Standards for design of el. systems in Canada and USA

[sitl]

Dear colleagues,

I am involved in design of electrical systems in my country for industrial, commercial and institutional markets. It is a European country and we use IEC standards. When I say electrical systems, I mean:
- design of all low voltage distribution systems in buildings and plants (except building telecommunications), including even Building Management Systems (Building Automation & Control (EMS/BMS))
- design of medium voltage distribution systems, including indoor/outdoor distribution plants from 3kV to 35kV and transformer substations from 3kV to 35kV.

Could someone tell me what standards concerning above-mentioned are in use in Canada? From my internet search, I concluded that the valid standard is CEC, as a part of CSA. Is this the only standard concerning practice mentioned above?

When the USA is concerned, I found out that they have NEC, which is actually part of the National Fire Protection Association standard #70 (NFPA 70). Is this the only standard in the USA for my line of work?
I was also told that CEC is significantly different from NEC. Is this true?
Is there some kind of ‘‘Authority Having Jurisdiction’’ in Canada or the USA which can add requirements or ignore violations in comparing to CEC (NEC) if they choose so?

 

[jraef]

The CEC and NEC would be the overall governing standards for those respective countries, and no they are not all that different as a rule. There are differences however, it's just difficult to filter through them to delineate them here. There may be a publication of sorts available, but I don't know for sure. You might try posing that question in this other forum ECN forum link

I don't know about Canada but in the US, any AHJ can have different adaptations of the NEC, usually by adding requirements. Not all states and even all cities use the same version of the NEC however, because it is often a number of years before local jurisdictions vote to adopt. For example, the latest NEC is 2005, but where I live we are not yet adopting it so we still go by the 2002 NEC.

Also, several major cities have their own codes IN ADDITION to the NEC, such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to name a few. The best thing to do is to find the AHJ in an area you want to work in and just ask them.

Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework Read faq731-376

 

[waross]

In support of jraef
In Canada, the Canadian Electrical Code by itself has no authority. It's authority comes when a jurisdiction such as a province or in some cases a chartered city adopts the code by passing legislation.
At the same time there are often local amendments added.
As an example, acceptable grounding electrodes may vary from place to place depending on the local soil conditions.
For a small project, check with the local authority or hold the contractor responsible for working to code.
For larger projects you will probably have to hire a local engineering firm to check your design for compliance and sign off on it.