Handbook of Electrical Installation Practice - BeKnowledge

address detailed issues. The guide gives the following order of precedence for the
conformance of equipment to the Directive:
(1) Conformance with the safety requirements of a harmonised European standard
(2) Where a harmonised European standard has not been drawn up or published,
conformance with the safety provisions of an IEC publication which has been
published in the Official Journal of the European Communities
(3) Where no European or International standard exists, conformance to the safety
provisions of a British Standard (i.e. a purely national standard).
While it is not mandatory for electrical equipment to conform to any published standard,
perhaps because it is an innovative product, this equipment must nevertheless
comply with the basic requirement to be safe, paying due regard to the principal
elements of the safety objectives.There will be no presumption of conformity, hence
these products will be open to challenge by the enforcement authorities, at any stage
in the supply chain.
A third legal requirement of interest to those concerned with electrical installations
stems from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 as amended, which is
applicable to all places of employment.This Act lays a general duty (every employer
to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of his employees and not to expose
members of the public to health or safety risks). An employer can go a long way
towards satisfying the law by ensuring that all equipment on his premises is manufactured,
installed and maintained in accordance with appropriate British Standard
specifications and codes of practice. Proof of this fact would be powerful defence
against any prosecution under the Act. Indeed, it is commonly considered to be most
unlikely that the Health and Safety Executive would bring such a case before the
courts. Indeed, to do so could be regarded as illogical as the constitutions of the BSI
committees responsible for all of the relevant standards include representation from
the Health and Safety Executive.
EUROPEAN UNION (EU)
Standards, Specifications and Codes of Practice 315
The final link in the chain which binds standards and regulations together arises
from the fact that British law is, to a specific and carefully controlled extent, subject
to the law of the EU. One of the fundamental purposes of the EU is that expressed
by Article 100A of the Treaty of Rome, aimed at the development of a true Single
European Market.
After preparatory work by civil servants, the governments of member states of
the community may agree by qualified majority to issue Directives intended
to abolish or prevent technical barriers to trade (the New Approach). The obligations
of such Directives rest with the governments of the member states that have
to take whatever legal action necessary to comply with the requirements of the
Directive in question. The principle of reference to standards in European legislation
is well established, and a number of Directives make reference to European
standards published by CEN and CENELEC, either on a mandatory or ‘deemedto-satisfy’
basis.