As an installer, you have certainly come across the concept of protection classes. There are four protection classes for electrical and electrotechnical devices. Each determines the level of safety and protection against electric shock of a given device, allowing you to quickly identify its parameters. What are the protection classes of electrical devices? Detailed information on this subject is provided in the standard PN-EN 61140:2005/A1:2008 "Protection against electric shock. Common aspects of installations and devices". You will find the essence of knowledge in this article.
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What characterizes fire protection?
The definition of fire protection is included in Article 1 of the Act of 24 August 1991 on fire protection. It is the implementation of projects aimed at protecting life, health, property or the environment against fire, natural disaster or other local threat. These projects consist of:
- preventing the occurrence and spread of fire, natural disaster or other local threat;
- providing forces and resources to combat fires, natural disasters or other local threats and to protect the population;
- conducting rescue operations by fire protection units (e.g. organizational units of the State Fire Service).
For selected buildings, fire zones and open waste storage facilities, a Fire Safety Instruction (FSI) is mandatory. This document specifies detailed fire protection conditions. The creation of an FSI is the responsibility of the owner, manager or user of a public utility facility, a collective housing facility, a production, storage or livestock building.
What are protection classes?
Every device powered by electricity poses at least a minimal risk of fire, electric shock or electric arc burns. The protection class determines the level of safety and protection against electric shock of a specific electronic or electrical device, informing about its key features from the point of view of fire safety. It also provides information about the measures that should be used to ensure proper protection. Protection classes therefore help to avoid situations that are dangerous to health and life and damage to devices due to their improper use. Assigning equipment to a given class depends on its design and properties. The standard mentioned at the beginning distinguishes four protection classes: 0, I, II and III.
Class 0 – basic level of protection
Protection class 0 is basically... no protection. It is intended for devices with the lowest level of protection. The only form of protection against electric shock is the use of basic insulation (without a protective terminal), which means protection only against direct contact. Class 0 electrical devices must be properly protected against human contact and against ground potential. There are still class 0 lighting fixtures, but as a rule such equipment is no longer produced.
Protection class I - protective conductors
The symbol of protection class I is used to mark devices equipped with a terminal for connecting the PE protective conductor. They provide additional protection (in the event of damage), which consists of quick, automatic power off in the event of exceeding the safe level of touch voltage. This group includes, among others, household appliances, engines, lamps and inverters with a terminal connecting to the protective conductor.
Class II protection - use of reinforced insulation
Class II protection devices have so-called reinforced insulation (factory double insulation). They protect against both direct and indirect contact. They generally provide a higher level of user safety than class I devices - especially in the event of damage to the installation.
Protection class III - low voltage protection
In class III devices, protection against electric shock is provided by a very low voltage supply (e.g. 50V AC and 120V DC). They are not supplied with dangerous voltage, and their plugs do not have protective pins. Class III devices provide a higher level of safety than class I and II devices. Even if a live element were to be touched, the consequences for the user should be limited to a tingling sensation.
Class III devices can be found in difficult environmental conditions, where they are exposed to moisture and water, among other things. This group includes lighting fixtures installed in bathrooms, saunas and underwater, chargers and some power tools. The disadvantage of low-voltage devices is their limited range of applications.
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