4. General electrical standards

4.1 Presentation

As we saw in the introduction, electrical equipment has long been blamed for fires. As a result, equipment manufacturers and users in various countries (and even internationally) were quick to standardize fire behavior tests for each type of equipment, albeit with little or no coordination.

In 1976, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) decided to create a structure for harmonizing all tests relating to fire hazards in the electrical field. It was also given the role of "steering committee". This is Committee 89 "Fire hazard testing". The role of this committee is to coordinate standardization in the field of fire in electrical equipment, previously dealt with independently by product-specific committees.

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