TABLE OF CONTENTS Many European countries have in the past produced their own national standards for insulators and fittings required for overhead line construction. In the early days there were considerable differences, particularly in dimensions - and in some instances test procedures - between these various standards.
In the early 1950s, under the auspices of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), considerable international standardisation was achieved in details of dimensions and testing of insulators. The IEC, with its central office in Switzerland, has always been fully supported by European manufacturers and utilities. As the IEC Standards for dimensions and testing procedures of insulators have been agreed and pub lished, European countries have generally adopted the text of these documents and translated them into their own language as the national standard. Thus, there is already a very large degree of consensus regarding the requirements for overhead line insulators.
In a few countries, notably Germany and Austria, there are additional standards in the DIN or VDE series which provide for standardisation in areas not covered by IEC Publications, e.g. caps for long rod insulators. These still employ the standardised IEC couplings.
In direct contrast to some areas of standardisation, there has been little attention given to European standards drawn up by the Comit Europ en de Normalisation Electro Technique (CENELEC) for overhead line insulators, or indeed for insulators generally. The requirement for European Norms has now been recognised. In principle the existing IEC Standards will be adopted without amendment as the...
