British and European Product Test Standards

A brief history of BSI

In 1901 the Institutions of Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Naval Architects and the Iron and Steel Institute created a committee, to standardize iron and steel sections for bridges, railways and shipping.

The committee succeeded in cutting the production of different tram rails from 75 down to 5. This saved the industry about £1 million a year!
By 1929, the committee became the British Engineering Standards Association and was granted a Royal Charter, which defined the Association's objectives. A year later the Association became the British Standards Institution (BSI).

Today, more than 100 years after the British Engineering Standards Association first met, there are over 27,000 current British Standards.

Why are British Standards Important?

Here at OneClick Technologies we’ve worked hard to ensure that our products are safe, energy efficient and reliable. We use external safety specialists to put our products through their paces; they determine whether or not our product meets the appropriate British and European Standards.

We cannot emphasise how important it is to check that a product meets British Standards before you purchase it. There are several energy saving products on the market that have been found to be unreliable and extremely unsafe, none of these products meet British Standards (Carrying a CE mark is not proof that a product has met British Standards).

CE Mark

The letters are the abbreviation of French phrase "Conformité Européene" which literally means "European Conformity".

Many products must meet legal requirements before they can be sold within the European Community, and must carry CE marking. CE marking attached to a product is a manufacturer's claim that it meets all the requirements of the European legislation. It is not proof that a product has been passed to British Standard.

Protect yourself, your home and your family and always check that a product meets British Standards before you buy it.

Below is the list of Standards our products had to meet before we were passed to British Standard (we’ve included a summary of what they mean too).

Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) 2002/95/EC

The RoHS Directive stands for "the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment". This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of certain substances. The substances referred to are deemed to have a negative impact on human health or on the environment.

These are substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.

Waste Electronic & Electrical Equipment. (WEEE) 2002/96/EC

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the environment, by increasing recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfill. It seeks to achieve this by making producers responsible for financing the collection, treatment, and recovery of waste electrical equipment. The directive also obligates distributers; they have to allow customers to return their waste equipment free of charge.

Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC)

(Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 89/336/EEC as amended by 91/31/EEC and 93/68/EEC. UK Regulations SI 1992/2372 as amended by SI 1994/3080 and SI 1995/3180)

The EMC Directive ensures that our products will not emit electromagnetic interference which would affect other nearby equipment. It also means that our equipment will continue to function safely and will not be unduly effected by other equipment emitting electromagnetic interference.

BS5733

The specification for general requirements for electrical accessories.

This category covers the general safety requirements relating to all mains electrical equipment and accessories. It governs how electrical products should react to various environments such as high temperature and fire, how it should be constructed and wired internally to prevent fire, and the accessibility to the live parts inside to avoid the risk of electric shock.

BS1363-2

13A plugs, socket-outlets and adaptors. Specification for 13A switched and un-switched socket-outlets

This is the set of standards and specifications relating to how the 13A mains plug and socket that is used in the UK should be designed and built, particularly to do with safety in ‘every day’ use.

BS 1363-3

13A plugs, socket-outlets and adaptors. Specification for adaptors

This is the set of safety standards and specifications for the 13A mains plug and socket similar to BS1363-2, but specifically relating to mains adapters that are used in the UK.

BS EN60730-1 / BS EN60730-2-1

Automatic electrical controls for household and similar use.

This is the general set of safety standards relating to the automatic control of electrical appliances. Part 2-1 relates specifically to household appliances.