Regulatory reminder for British Columbia (Canada) with regards to Standing Pilot Gas Fireplaces (this includes fireplaces certified as Heaters and as Decorative Gas Appliances). As per the standards changes made under the Energy Efficiency Act (EEA) on March 6, 2018, products manufactured on or after January 1, 2019 must now be in compliance with the new, updated standards. Fireplaces that have standing pilots for ignition are not permitted anymore in British Columbia. This includes systems that are using ignition capable of switching between IPI / CPI ignition (in this case the permanent pilot option must be disabled). The only Ignition systems still allowed are the Pilot-on-demand; Intermittent Ignition; Interrupted Ignition. More detailed information can be found in this regulatory bulletin.

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3^rd Edition – December 1, 2017

Effective Date: January 1, 2020

Throughout the remaining months of 2019, manufacturers of outdoor decorative gas appliances must consider the upcoming edition of the ANSI Z21.97 / CSA 2.41, which takes effect January 1, 2020. Manufacturers of current listings to the current requirements will need to submit their product’s listing report and technical specifications to their Certification Body for an engineering review to have determined if their product will continue to meet or exceed the new requirements. Manufacturers of newly designed products will now have their products evaluated to the new requirements for compliance.

The new standard requirements include several changes, with two major changes coming into effect: a new rain test and a new requirement for appliances using exposed glass surfaces.

• Rain test: the new rain test is significant as this test requires the appliance to be operated during the simulated rain storm. During this test, if the appliance’s flame is extinguished, a safety shut-off must activate to turn off the flow of unburnt supply gas. Therefore, if there is no safety shut-off system monitoring the flame presence, the flame cannot be extinguished. Manufacturers must take caution when designing their products to ensure this requirement can be met. A common question with this requirement is that decorative appliances are intended to be attended by a user, in which case normal operation would not be in a rain storm. However, there are many situations in which a lapse in attention could lead to an oversight by the user resulting in an extinguished flame and the build-up of unburnt gas which could cause an explosion resulting in property damage, personal injury or even death.

• Exposed Glass Surface: the new requirements for exposed glass surfaces come new to this standard and mirrors the requirements set forth in fireplace safety standards’ glass front requirements. Exposed glass fronts must now be maintained at a safe temperature to prevent burns; this temperature limit has been set to 172°F (78°C) at 77°F (25°C) room temperature. Exposed glass surfaces can be misleading to the user or a small child. The decorative look provided by some glass fronts makes for an inviting surface for small children to want to touch. Hot glass surfaces can cause serious burns to the skin and extra care is needed to ensure appliances with glass surfaces are reasonably safe to not only the user, but to small children than may be near the appliance while in operation. It only takes a second for a child to be harmed!

Be ahead of the game and prepare for the effective date that’s coming very soon!  Make sure your Outdoor Decorative Gas Appliances meet the new requirements, by certifying your new products to the new standard or re-evaluating the old ones.

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CSA SPE-1000 is a Model Code for One-Time approvals of General Electrical Products being sold, installed, or operated in Canada and that do not comply with Canadian Electrical Code requirements. Products that are custom-built, modified, or imported from other parts of the world could fit this criterion.  This program is only valid for the Canadian market and allows for up to 500 units, per model, per Inspection Body (IB), per year  This model code addresses the product construction, markings, and test requirements and is not meant to replace full certification. Special Inspections to SPE-1000 are only performed on a complete systems or subassemblies (ie. control panels) and cannot be performed on a component (ie. switch or relay). As per Canadian regulations, Special Inspections should only be performed by Inspection Bodies who are accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC)and authorized to label the products.

Products within the CSA SPE-1000 scope:

Industrial Control Panels, Automated manufacturing, Semiconductor fabrication, Luminaires, Switchboards, Robotics, Heating and Cooling, Generators, Distribution Systems, any Mobile Equipment that have electrical components, and more.

Examples of Tests performed:

Based on the construction, one of main mandatory tests required for every electrical product within SPE-1000, is the Dielectric Strength Test, also known as Hi-pot test. For equipment rated 250vac or less, 1000 Vac Test voltage is applied to the product for one minute, without a breakdown between live parts and exposed non-current carrying metal parts and between live parts and accessible extra low voltage secondary circuits. The other test that can be performed on the product are Temperature test, Leakage current test, Strain Relief test and Flame test.  If the unit is installed outdoor, it will also have to be tested for a Rain test for a duration of 90 minutes.

Special Inspection is the way to go if:

• Product needs quick approvals
• For limited quantities or batches
• Product has been “Red Tagged”
• Certification is not practical
• Product has already been shipped and/or installed
• Testing the market and may not continue production
• Modifying already certified products

 If the above scenarios sound familiar, you may need an SPE-1000!

This is the second edition of ISO/IEC 80079-34:2018 – Explosive atmospheres — Part 34: Application of quality systems for ex product manufacture. It cancels and replaces the previous 2011 edition with a full technical revision.

All QAR’s (Quality Assessment Reports) and QAN’s (Quality Assurance Notifications) for IECEx and ATEX approvals – new and renewal assessments – will now be conducted in accordance to ISO/IEC 80079-34:2018.

The changes from the previous edition are minor, but the Clause numbering has changed in order to be in line with ISO 9001:2015.

The application of ISO/IEC 80079-34:2018 is intended to cover:

• electrical equipment (IEC 60079-0, -1, -2, -5, -6, -7, -11, -13, -15, -18, -28, – 33)
• non-electrical equipment (ISO 80079-36 and -37)
• protective systems (ISO 16852)
• safety devices (IEC 60079-29)
• Ex Components (IEC 60079-0, …)
• and their combinations as assembly of Ex equipment (IEC 60079-46)

Some definitions have been withdrawn because these words are already defined in IEC 60079-0 and not changed:

• Ex Component
• Ex Equipment
• Type of Protection

New definitions:

• 3.5 Ex Product Ex Equipment, protective system, safety device, Ex Component and their combination, as well as software and services
• 3.10 Technical documentation Adding of the “Formal Ignition hazard identification and assessment” for Non-electrical equipment conforms to ISO 80079-36

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A new version of ISO 17025 – General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories – was published on November 2017 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). All laboratories will need to transition to the new version within a 3-year period.