Standardization and certification bodies in the electrotechnical domain

The electrical, electronics and communications industries (electrotechnical sector) have always been involved in standardization and certification.

This is why the sector relies on a network of national, European and international standards bodies covering the three areas that have been commonly considered for many years: national, European and global.

From this point of view, a French electrical engineering company's contacts in the field of standardization are :

• in France, the Comité électrotechnique français (CEF), hosted by the Association française de normalisation (AFNOR), which coordinates electrotechnical standardization work within the Electrotechnologies department (DELEC);

• at European level, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC);

• worldwide, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

Other standardization bodies exist, either of a sectoral nature (e.g. telecommunications – European Telecommunications Standards Institute – ETSI), or of a general nature, whose bodies are :

• in France, the Association française de normalisation (AFNOR);

• at the European level, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN);

• the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Mention should also be made of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU – ), which has a regulatory role at international level.

The standardization activity previously carried out by UTE (Union technique de l'électricité), which until the end of 2013 was the Bureau de normalisation (BN) for the electrotechnical sector, has been transferred to AFNOR, Electrotechnologies department, since 1 ^er January 2014.

In this article, we will define the concepts of "standardization", "certification" and "accreditation" in greater detail, then look at their application in the electrotechnical sector, at international, European and French level.