The following IEC Ex standards have been issued at final draft (FDIS) stage.  If you buy at this stage you will get the published standard when it is out.

IEC 60079-20-1 Ed. 1.0 (2009-10) Preview Price: CHF 368.00
Explosive Atmospheres – Part 20-1: Material characteristics for gas and vapour classification – Test methods and data

IEC 60079-29-4 Ed. 1.0 (2009-11) Preview Price: CHF 140.00
Explosive atmospheres – Part 29-4: Gas detectors – Performance requirements of open path detectors for flammable gases

The first standard, IEC 60079-20-1, cancels and replaces the first edition of IEC 60079-1-
1(2002), the second edition of IEC 60074-4 (1975), its amendment 1(1995) and its
complement: IEC 60079-4A (1970), the first edition of IEC/TR 60079-12 (1978) and the first
edition of IEC 60079-20 (1996).

The second standard, IEC 60079-29-4,  is a new standard on open path detectors for flammable gases.

The standards can be accessed on the IEC website at JUST PUBLISHED [justpub@iec.ch].

For those of you in the TC 31 choir or who are interested in our theme song of Waltzing Matilda, here are the words:

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a Coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
“Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?”

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker-bag,
“You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!”
Waltzing Maltilda, walzing Matilda,
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker-bag,
“You’ll come a-walzing Matilda with me!”

Up rode the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
Whose that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker-bag,
“You’ll come a-walzing Matilda with me!”
Waltzing Maltilda, walzing Matilda,
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me,
Whose that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker-bag,
“You’ll come a-walzing Matilda with me!”

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
You’ll never catch me alive, said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“You’ll come a-walzing Matilda with me!”
Waltzing Maltilda, walzing Matilda,
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“You’ll come a-walzing Matilda with me!”

IEC 60079-29-4 Ed. 1.0 (2009-08) Explosive atmospheres – Part 29-4: Gas detectors – Performance requirements of open path detectors for flammable gases has been issued for voting as a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) but can be bought now rather than waiting for the published standard.

This is a relatively new approach being used by IEC.  Once published you will receive the definitive version. This special package allows you to save 25%

No technical changes are permitted at the FDIS stage and so you are getting a document that is very close to the final standard.

See below:

http://webstore.iec.ch/webstore/webstore.nsf/artnum/FDIS31819?opendocument&mlref=JP

IEC has advised that from early August 2009, it will be possible to order more than 8,000 replaced or withdrawn IEC Publications directly from the IEC Webstore.

This should particularly useful when prior editions of Ex standards are needed for testing and certification of Ex products.  The IECEx System allows products to be certified to current and one prior edition of standards.

See http://www.iec.ch/online_news/etech/arch_2009/etech_0709/store_1.htm

An interpretation sheet (I-SH 01) has been issued for IEC standard 60079-29-1 Part 29-1: Gas detectors – Performance requirements of detectors for flammable gases.  This provides an interpretation of the drop test fail criterion in the performance standard IEC 60079-29-1 (2007), Subclause 5.4.14.  It clarifies what ‘loss of function’ means in the standard.

The interpretation sheet can be obained free from IEC via their webstore or the TC 31 dashboard.

TC 31 (Equipment for explosive atmospheres) standard IEC 60079-18 Edition 3 Explosive atmospheres – Part 18: Equipment protection by encapsulation “m” has just been published and features in the latest issue of IEC E-TECH (http://www.iec.ch/online_news/etech/arch_2009/etech_0509/store_1.htm?mlref=etech).  This is because this edition of the standard has been selected to be one of the first published in a new IEC Standards+ Redline version. This provides users of the standard with clearer information on what has changed since the last edition of the standard.  This approach is likely to be of particular use to equipment designers and manufacturers who will have a clearer understanding of whether existing equipment is likely to comply with the latest edition.  It will also be very helpful to certification and testing bodies to understand what changes need to be made to assessment procedures and testing facilities.

It is good to see IEC take this initiative, as TC 31 has for some time been encouraging its convenors to include this approach when issuing documentation during the revision process.

Note: This is the first of what I intend to be an ongoing news on developments in TC 31, including the latest standards issued.

Jim Munro, Chairman IEC TC 31.