On October 4, 2018, the International Electrotechnical Products Commission IECEE officially released the third edition of the information technology, audiovisual equipment and communication equipment safety standards IEC 62368-1: 2018.

The third edition standard will completely replace the second edition standard IEC 62368-1: 2014 and the traditional safety standards IEC 60950-1 and IEC 60065.  The official third edition of the IEC Standard Test Report Template (TRF) is still under preparation and will be announced on the IECEE official website after completion.

EN standard transition

The transition time of the European version of the standard EN 62368-1 Ed.2, EN 60950-1, and EN 60065 is likely to be the same as the enforcement time of the postponed EN 62368-1: 2014 Ed.2, which may be from December 2020.  The standard of the third edition of EN 62368-1 will be compulsory directly from the 20th.  This means that the EN 62368-1: 2014 (Ed.2) standard does not have substantial enforcement time.  Because the third edition of the standard addresses the major deficiencies of the second edition of the standard and is more suitable for implementation, it will ensure a smoother transition.

Major changes in the third edition

Compared with the second edition of the standard, the third edition of IEC62368-1 has both added and changed clauses.  The main differences include:

(1) Increased requirements for outdoor equipment

(2) New requirements for optical radiation

(3) Increased requirements for liquid insulation materials

(4) Increased requirements for complete work components / work units

(5) Increased requirements for wireless power transmitters

(6) Increase requirements for fully insulated winding wires

(7) Provide optional judgment methods for the upper and lower and edge openings of the fire enclosure

(8) There are alternative requirements for sound pressure