DTI-BPS adopts ULSE benchmark on electrical wiring devices as PNS

THE Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS) has recently adopted and promulgated three international standards on electrical wiring devices as Philippine National Standards (PNS).

Following the collaboration and licensing agreement between the DTIBPS and the UL Standards and Engagement (ULSE) last November 2020, the DTI-BPS has adopted the three international standards including the PNS UL 248-1:2021-Low-voltage Fuses-part 1: General Requirements.

Another standard is PNS UL 248-6:2021-Low-voltage Fuses-part 6: Class H Non-renewable Fuses. The third international standard is PNS UL 67:2021-Panelboard.

The standards were the result of the collaboration of experts both from the Bps/technical Committee (TC) 10 and ULSE, on electrical wiring devices.

As the National Standards Body, the DTI-BPS is responsible for the development and promotion of PNS as well as the nation’s participation in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

The ULSE, on the other hand, is a global safety science leader dedicated to making products safer, more secure, and more sustainable through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge.

The BPS and ULSE work hand in hand and focus on sectors to support national priorities ranging from electrical appliances, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing, fire safety, and batteries to ultimately establish standards that will direct the safety, performance, and sustainability of advancing technologies.

“The continuous pursuit for harmonization with our international counterparts is one of the key contributors to the success of our standards development and conformity assessment activities,” said BPS Director Neil Catajay.

“Through our agreement with ULSE, the BPS was able to develop standards beneficial to our stakeholders, such as manufacturers, distributors, electrical designers, electricity generators/distributors, as well as the consumers, among others,” added Catajay.

The Bureau of Philippine Standards’ chief said these standards establish common guidelines on the basic properties of electrical wiring devices and electrical work practices for the safer use of electricity in order to safeguard people and properties from electrical hazards.

At a virtual meeting, Phil Piquiera, UL Standards and Engagement Vice President of Global Standards, said “Through the BPS-ULSE partnership’s regular dialogues and exchanges of technical knowledge about UL standards, we encourage awareness and guide the safety and performance of the application and installation of electrical wiring devices.”

For his part, BPS/TC 10 Chairman Engr. Gem Tan of the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. underscored that the “BPS” collaboration with ULSE opened an opportunity for us to look into different UL standards and helped us in clarifying differences between the requirements of UL and IEC standards which eventually allowed us to incorporate the most appropriate parameters necessary.”