Recognizing there was no nationally acknowledged standard addressing shop reconditioning electrical equipment for reuse, the Professional Electrical Apparatus Reconditioning League (PEARL), a national trade organization for companies that supply quality surplus and reconditioned electrical equipment, has submitted into the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) a standard that defines the procedures required to assess, recondition and validate electrical equipment for safe reuse in the field. The PEARL standard was approved by ANSI this past October.
“PEARL’s electrical equipment reconditioning standard has been a part of the organization since its inception. It was originally developed because there was no other standard in existence for the reconditioning of electrical products,” says Howard Herndon, immediate past president of PEARL. “PEARL’s goal was to create a marketable distinction in safety, quality and integrity through the education in and use of our standard and the adherence to our organization’s Code of Business Practices. What’s important here is that ANSI accreditation clears a path for the use of the standard by way of recognition of its acceptance by a consensus of industry stakeholders. Without this recognition the standard is not much more than a bench guide for workers in our industry. This is not a bad thing, but ANSI accreditation allows our standard to be used in a much broader industry segment.”
According to Dan Hook, PEARL Standards Committee lead and current PEARL president, the ANSI standard designation’s impact on the electrical equipment industry as a whole cannot be emphasized enough.
“This standard lays out an approved path to safely utilize older electrical equipment in the field through rebuilding and reconditioning in accordance to and beyond OEM specifications,” says Hook. “Another vital aspect to ANSI accreditation is that the ‘National Electrical Code’ now recognizes reconditioned electrical equipment as a viable option, yet there was no industry recognized standard to cover it. Now there is – which lends invaluable credence and authority to PEARL’s mission and work.”
The standard, which is available for purchase on PEARL’s website, is made up of 16 sections, each focused on various types of electrical equipment ranging from switches and circuit breakers to panel boards, transformers, motor controls, protection relays and more. The standard provides in detail the procedures that are recommended to recondition electrical equipment so that it is ready for reuse.
“Our hope is that there will be new players entering this market as the standard gains industry acceptance,” says Herndon. “Our efforts to gain accreditation have already had some impact on the perception of PEARL as an industry leader. ANSI accreditation will take us much, much further in that regard.”