This Standard was prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee QR-012, Conformance Marking to Regulatory Requirements to supersede AS/NZS 3820:2009 12 months from the date of publication. During this period, AS/NZS 3820:2009 with its Amendment 1:2011 will also remain current. Regulatory authorities that reference this Standard in regulation may apply these requirements at a different time. Users of this Standard should consult with these authorities to confirm their requirements.

The objective of this Standard is to provide a set of criteria for the safety of electrical equipment before being placed on the market. For electrical equipment that is required to be approved/certified/registered by electrical safety legislation before being placed on the market, there are specific regulatory requirements additional to the requirements given in this Standard.

In the preparation of this Standard, consideration was given to the following publications and acknowledgment is made of the assistance received:

- European Union low voltage directive 2014/35/EU on the harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits.
- IEC Guide 104: The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications and group safety publications.

This Standard is not a substitute for Standards that set out objective safety requirements based on testing. Rather it provides a high-level generic description of the safety outcomes to be achieved and is intended to assist in providing a basis for regulatory uniformity. Specific product
Standards provide measurable criteria that are regarded as ensuring that the outcomes described in this Standard will be met.

Whilst compliance to this standard may be claimed by declaration, supporting documentation (such as certification or test reports or appropriate engineering assessments) is expected to be available if requested by a government electrical safety regulator. Where no one standard or standards cover the electrical equipment within its scope, or cover the risks identified or likely, reports to test standards and additional reports beyond test standards could be necessary to adequately demonstrate compliance with this standard.

Claimed compliance to requirements of this standard would be null and void in the event of incidents occurring due to design or manufacturing failure or due to the equipment being used in a manner not excluded by the instructions for use (even after installation in accordance with the instructions), regardless of any supporting documentation supplied at time of declaration of compliance. Refer also to clause 5.1.

This revision replaces the 2009 edition of AS/NZS 3820 to make it more compatible with the current safety regulatory requirements in Australia and New Zealand. It also includes consequential editorial changes.

The term ‘informative’ are used in this Standard to define that an ‘informative’ appendix is only for information and guidance.

Originated as AS/NZS 3820:1998. Second edition AS/NZS 3820:2009. Third edition AS/NZS 3820:2020.