The British Electrotechnical Approvals Board (BEAB) was an electrical safety and certification organisation in the UK, until the introduction of Harmonised European Standards meant that local certification of electrical products was no longer permitted. The BEAB Mark is now owned by

Intertek Group Intertek Group plc is a British multinational assurance, inspection, product testing and certification company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History I ...

History

The British Electrotechnical Approvals Board (BEAB) was formed in 1960 by Regional Electricity Companies, manufacturers and retailer as the British Electrical Approvals Board for Domestic Appliances. It was based on ''Cockspur Street'' in London and test facilities at a laboratory owned by the British Electrical Development Association in Leatherhead; this later became the Appliance Testing Laboratories of the

Electricity Council The Electricity Council was a governmental body set up in 1958 to oversee the electricity supply industry in England and Wales. The council was established on 1 January 1958 to assume the coordinating and policy-making functions of the Central El ...

. In 1961 its headquarters moved to London Road, Kingston upon Thames. In 1974 it moved to The Green, Hersham near Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. In 1962 it extended the range of appliances it tested.

Name change

In 1971 it changed its name to the British Electrotechnical Approvals Board for Household Equipment. They joined forces with the

British Approvals Board for Telecommunications The British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) is a telecommunications certification body. History State monopoly It was established in July 1982 by the UK government to provide type approval services to the telecommunications termi ...

. The headquarters moved to ''Station View'' in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Merger

In 2004 it merged with ASTA Certification Services to form ASTA BEAB Certification Services. In June 2007, this company was acquired by Intertek. The testing is done in Leatherhead. Intertek was formed from ITS Testing & Certification Ltd, which became Intertek in September 2003.

Function

Domestic electrical appliances with the BEAB Mark of Approval meant that they had reached a required safety standard (BS 3456).

BEAB Approved Mark

This mark means the item has been tested and deemed to be safe - it is a safety guarantee. That does not mean the item will always be safe (product quality may vary, and wear and tear will affect inherent safety), but the standard product should be. Electrical equipment is important to be safe because apart from the obvious danger of causing

electric shock Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...

s, faulty electrical equipment such as

electric blanket An electric blanket is a blanket that contains integrated electrical heating wires. Types include underblankets, overblankets, throws, and duvets. An electric ''underblanket'' is placed above the mattress and below the bottom bed sheet. This is ...

s can cause fires. Where fires have been caused by domestic electrical appliances, they are examined at the laboratory to determine what caused the fire.

Other marks

There is also the BEAB Controls Mark for controls and switches.

References

External links

History of BEAB

{{authority control Certification marks Electrical safety standards organizations Organisations based in Surrey Organizations established in 1960 Product-testing organizations Safety organizations 1960 establishments in the United Kingdom