Canadian Standards Association Certification Requirements for Telephone Equipment Power Supplies

Abstract

For electrical equipment to be legally installed in Canada it is generally required that the equipment be Certified by the Canadian Standards Association, which is a non-profit organization devoted to product safety. The following describes some of the certification programmes offered by the Canadian Standards Association, Standards that apply to telephone equipment power supplies, and the construction and test requirements that are contained in those standards. The Canadian Standards Association, (CSA) is a voluntary, non-profit organization dedicated to writing standards and providing certification services. As far as CSA is concerned the use of its Standards is voluntary, in that CSA has no power to enforce adherence to its Standards, It is only when a regulatory body adopts these Standards that they become mandatory. In Canada under the "British North America Act" each Province is empowered to pass legislation relating to personal safety. Since electricity, by its nature may be hazardous, it follows that the sale and installation of electrical equipment is under Provincial jurisdiction. To discharge this mandate each Province has adopted CSA Standards by specific reference in Provincial statues. Consequently, it is mandatory that electrical products be Certified by CSA. Products not so certified may be legally installed through a procedure called "Special Inspection", the requirements of which vary from province to province. Special Inspection is limited to only a small number of a given product or when there are insufficient Standards.