The Canadian Electrical Code consists of
three parts. Part I covers the installation and maintenance of
electrical equipment, Part II is the safety standards for
electrical products, and Part III is for outside wiring. This
article will focus on Part I amendments.
The Part I committee consists of: Part I
members, associate members, subcommittee chairs, and
subcommittee members. A list of these members, complete with
affiliation, is located in the front of the Canadian
Electrical Code (CE Code). The Part I committee consists of
voting members and non-voting (associate members). The voting
members consist of 41 members, 16 of whom are regulatory
authority representatives and the remainder from the industry.
Appendix C of the CE Code sets out
committee and subcommittee structures detailing
responsibilities and expectations. Members include inspection
authorities, manufacturers of electrical equipment, employers,
employees, consultants, utilities, testing laboratories,
underwriters, or fire marshals, primary and secondary
industries, respective code making panels of NEC and,
users. Presently we have 23 IAEI members on 19 of the 42
subcommittees
Six Steps to a
Successful Code Change
Step 1
Fill out Annex B in Appendix C and send it to the
standards administrator of the Canadian Electrical Code, Part
I. Proposals need to include specific wording for a proposed
new rule or rule change, the reasons for the request, and
background information to support the change.
Step 2
The standards administrator fills out Annex A from
Appendix C and sends a copy to the subcommittee chair.
Step 3
The subcommittee chair adds comments and returns the
proposal now referred to as a subject back to the
standards administrator.
Step 4
The standards administrator sends the subject to the
subcommittee members for their comments. Communication of the
subcommittee can be through letters and faxing with an
increasing number of subcommittees taking advantage of the CSA
Standards Development Online Workspace (SDOW)
Step 5
After the standards administrator receives comments from
the subcommittee members, the subject is sent back to the
subcommittee chair.
The subcommittee chair then decides if the
subject is ready to be sent to the Part I Committee, or if
there is a need to be resubmitted to the subcommittee with a
reworded proposal or additional rationale. The original
submitter may be consulted at this point to ensure the intent
of the proposal remains as intended.
Step 6
When the subcommittee has achieved consensus, the subject
is forwarded via the standards administrator to the Part I
Committee for a ballot. The Part I Committee meets yearly in
June to discuss subjects that received negative ballots.
Successful subjects are filed for inclusion in the next
edition of the CE Code. Unsuccessful subjects may be returned
to the subcommittee or closed. The most important part of the
process is the original submission, the more detail and
rationale provided the better the success rate.
Steve Douglas is Canadian
representative to the IAEI International Board of
Directors. |
