max-width: 768px)\"\n                                width=\"768\"\n                                height=\"576\"\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/North-American-Electrical-Safety-Standards-768x576.jpg.webp\"\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\n                            \/>\n                                                                                <source\n                                media=\"(max-width: 960px)\"\n                                width=\"960\"\n                                height=\"720\"\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/North-American-Electrical-Safety-Standards.jpg.webp\"\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\n                            \/>\n                                                                            <img\n                            class=\"a-image transparent border-image h-auto  w-full\"\n                                                        srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/North-American-Electrical-Safety-Standards.jpg.webp\"\n                                                        width=\"960\"\n                            height=\"720\"\n                                                                                    title=\"North American Electrical Safety Standards\"\n                                                        type=\"image\/webp\"\n                            loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\"                        \/>\n                    <\/picture>\n\n                \n\n                    \n    \n\n            <\/div>\n        \n                    <div class=\"relative w-full\">\n                \n<div class=\"a-text font-text text-base normal mt-8 first:mt-0 space-y-4\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>THE DOUBT:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>As a machinery manufacturer, you may feel overwhelmed by the many standards referenced when discussing exports to the USA or Canada. This raises a fundamental question: <strong>which standards should you follow when designing machinery or a production line for the North American market?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>CONSIDERATIONS:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>In North America, as in Europe, a distinction is made between the <strong>fixed electrical installation<\/strong>, also referred to as <em>premises wiring<\/em>, and the <strong>electrical equipment of machinery<\/strong>. Understanding this boundary is essential when identifying the applicable standards.<\/p>\n<p>The main international standard for the <strong>electrical equipment of machinery<\/strong> is <strong>IEC 60204-1<\/strong>, adopted in Europe as <strong>EN 60204-1<\/strong>. The corresponding standards in the <strong>USA<\/strong> and <strong>Canada<\/strong> are <strong>NFPA 79<\/strong> and <strong>CSA C22.2 No. 301<\/strong>, respectively. These standards serve similar purposes, but their requirements are not identical.<\/p>\n<p>For <strong>industrial control panels<\/strong>, the principal product standards are <strong>UL 508A in the USA<\/strong> and <strong>CSA C22.2 No. 286 in Canada<\/strong>. At European and international levels, there is no direct counterpart dedicated exclusively to machinery control panels. <strong>IEC 60204-1<\/strong> addresses the panel as part of the machine\u2019s electrical equipment, while the relevant parts of the <strong>IEC 61439 series<\/strong> may also apply, depending on the assembly and its intended use. For example, Parts 1 and 2 address general requirements and power switchgear and controlgear assemblies. <strong>Part 6 specifically addresses busbar trunking systems (busways)<\/strong>. But, IEC 61439-1 does not apply to Control Panels containing busbars: the reference standard is still IEC 60204-1 and the panel manufacturer may look into IEC 61439-1 for guidance, for example, on bus bar ampacity.<\/p>\n<p>The distinction between machinery and the fixed installation does <strong>not<\/strong> mean that <strong>NFPA 70\u2014the National Electrical Code\u2014and the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, are irrelevant to machinery<\/strong>. These codes govern installation requirements, including the supply and connection of machinery, and contain provisions relevant to its installation and approval. Their applicability is not determined solely by the size of the machine or production line.<\/p>\n<p>In the European Union, the manufacturer is responsible for defining and documenting the scope of the machinery covered by its conformity assessment and CE marking, in accordance with the applicable legislation. For machinery within the scope of the <strong>Machinery Directive<\/strong>, the electrical safety objectives of the <strong>Low Voltage Directive<\/strong> apply, but conformity assessment for electrical hazards is governed by the Machinery Directive. <strong>CE marking does not remove the need to comply with applicable national requirements for the surrounding fixed installation and the machine\u2019s connection to it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the <strong>USA and Canada<\/strong>, the <strong>Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)<\/strong> plays a key role in interpreting and enforcing the applicable installation and approval requirements. For large production lines or complex installations, it is therefore advisable to clarify the boundary between machinery wiring and premises wiring early in the project, together with the AHJ and a qualified electrical consultant.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, <strong>North American requirements often call for electrical equipment to be approved for its intended use<\/strong>. Depending on the jurisdiction and equipment involved, this may be achieved through <strong>product certification to the applicable standards<\/strong> or through an accepted <strong>field evaluation<\/strong> procedure. In Canada, <strong>CSA SPE-1000<\/strong> provides a model code for the field evaluation of electrical equipment. Field evaluation is distinct from product certification, and its acceptance depends on the applicable jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; text-align: justify;\"><strong>CONCLUSIONS:<\/strong> The drawing shown in this page should clarify which standards to use in order to engineer a Machinery Electrical Installation. Please be aware that if your installation falls under the \u201c<strong>electrical premises<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c<strong>fixed installation<\/strong>\u201d (that judgement is made by the AHJ) <strong>you need to follow the prescription of the NEC in USA and the CE Code in Canada.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n        \n        \n                <div class=\"clear-both\"><\/div>\n        \n\n    <\/div>\n        <\/section>\n\n    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE DOUBT:&nbsp;If you are a machinery manufacturer, you may be lost by the so many standards mentioned when discussing export to USA or Canada. The question yo&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2036,"parent":0,"menu_order":44,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tipologia_approfondimento":[50],"class_list":["post-2035","approfondimento","type-approfondimento","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tipologia_approfondimento-ul-and-csa-conformity"],"acf":{"sottotitolo":"","allegati":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What technical standards to follow in USA and in Canada?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE DOUBT:\u00a0If you are a machinery manufacturer, you may be lost by the s...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/en\/insights\/ul-and-csa-conformity\/standard-tecnici-nord-america\/\" 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