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The increasingly converging world and the global markets that are being created are both placing new design demands on the sector and its technologies. Against this background, standardisation – both on a regional and international scale – is becoming more and more important in positioning new technologies and innovations on the market. Standardisation ensures the necessary degree of safety, reliability, exchangeability and cost-effectiveness.
Vossloh-Schwabe products have been developed and produced on the basis of technical innovations, internationally and regionally applicable standards and valid environmental regulations for more than 80 years. In this respect, we already take account of integrated components and materials, production methods and technologies, comprehensive environmental aspects as well as a product’s energy efficiency during the development phase. An important entrepreneurial goal in all these years has been and continues to be to create lighting components that satisfy the requirements of our customers with regard to safety, function, longevity and cost-effectiveness.
In addition to observing valid, state-of-the-art standards, we also take consideration of the recommendations of industrial associations when developing new products.
Our cooperation in national and international committees ensures we receive early information about new or changed regulations and thus helps to guarantee future-orientated products.
In addition to undergoing internal production approval tests, mass-produced devices are also submitted to national and international testing institutes for certification. The applicable testing and assessment regulations of the testing institutes are subject to international variation. The marks of conformity shown here are therefore not valid for all the products featured in the catalogue. You will find an overview of the approval marks for the products presented in
the catalogue from page 519 on. On request, we will gladly provide information about all of
the existing approvals.
You can also find test certificates in our online catalogue at www.vossloh-schwabe.com.
As the international IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards for lighting technology are also adopted by the European Institute for Standardisation CENELEC (Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique), the European standards (EN) therefore contain the same requirements. In rare cases, national deviations are permitted. The certification (third-party testing) of VS catalogue products in accordance with EN standards is documented by the ENEC mark.
The ENEC mark (European Norms of Electrical Certification) was created in Europe as a uniform
certification mark for electrotechnical products. The ENEC Agreement currently governs the following product groups:
• luminaires
• luminaire components
• energy-saving lamps
• IT equipment
• connection terminals
• capacitors
• couplers
• switches for household appliances
• noise filters
• transformers
There are plans to include further electrical equipment in the ENEC Agreement.
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The certification of products is also to be expanded to include non-European manufacturers.
However, certification testing must be carried out by an ENEC testing institute in Europe.
At present, a total of 23 testing houses in 20 countries are signatories of the ENEC agreement (see table). Obtaining an ENEC mark for luminaire components like ballasts and ignitors also includes having the product assessed in accordance with the standards governing safety and function. Certification must be based on the EN standards listed in the Agreement.The mark documents that the product not only complies with the applicable standards, but also that ongoing
production is monitored by inspectors from a testing institute and that the manufacturer operates an effective quality assurance system in accordance with the ISO 9000 standard suite (International Standards Organisation). ISO deals with the standardisation of non-electrotechnical products.
The ENEC mark is displayed with the identification number and often the logo of the testing institute, as follows:
01 AENOR - Spain
02 SGS - Belgium
03 IMQ - Italy
04 CERTIF - Portugal
05 KEMA - The Netherlands
06 NSAI - Ireland
07 SNCH - Luxembourg
08 LCIE - France
09 ELOT - Greece
10 VDE - Germany
11 ÖVE - Austria
12 BSI - United Kingdom
13 Electrosuisse - Switzerland
14 Intertek SEMCO - Sweden
15 UL Int´l DEMCO - Denmark
16 SGS FIMKO - Finland
17 NEMKO - Norway
18 MEEI - Hungary
19 ASTA BEAB - United Kingdom
20 not currently issued
21 EZU - Czech Republic
22 SIQ - Slovenia
23 not currently issued
24 TRPS - Germany
25 TÜV SÜD PS - Germany
26 not currently issued
Any VS product with a VDE mark was tested and approved in Germany in line with currently valid safety standards (usually internationally valid IEC standards). This product certification option is selected for cases that are not covered by European standards.
Apart from a product´s safety and performance certification, a further useful selection aid is to have a product´s electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tested by an independent test institute, particularly in the case of electronic ballasts. If the product passes the EMC test, an additional test mark is awarded, for instance the VDE EMC mark of the VDE test and certification institute in Offenbach.
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