IEC 60038

IEC voltage range	AC RMS voltage (V)	DC voltage (V)	Defining risk
High voltage	> 1,000	> 1,500	Electrical arcing
Low voltage	50 to 1,000	120 to 1,500	Electrical shock
Extra-low voltage	< 50	< 120	Electrical fire

International Standard IEC 60038, IEC standard voltages, defines a set of standard voltages for use in low voltage and high voltage AC and DC electricity supply systems.

Low voltage

Where two voltages are given below separated by "/", the first is the root-mean-square voltage between a phase and the neutral connector, whereas the second is the corresponding root-mean-square voltage between two phases (exception: the category shown below called "One Phase", where 240 V is the root-mean-square voltage between the two legs of a split phase). The three-phase voltages are for use in either four-wire (with neutral) or three-wire (without neutral) systems.

Three-phase 50 Hz

• 230 V / 400 V (formerly 220/380 V)
• 400 V / 690 V (formerly 380/660 V)
• 1000 V phase to phase (3 wire)

Suppliers using 220 V / 380 V or 240 V / 415 V systems were expected by the standard to migrate to the recommended value of 230 V / 400 V by the year 2003. This migration has already been largely completed, at least within the European Union.

Voltage conversion schedule

Year	Neutral-Phase [V] / Phase-Phase [V]	Tolerances
— 1987	220 V / 380 V	– 10% .. + 10%
1988 — 2003	230 V / 400 V	– 10% .. + 6%
2003 —	230 V / 400 V	– 10% .. + 10%

Three-phase 60 Hz

• 120 V / 208 V
• 240 V
• 230 V / 400 V
• 277 V / 480 V
• 480 V
• 347 V / 600 V
• 600 V / 1000 V

One-phase, three-wire 60 Hz (American split-phase)

• 120 V / 240 V

Table 3 1 kV to 35 kV

Table 3 of IEC 60038 lists nominal voltages above 1 kV and not exceeding 35 kV. There are two series, one from 3 kV up to 35 kV

Table 4 35 kV - 230 kV

Table 4 shows nominal voltages above 35 kV and not exceeding 230 kV.

Table 5 245 - 1,200 kV

Table 5 is systematically different, as the highest voltage for equipment is the characteristic value exceeding 245 kV. The enumeration begins at 300 kV and ends with 1200 kV.

See also

• Mains electricity by country

External links

• Definition of Voltage ranges as per IEC 60038 – WIKI - Electrical Installation Guide
• "IEC 60038:1983" at International Electrotechnical Commission
• https://webstore.iec.ch/preview/info_iec60038%7Bed7.0%7Db.pdf