IECEx Certification for equipment and personnel

What is IECEx?

The acronym IECEx (International Electrotechnical Commission System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Explosive Atmospheres) refers to a procedure used internationally to certify electrical equipment used in hazardous areas.

The main objective of the IECEx system is to facilitate international trade in equipment and services for use in explosive atmospheres, while maintaining the required level of safety. IECEx covers all safety-related aspects of explosion protected equipment over the complete life cycle. Equipment certified in connection with the voluntary IECEx Certified Equipment Scheme meets the regulatory requirements of major economic countries throughout the world, thereby expediting global market acceptance.

Why are IECEx standards important?

To ensure safety of personnel, equipment and environment in an explosive atmosphere

• Equipment and systems must conform to specific safety requirements.
• Personnel must apply required qualifications throughout the process steps.

IECEx Certified Equipment Scheme (IECEx 02) is a voluntary compliance system designed to assess and certify multiple aspects of potentially hazardous environments. More than 30 countries currently participate, including the U.S., China, Japan, Korea, Australia and Brazil, as well as many EU countries.

The IECEx Certified Persons Scheme (IECEx 05) offers a system for the assessment and qualification of persons needed to properly implement the safety requirements based on the suite of IEC International Standards covering explosive atmospheres, e.g. the IEC 60079 and IEC 61241 series of standards.

Benefits of the IECEx scheme include:

• Reduction of the cost of introducing products into international markets: The IECEx scheme allows the conversion of the IECEx certification without having to conduct additional tests or, if necessary, be limited to the national deviations of the country in which you want to export.
• International confidence in the product evaluation process: Many markets around the world acknowledge the IECEx certification.
• Protection of workers' health and production equipment: A clear advantage of IECEx standards is to minimise the risk of injury to people or machinery from damage caused by explosions.
• Enhanced trust: IECEx certification provided by a neutral third-party evaluator will validate conformance to safety requirements, thereby creating trust with customers, workers and other stakeholders.

Our IECEx scheme services

At TÜV SÜD we provide all the necessary guidance and support to comply with the IECEx scheme standards. Our teams of experts conduct testing, on-site inspection and conformity assessment of equipment operating in potentially explosive atmospheres. Our services include:

• Selection of IEC standards and definition of the required testing scope to obtain the IECEx CoC certificate of conformity.
• Explosion-proof testing of equipment and protective systems by IEC ExTR.
• Issuing of IECEx CoC certificate of conformity and publication in IECEx on-line database.
• Inspection of the quality assurance system at the production place.
• Supervision of the production process according to ISO/IEC 80097-34 requirements.
• Personnel training and certification according to IECEx Certified Persons Scheme

Why choose TÜV SÜD for IECEx Certification?

The use of IEC standards and independent third-parties for testing, assessment and certification are essential elements in the widespread acceptance of IECEx certified equipment.

Accredited and neutral assessor: Under the IECEx Scheme, equipment must be tested and certified by IECEx-approved Testing Laboratories (TL) and Certification Bodies (CB). TÜV SÜD is a Certification Body under IECEx02 (IECEx Certified Equipment Scheme), IECEx04 (IECEx Conformity Mark Licensing System) and IECEx05 (IECEx Certificate of Personnel Competence Scheme).

State-of-the-art laboratories: TÜV SÜD maintains a global network of laboratories to test for explosion protection, dust and contamination control, environmental simulation, electromagnetic compatibility, mechanical and electrical safety.