NORTH AMERICA

In North America, explosion protection for electrical equipment and systems vary slightly from the IEC technology. The differences can be found, for example, in the classification of potentially explosive atmospheres, the equipment design and the installation of electrical systems.The National Electrical Code (NEC) in the USA and the Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) in Canada apply to electrical equipment and systems used in potentially explosive operating facilities. These are similar to installation regulations for electrical systems in all areas and refer to a range of other standards of other institutions which contain regulations for the installation and construction of suitable equipment.In the USA, these are mainly the standards issued by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) and the International Society of Automation (ISA). In Canada, it is the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).