IEC 62368-1 ed. 3 Extension: What You Need to Know

The last draft for the technical committee to vote on* for the IEC 62368-1 ed. 4 was handled at the TC108 (the IEC technical committee responsible for the IEC 62368 standard) meeting at the beginning of November, and the forecast for the standard publication is the first half of next year.

The CENELEC Technical Board has, therefore, formally decided to extend the DOW for EN IEC 62368-1 ed. 3 from 6 January 2023 to 6 July 2024 in a recent meeting.

The date of withdrawal (DOW) for EN IEC 62368-1 ed. 3 was initially on 6 January 2023, meaning the EN IEC 62368-1 ed. 2 would be withdrawn** simultaneously.  The third edition is not in the official journal, and if the second edition is withdrawn, there will be no version of the standard cited in the Official Journal. This would mean manufacturers would have to provide a separate risk analysis with their documentation for CE marking according to the Low Voltage Directive (LVD).

Many are therefore hoping that EN IEC 62368-1 ed. 3 can be skipped, and that EN IEC 62368-1 ed. 4 can be approved and replace the second edition in the Official Journal. The fourth edition is expected to be harmonized.

TC108X (The European version of the committee) voted for postponing the DOW of the third edition by 18 months in September, and the CENELEC Technical Board formally decided on the same in a recent meeting.  

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*Officially known as Committee Draft for Vote (CDV)
**When a DOW date is set for an edition of a standard in CENELEC, it literally means that the preceding edition of the standard will be withdrawn.