IEC 62648:2022 PDF

Overview

IEC 62648:2022 - "Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Guidelines for the inclusion of graphical symbols in IEC publications" - is a horizontal IEC standard that gives committees practical guidance to ensure graphical symbols in IEC product publications comply with horizontal symbol collections (IEC 60417, ISO 7000) and the ISO/IEC Directives (Part 2:2021, clause 28.6.2). This 2nd edition (2022) replaces the 2012 edition and Amendment 1:2015 and includes technical updates such as new terms from IEC Guide 108, the introduction of the IEC 60417 SDB designation, and alignment of subclause 6.3 with IEC Guide 108:2019.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Purpose and scope: Ensures consistency and legibility of graphical symbols for use on equipment across IEC publications.
• Normative references: Integrates key standards for symbol creation and application, including:
  • IEC 60417 and ISO 7000 (symbol databases)
  • IEC 80416-1 / ISO 80416-2 (creation principles)
  • IEC 80416-3 / ISO 80416-4 (application and adaptation)
  • IEC Guide 108 and ISO/IEC Directives (procedures and coherence)
• Design and coherence: Emphasizes coherent families of symbols, scalability, and legibility when reduced to small sizes.
• Committee responsibilities: Requires product committees to use horizontal publications where applicable and to coordinate with SC 3C for symbol registration and inclusion.
• Procedures: Contains both hard procedures (formal submission and registration steps) and soft procedures (design guidance and consultation workflows) in Annex A.
• Examples and templates: Annex B provides application examples, including safety-related symbols and negation forms; Annex C supplies change-request (CR) and symbol proposal forms.

Practical applications

• Standardizes how symbols are included in product IEC standards, technical manuals, and equipment labeling to ensure:
  • International uniformity and cross-language comprehension
  • Compatibility with IEC/ISO symbol databases (IEC 60417 / ISO 7000)
  • Proper handling of safety-related symbols and signage
• Useful when developing new symbols, adapting icons for screens/displays, or selecting existing standardized symbols for equipment interfaces and documentation.

Who should use IEC 62648:2022

• IEC and ISO technical committees and subcommittees (especially product committees)
• Standards authors, technical writers and editors
• Symbol designers, human factors and usability engineers
• Safety engineers, labeling and compliance teams responsible for equipment markings

Related standards

• IEC 60417, ISO 7000 (graphical symbol repositories)
• IEC/ISO 80416 series (creation and application principles)
• IEC Guide 108 (coherence of IEC publications)
• ISO/IEC Directives Part 1 & 2 (standard development procedures)

IEC 62648:2022 streamlines symbol development and inclusion in IEC publications, improving clarity, safety communication, and international interoperability of equipment markings.