Building Greater Confidence in Arc Rated PPE
Changes in the 2027 edition of NFPA 70E strengthen conformity-assessment requirements for arc-rated protective clothing, giving safety managers new reasons to understand the testing, documentation and quality systems behind the PPE their workers rely on.
- By David Kopf
- Oct 15, 2026
Safety managers responsible for electrical safety programs have a new edition of NFPA 70E to contend with right now, even if the year printed on its cover suggests otherwise.
The 2027 edition of NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, became effective May 6, 2026, superseding the 2024 edition. Its changes include tighter conformity-assessment requirements for electrical PPE, including arc-rated clothing.
That matters for employers buying flame-resistant and arc-rated protective clothing because it raises the bar for substantiating product claims.
And according to Brian Shiels, service line manager of the ArcWear Division of Kinectrics, safety managers may not yet realize the new requirements are already in effect.
"A lot of folks may not realize that the edition is already in force," Shiels says when asked about awareness of the changes.
Raising the Bar for PPE Conformity
Under the 2027 edition, a simple supplier self-declaration is no longer sufficient for affected PPE. Manufacturers have two primary paths.
The first path is a supplier declaration backed by testing from an accredited laboratory and a registered quality management system. The other is full third-party certification through an ISO/IEC 17065-accredited independent third-party certification organization.
"The conformity assessment of those products has changed," Shiels says. "A straight self-declaration of conformity is no longer allowed."
For manufacturers continuing to use a supplier declaration, Shiels says the underlying test data must come from an accredited testing laboratory, while the manufacturing operation must have a registered quality management system, such as one registered to ISO 9001.
For safety managers, the distinction matters because the requirements add controls behind PPE claims. The process now requires accredited laboratory testing with a registered quality system or accredited third-party certification.
According to Shiels, the final requirements represent a middle ground. Earlier draft language would have required PPE to be listed, pushing the standard closer to mandatory third-party certification.
The final standard does not go that far. Instead, Shiels says, it provides additional assurance while preserving multiple conformity-assessment pathways.
Addressing Questions of Trust
Why strengthen the requirements? "There's been a bit of a trust issue brewing," when it comes to PPE testing, Shiels says.
That does not mean manufacturers have been providing false information. Shiels emphasizes that established manufacturers generally have long-standing testing and quality practices.
Rather, some concern can arise from the inherent variability in testing arc-rated products.
ASTM F1506, a widely used performance specification for FR/AR protective clothing worn by electrical workers, requires arc-rating testing. NFPA 70E establishes electrical safety and PPE requirements, while ASTM F1506 establishes performance requirements for the clothing. Shiels notes that a valid arc rating does not have to be continually retested simply because time has passed.
Meanwhile, manufacturers, competitors, end users or other parties sometimes conduct repeat testing. When they do, the result may differ from the original test.
"You're almost certainly going to get a different answer," Shiels says. "That's not because the clothing manufacturer told you a lie or is trying to get one over on you. There may just be some inherent variability in it."
That variability can stem from the product itself, lot-to-lot textile variation and testing conditions or procedures.
That creates a potential problem when users interpret an arc rating as an absolute number rather than a test result subject to normal variation.
Understanding What an Arc Rating Means
The issue matters most when an arc rating sits near a PPE-selection threshold.
NFPA 70E's arc-flash PPE categories set 8 cal/cm² as the minimum arc rating for Category 2 PPE. That can make clothing tested at 7.9 cal/cm² seem fundamentally different from clothing rated at 8.1 cal/cm², though actual testing is more nuanced.
"We can test that same product dozens of times," he says. "If it's close to the line, we're going to get results below and we're going to get results above."
The takeaway is not to assume a different result means fraud or misrepresentation.
Shiels stresses that arc-rated PPE has an established record of protecting workers when it is properly selected and worn.
"We don't have an epidemic of people being injured wearing arc-rated clothing," he says. "The injuries come when they're not wearing arc-rated clothing and they're not wearing appropriate [protection]."
The strengthened conformity-assessment provisions do not eliminate variability in arc testing. Instead, they add assurance about the process supporting manufacturers' claims.
The Role of Accredited Testing
Accredited laboratories are important to that process because they are expected to demonstrate that their testing is conducted consistently and impartially.
Shiels points to ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation as an example. Laboratories accredited to the standard are subject to requirements addressing competence, consistency and impartiality.
Potential conflicts of interest also must be identified and addressed.
For safety managers reviewing PPE documentation, that adds confidence that the laboratory had no financial or competitive interest in a particular arc rating.
"The number is what it is," Shiels says. "We don't care what the number is. We care that we've executed the test exactly how the standard says and that we provide a quality product in our test reports."
That distinction is central to the NFPA 70E change. Accredited testing does not guarantee identical repeat-test results. It assures that a laboratory operating under a recognized accreditation framework performed the supporting testing.
Testing methodologies also continue to evolve independently of NFPA 70E.
Shiels notes that ASTM F1506 was updated in 2025, including a requirement to identify the edition of the standard to which a product is certified.
What Safety Managers Should Do
The new requirements do not mean employers need to discard their existing arc-rated clothing.
NFPA 70E allows compliant PPE from previous editions to remain in use, so safety departments do not need to purge existing inventories because the conformity-assessment provisions changed.
"It doesn't mean we have to throw out everything that's old," Shiels says. "Those products are still fully compliant for use, but anything moving forward has these new requirements on it."
Over time, newer products entering inventories will increasingly reflect the revised conformity-assessment requirements.
For safety managers, Shiels recommends starting with the companies supplying their PPE. Ask manufacturers and suppliers about their conformity-assessment process, where their products were tested and the documentation supporting their claims.
That conversation can extend into the supply chain, particularly because garment manufacturers may source fabrics, closures and other components from other companies.
Safety managers should also examine the test documentation provided with products when appropriate. If something raises a question, Shiels recommends verifying the information rather than immediately assuming something is wrong.
"Build your relationship with your PPE suppliers," he says. "Again, trust but verify."
And when verification is necessary, employers can contact the accredited laboratory identified on the test report. A laboratory generally cannot disclose confidential information about a customer's testing, but it can verify whether a report represented as its own is authentic and whether the information matches its records. And that safeguard is not merely theoretical. Shiels says his laboratory has encountered altered reports, including instances in which test information had been modified.
For safety managers, the 2027 NFPA 70E changes are about more than documentation. They make the chain behind PPE claims more transparent and verifiable, giving safety managers another tool to ensure workers facing an arc-flash hazard have protection they can depend on.
This article originally appeared in the October 2026 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.