In Finland electrical works are for safety reasons regulated by law and law-related regulations. These regulations lay down binding requirements, which cover e.g.:
All electrical work related to the construction and repair of electrical installations is authorised with the following conditions. These conditions also apply to the repair and maintenance of electrical appliances and electrical machines:
The only area where authorisation rules do not apply, are so-called everyman works. These are:
In addition, there are some minor exceptions regarding electrical work performed under the direction of the operations manager: Possessor of the electrical installation and the operation manager | Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes)
For the construction of electrical appliances and delivery of them onto the market, the requirements of the EU's Low Voltage Directive (LVD) and EMC Directive apply.
The qualification is proved by a certificate of qualification, which are issued in three categories:
These categories also apply to foreigners. However, in certain cases the validity field of a qualification is defined according to the professional experience acquired in another country of the EEA.
As a general rule, the requirements for the certificate of qualification consists of three main elements:
The certificates of qualification are issued by Henkilö- ja yritysarviointi SETI Oy (www.seti.fi), which is the nominated evaluation body in Finland. Further details about qualification requirements can be asked for there. The evaluation body also takes into account education and working experience obtained in a foreign country.
The electrical safety exam will become a 24/7 model at the beginning of 2025, meaning that from 2025, there will no longer be separate exam days and the exam can be taken anywhere, anytime. The examination languages are the two official languages of Finland: Finnish and Swedish.
The evaluation body also can issue the Finnish certificate of qualification on a basis of a corresponding foreign certificate. In addition, the certificate of qualification can be issued on the basis of professional experience according to directive 2005/36/EC.
Before starting electrical work activities, a formal notification has to be made to TUKES. In the notification a company or an individual shows that the stated requirements have been fulfilled. You can find the notification form SL1 and fill-in instructions here.
The following has to be attached to the notification:
The notification has to be signed with both the company's and the supervisor's signature.
Tukes handles the notification, and if the requirements are complied with, sends confirmation to the applicant and adds the information of the company or an individual to the Electrical Entrepreneurs Register (in Finnish).
In addition to electrical qualification evaluation and notification of electrical works, a foreign company and an individual has also general obligations, common to all areas of trade and work, such as giving notification to the Finnish Trade Register, licences for work and residence permits, etc. Further information can be found in the following links:
FOREIGN COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUAL PERSONS WORKING IN FINLAND
General provisions:
Special provisions for electrical works:
The supervisor of electrical works is responsible for all electrical safety related matters. He is responsible for seeing that:
The entrepreneur must provide the supervisor of electrical works with operational power so that he can fulfil his tasks sufficiently.
The Finnish electrical safety regulations lay down three kinds of inspections: the commissioning inspection, the certification inspection and the periodical inspection.
Installation work has to be inspected thoroughly by the installer. This commissioning inspection has to be done for all kinds of installation work whether large or small. A record of the inspection has to be drawn up, signed and given to the client. The commissioning inspection includes both visible observations as well as certain measuring activities and tests. For an ordinary installation the necessary measuring activities and tests are defined in the Finnish installation standard SFS 6000, which corresponds to the international IEC and European HD 60 364 -series standards.
For larger installations and for certain special installations, a certification inspection has to be performed by an authorised inspector or an authorised inspection body. The entrepreneur must order the certification inspection, and the results must be given to the owner of the installation. For residential buildings, certification inspection is required for a building containing more than two apartments. For other buildings and outdoor installations, certification inspection is required, if the main switchboard fuses are rated at over 35 A. In modification and extension works, the certification inspection is generally required for works where part of the installation is rated at over 35 A. For certain special premises, such as installations in medical locations and installations for explosive atmospheres, the limit for certification inspection is much lower.
Contact lists of authorised inspectors:
authorised inspectors and inspection bodies
Authorised inspectors and inspection bodies also perform periodic inspections. Periodic inspections are required for all other installations except those for residential buildings. Also smal installations, not exceeding 35 A main fuse, are excluded. The inspection interval is usually 10 years. The owner or tenant of the building (installation) is responsible for ordering the periodic inspection.
The technical safety regulations are considered to be fulfilled if certain standards are complied with. The list of these standards is maintained in TUKES instruction letter S10, which can be found in our web-pages www.tukes.fi (in Finnish and Swedish only).
The most important standards are:
SFS 6000 Low voltage electrical installations (based on the IEC and CENELEC 60 364 -series, available in Finnish and Swedish)
SFS 6001 High voltage electrical installations (based on the CENELEC HD 637, available in Finnish and Swedish)
These standards are in most detail in accordance with corresponding international or European standards, but, some significant deviations do exist.
Other listed standards in S10 deal with installations in explosive atmospheres, overhead power lines, railway applications, test equipment, stationary batteries and installations for neon lights and similar equipment.
The Finnish Occupational Safety and Health Act (738/2002) is applied to all kinds of works. In addition, Electrical Safety Act (1135/2016) states special rules for electrical works. These are considered to be fulfilled if the Finnish standard SFS 6002 is complied with.
Standard SFS 6002 is based on the European standard EN 50 110-1. However, there are many important national additions which are based on long-term practices for safe work methods in Finland. Similar arrangements exist in most European countries.
According to Electrical Safety Act (1135/2016) and Government Decree of Electrical Works and Operational Works (1435/2016) all workers shall be trained and instructed so that his or her knowledge continually corresponds to the requirements of the works. According to standard SFS 6002 general training of electrical safety hazards and safe working methods should be given to all persons involved in electrical works, a training certificate issued, and the training should normally be renewed every fifth year.
Electrical safety act (1135/2016)
Government decree of electrical installations (1434/2016)
Government decree of electrical works and operational works (1435/2016)
