The use of internationally standardised graphical symbols for use on equipment contribute to the effective, efficient and safe use of products, thus increasing the success of these products in both regional and global markets.

The Sub-Committee 3C of IEC TC3 develops new symbols for manufacturers producing equipment for the key consumer and professional areas, for example household domestic appliances, audio/video multimedia equipment, data processing equipment and medical equipment.

Publications

IEC 60417 “Graphical symbols for use on equipment ” 
Internationally standardised graphical symbols for use on equipment improve the usability and safety of the products, thus contributing to increased sales. IEC 60417 Graphical symbols for use on equipment, address specialists and general public as well.

To support the management of IEC 60417 it has been converted into database form, I EC 60417 DB accessible over the Internet. The content of the database is the standard. This allows not only better access, but also improved – quicker – maintenance. See the entry page.

While IEC 60417 primarily addresses the need of symbols for electrotechnical equipment, ISO 7000 maintained by ISO TC145/SC3 addresses other areas. In order to make a complete set of symbols available to users IEC 60417 and ISO 7000 have therefore been combined in the same database.

IEC 62648 “Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Guidelines for the inclusion of graphical symbols in IEC publications”  
This publication provides guidelines to help ensure that the requirement in ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2:2021, 28.6.2 is met, such that graphical symbols for use on equipment in IEC product publications are consistent with the requirements of horizontal publications IEC 60417, and ISO 7000. This document is intended to be used by any IEC and ISO committees to develop graphical symbols for use on equipment for inclusion in their product publications.

IEC TR 62687 “Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Vocabulary”  
This publication contains a collection of terms (glossary) used in IEC, ISO and ITU publications in the field of graphical symbols for use on equipment including some related fields. Some terms are annotated and/or modified for the purpose of clarification.

IEC TR 62964 “Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Graphical symbols for multimedia equipment – Current practice”  
This publication provides the result of a study of some of the graphical symbols for use on equipment standardized in IEC 60417 being primarily intended to:
– identify the equipment or a part of the equipment (e.g. a control or display);
– indicate a functional state (e.g. on, off, alarm);
– designate connections (e.g. terminals, filling points for materials);
– provide information on packaging (e.g. identification of contents, instructions for handling);
– provide instruction for the operation of the equipment (e.g. limitations of use);
– in the focus of contemporary use of graphical symbols for use on multimedia equipment, and new possible meanings to be envisaged as well as new graphical symbols not yet standardized in IEC 60417.

IEC/ISO 81416 International Standard series “Basic principles for graphical symbols for use on equipment”  
The International standard series 81416 is dealing with the basic principles for the design of graphical symbols for use on equipment.

The standard series is developen in a common efort between IEC SC 3C and ISO TC 145.

IEC 80416-1 “Part 1: Creation of graphical symbols for registration ” 
This publication provides basic principles and guidelines for the creation of graphical symbols for registration, and provides the key principles and rules for the preparation of title, description and note(s)..

ISO 80416-2 “Part 2: Form and use of arrows”  
This publication lays down the basic principles and the proportions for arrows used to indicate various elements, forces, functions or dimensions. The arrows defined in ISO 80416-2:2011 are used as graphical symbols or graphical symbol elements. When new symbol originals are created or graphical symbols in current use are revised, the principles established in ISO 80416-2:2011 are applicable.

IEC 80416-3 “Part 3: Guidelines for the application of graphical symbols”  
This publication provides guidelines for the application of graphical symbols for use on equipment in order to maintain visual clarity and overall consistency when such graphical symbols are applied. It stipulates the permissible extent by which a symbol original may be modified in reproduction for actual use on equipment.

ISO 80416-4 “Part 4: Guidelines for the adaptation of graphical symbols for use on screens and displays (icons)”  
This publication provides guidelines for the adaptation of graphical symbols for use on screens and displays (icons) on a wide range of equipment, such as photocopiers, vehicle dashboards and home appliances. It also provides principles for maintaining the fidelity of icons to the original graphical symbols.