CEI – the Italian Electrotechnical Committee is a private, non-profit Association operating, at national level, for technical standardisation in the electrotechnical, electronic and telecommunication field. CEI represents Italy in the European activities (CENELEC – Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique) and International activities (IEC – International Electrotechnical Commission).
Founded in 1909, formally recognized by the Italian Government and later confirmed by the European Union (see EU Regulation no. 1025/2012), CEI proposes, elaborates and publishes technical standards that, according to the Italian Law 186/1968, provide the presumption of conformity to the “rule of the art” of electrical products, systems, installations and processes.
The Italian law n. 186 of 1st March 1968 establishes that “All materials, equipment, machinery, installations and electrical and electronic systems must be made and constructed in a workmanlike manner” and that the same “made according to the rules of the Electrotechnical Committee Italian consider themselves built in a workmanlike manner “.
Most part of CEI standards are the endorsement of normative documents and are the unique tool to satisfy also the compulsory requirements indicated by the national and European legislation.
Technical standardisation is based on the principle of consensus which requires the involvement and the active participation in the works of all the stakeholders interested in the process. A project is normally born to respond to specific needs expressed by the market to have references shared at national (European or International) level. In CEI the standardisation project is developed by the competent Technical Committee. About About 3.000 national experts are operating in CEI TCs and SCs, experts designated by Ministries, public and private Institutions, Universities, R&D and testing Labs, certification Bodies and industries.
The mission of CEI is to be the “super partes” national standardisation body, to publish good technical normative documents in Italy, to participate in the development of the corresponding European and international regulations and to transpose them with specific regard to harmonized European regulatory documents for the purposes of Community Directives and Regulations, spread the technical-scientific culture in general and that of technical standardization in particular.
To fulfill its mission, the CEI coordinates and carries out the following activities (extract from the CEI Statute):
This series of regulatory and pre-regulatory activities, carried out at national, European and international level, are conducted with the involvement and collaboration of all the social partners concerned.
1909 | Constitution of the CEI under the AEI Presidency. |
1917 | Complete autonomy of the CEI with its own Presidency and Statute. |
1923 | Appointment of the CEI General President, Prof. G. Semenza, as General President of the International Electrotechnical Commision (IEC). |
1930 | Patronage of the CNR on the CEI. |
1938 | Appointment of the CEI General President, Prof. L. Lombardi, as IEC General President. |
1941 | Agreement with the Italian National Unification Body (UNI) for the division of the fields of activity. |
1946 | Refoundation of the CEI after the war period. |
1951 | Establishment of the Italian Quality Mark Institute (IMQ). |
1966 | Appointment of the General President of the CEI, Ing. G.L. Palandri, President of CENELCOM – “European Committee for the Coordination of Elecrical Standards in the Common Market Countries”. |
1968 | Recognition of the CEI legal personality and approval of its Statute. |
1968 | Legislative recognition of CEI legislation with law no. 186 of the 1st of march. |
1972 | Revision of the Statute approved by Presidential Decree no. 837 of 9th September 1972. |
1973 | Appointment of the General President of the CEI, Ing. G.L. Palandri, President General of the IEC. |
1973 | Resorption of UNEL by the CEI. |
1977 | Issue of the Italian law n. 791 of 18/10/1977 implementing the Community Directive 73/23 on “Safety for low voltage electrical equipment”. |
1979 | Designation of the CEI (D.M. 15/12/1978 and G.U. 176 of 28/6/1979) as Italian body for participation in community work for the development of harmonized standards. |
1980 | European Appointment no. 83/189 in which the CEI is recognized as a national technical standardization body. |
1983 | Publication of the European Directive n. 83/189 in which the CEI is recognized as national body for technical standardization. |
1985 | Constitution of “CONCIT -” National Coordination Committee for IT and Telecommunications “. |
1987 | Agreement with the CCTS “Central Scientific Technical Committee” of the Ministry of the Interior for the study and the publication of regulations relating to fire prevention in electrical systems and machinery |
1988 | UNI-CEI convention for the accreditation of certification systems. |
1988 | SINAL Constitution – “National System for the Accreditation of Laboratories”, of which CEI is a founding member together with UNI. |
1990 | Issue of the Italian law n. 46 of 5/3/1990 “Rules for the safety of the systems”. |
1991 | Establishment of SINCERT – “National System for the Accreditation of Certification Bodies”, of which CEI is a founding member together with UNI. This new system replaces the UNI-CEI convention of 1988. |
1991 | Collaboration agreement with ISPESL – “Higher Institute for Prevention and Safety at Work” also for the study and publication of regulations relating to the safety of plants and equipment from the point of view of the controls and certificates entrusted to the P.M.I.P. of the USL. |
1992 | Appointment of the CEI President General, Eng. E. Comellini, as President of CENELEC (Comité Européen de Normalization Electrotecnique). |
1994 | Publication of the CEI Statute in the Official Journal n. 258 of 4/11/1994 (with the modifications made with the Ministerial Decree of 23 March 1994). |
2001 | Publication of the CEI Statute in the Official Journal n. 6 of 9/1/2001 (with the modifications approved by Decree of the General Manager for Productive Development and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Crafts). |
2001 | Transfer of the CEI to the new headquarters in via Saccardo 9 in Milan. |
2006 | Amendments to the Articles of Association registered on 6 July 2006 in the Register of Legal Persons of the Prefecture of Milan. |
2008 | Publication of the Ministerial Decree n. 37 of 22 January 2008 on the “Reorganization of the provisions on the installation activities of systems inside buildings “. |
2009 | Establishment of ACCREDIA – “Italian Accreditation System” (born from the merger of SINAL and SINCERT). |
2009 | CEI Centennial Celebration. |
2009 | Publication of the Legislative Decree 9 April 2008, n. 81 “Protection of health and safety in the workplace “, updated with Legislative Decree 3rd August 2009, n. 106. |
2012 | Publication of Regulation (EU) no. 1025/2012 on the “European standardization”. |
2013 | Conferma del CEI, in sede europea, quale organismo nazionale di normazione tecnica ai sensi of Regulation (EU) no. 1025/2012. |
2017 | Publication of the Legislative Decree 15 December 2017, n. 223 “Implementing provisions of European legislation on European standardization and information procedure in the field of technical regulations and rules relating to the services of information society “. |