August 31, 2011 – Canada currently does not have a Canadian national standard or guideline for electrical equipment maintenance.

Nationally, workers are exposed to many electrical hazards and, to assist workers and employers, CSA Z462 was been developed and released. However, many facilities wish to perform regular maintenance on their electrical equipment, yet there is no Canadian—federal or provincial—guideline, standard or act to help employers and employees more effectively develop and implement an electrical equipment maintenance program.

Hence, back in March 2011, the first Z463 Technical Committee meeting was held to officially begin the process to develop CSA’s new Guideline on Maintenance of Electrical Systems. A second meeting was held in Edmonton in June.

When complete, this guideline will provide information to help employers develop an electrical maintenance program or to improve their existing programs. In addition, employers will be able to use it to find the necessary information and resources to carry out these activities.

The hope is that CSA-Z463 will eventually develop into a standard as a companion to CSA Z462 and CSA Z460. As with any CSA standard, Z463 will be developed by a voluntary Technical Committee that has been selected by CSA using a matrix process to ensure that stakeholders (industry, labour, government) from all provinces in Canada are allowed an opportunity to be represented. The committee comprised some 45 members from related groups and fields of expertise, including representatives of NFPA, IEEE and the CSA Electrical Code Committee.

The first revision release of the document will be available in 2013. A draft version for stakeholder and public input should be available by late 2012. Once published in both French and English, CSA-Z463 will be submitted to the Standards Council of Canada for approval as a nationally accepted guideline. As with any other CSA standard or guideline, the first edition of Z463 will initially be recognized as a voluntary best practices guideline for use anywhere in Canada. In the future, as Z463 gains acceptance, each province and the federal government may chose to reference it in regulations.

The next meeting of the Z463 Technical Committee is scheduled for Saskatoon, Sask., October 27 and 28 at the Sheraton Cavalier Hotel (immediately following the CSA Electrical Safety Conference). The Z463 committee is still seeking additional representation from regulatory and commercial sectors. FM Global (Loss Control Insurer), CANEW (Canadian Airports Electrical Association) and the Department of National Defense (DND) were new participants at the Edmonton meeting.

Note: a special Z463 information site has been set up on LINKED IN (or search “CSAZ463”), which has been set up as an Open Forum, meaning you can go online and provide input, or acquire information regarding this document.

Meantime, please contact chair Kerry Heid kheid@magnaelectric.com in Western Canada and vice-chair John Salmon jsalmon@armilne.com in Eastern Canada for sponsorship, membership and guest opportunities with this very important new CSA document.