John,
For the international and European standards the two terms of
concern are "shall" and "should". If a requirement is specified with
"shall" it is mandatory and the wrath of God or his lawyers will be
visited upon you for ignoring it. If the requirement is specified with
"should" it is a recommendation and you can choose not to follow it
(although if a problem arises you may be asked to justify this decision)
and still claim full compliance with the standard.
I am less certain of the term "must" but believe it to be synonymous
with the term "shall" above; and sprinkled through the North American
standards to confuse hard working compliance engineers. To my knowledge
the europeans are extremely consistent with the use of "shall",
"should", and no other terms.
- Paul McCoy -
John Juhasz wrote:
>
>
> Hi group.
>
> The subject here is regarding the words 'shall' vs. 'must' in various
> of product safety standards (including UL 1950 3rd Ed. and EN60950).
>
> Does anyone have any insight into the definitions of these as
> applicable to product safety? I have heard there are differences, but
> no one can seem to give me an answer.
>
> Comments please.
>
> John A. Juhasz
> Product Qualification &
> Compliance Engr.
>
> Fiber Options, Inc.
> 80 Orville Dr. Suite 102
> Bohemia, NY 11716 USA
>
> Tel: 516-567-8320 ext. 324
> Fax: 516-567-8322
>
