International
Electrotechnical
Commission
International Standards and Conformity Assessment
for all electrical, electronic and related technologies
Who we are |
Organization
& funding
The IEC is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization, founded in 1906, which develops International Standards and operates conformity assessment systems in the fields of electrotechnology.
The IEC comprises one member National Committee per country, they each pay membership fees and in exchange can participate fully in IEC work.
The IEC operates on an annual budget of approximately CHF 20 million.
Funding IEC work
Funding comes from the following sources:
- Membership fees - based on the member country's economic capacity and electricity consumption.
- Income from sales - IEC International Standards are sold at recommended IEC Catalogue Prices by IEC Central Office, National Committees and other appointed sales outlets.
- Income from certification activities - the three global Conformity Assessment Systems pay the IEC administrative fees for managing and providing the online infrastructure for their operations.
Market interest
In addition to the direct operations costs of the IEC, industry and National Committees invest an estimated USD 2 billion each year towards expert participation in IEC work.