Preface

With the recent introduction of mandatory European ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC) regulations has come the acknowledged requirement for manufacturers, suppliers and end users of all electrical, mechanical, electromechanical and electronic equipment and components to have a broad knowledge of the requirements of the application environment.

Although there is an international standard (i.e. BS EN ISO 14001 which replaced ISO 7750) that is aimed at environmental management, this specification mainly concerns waste products and the home environment. There are also numerous national, European and international standards and specifications (e.g. BS, EN, CEN, CENELEC, IEC and ISO) that touch on the topic of environmental requirements. There is, however, no single, standalone specification, standard or book that adequately covers the whole topic of the application environment for electromechanical and electronic equipment.

This book, written in the form of a reference book, contains background guidance concerning the environment and environmental requirements. It also provides a case study of typical requirements, together with values and ranges currently being requested from industry in today’s contracts. Test specifications aimed at proving conformance to these requirements are also listed and the most used international and European standards are described in relative detail.