CB Certification for Luminaires: Standards by Type

What counts as a luminaire

A luminaire is a lighting product, and the term is general: it covers all types of indoor and outdoor lights. CB certification of all such luminaires is mandatory where the scheme is used as the route to market.

Completing the process requires three things: safety testing, a test report, and the certificate.

Which IEC 60598-2 part applies to which luminaire?

IEC 60598-1 carries the general requirements; each part of IEC 60598-2 adds the particular requirements for one type. Both apply.

How products are classified

By ratings, internal components and type. That combination is why a catalogue description is not enough to scope a project: two fittings that look alike from outside can fall under different parts if their construction differs.

The practical sequence is to submit the technical documentation first, so the complete list of certificates required for sale can be established before anything is tested. Testing against the wrong part is simply a repeat.

What the certificate buys you

The CB Scheme is a mutual-recognition system: test once, then convert that evidence into national approvals across the member countries.

The mechanics decide who you apply to, so settle them before the first invoice:

Over fifty countries participate, which is what makes the scheme useful for a lighting range sold across several markets. The report is the asset; the certificate alone will not carry a national application.

Why do national differences matter?

Countries are permitted to declare deviations from the IEC text, and those declared national differences are published rather than negotiated case by case. They are also the one thing a CB certificate does not dissolve.

The practical consequence: name your target markets before testing starts. A CBTL can test the declared differences for those countries inside the same programme at marginal cost. Discovering them at the national application stage means going back to a laboratory with the samples you have already shipped home.

Which standards apply to a luminaire besides IEC 60598?

IEC 60598 answers the safety question. A luminaire placed on most markets has to answer three or four others, each with its own standard:

For LED products the last two are where projects stall. Photobiological classification under IEC 62471 depends on the emitter and the optic in front of it, so a change of lens on an otherwise identical fitting can move the result. The driver is assessed in its own right under IEC 61347, separately from the luminaire.

For the European route specifically, the three directives and the declaration that carries them, see luminaire certification in Europe.

What to send with an enquiry

The rated voltage and power, the light source and driver used, the intended mounting and environment, the target markets, and the technical file, circuit diagram, bill of materials, photometric data. Those five settle both which part of IEC 60598-2 applies and which companion standards come with it.

Sources

• IEC 60598-1, Luminaires, Part 1: General requirements and tests
• IEC 60598-2 series, Luminaires, Particular requirements
• IECEE CB Scheme, IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components
• CISPR 15 / EN 55015, Limits and methods of measurement of radio disturbance characteristics of electrical lighting and similar equipment
• IEC 61547, Equipment for general lighting purposes, EMC immunity requirements
• IEC 61000-3-2, Limits for harmonic current emissions, Class C applies to lighting
• IEC 62471, Photobiological safety of lamps and lamp systems
• IEC 61347 series, Lamp control gear