IEC 60906-1

IEC 60906-1 is an international standard for 230 V AC domestic power plugs and sockets. It was intended to become the common mains plug and socket standard, to be used one day everywhere in Europe and other regions with 230 V mains. The standard was published by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1986. So far, only Brazil and South Africa introduced a standard based on it. The biggest differences being that in parts of Brazil the mains voltage are 127 V and 220 V and the introduced standard has a pin diameter of 4mm for the 10A plug and 4.8mm for the 20A plug, while the original standard has a single pin diameter of 4.5mm and a maximum current of 16A. Although it looks similar to the Swiss SEV 1011 plug, its dimensions are different.

This article is only about part one of this standard. Part two, IEC 60906-2, defines a global standard plug for 115 V mains. It is compatible with the systems used today in North America and Japan. Part three, IEC 60906-3, defines a family of extra low voltage connectors.

Read more about IEC 60906-1:  Features, Comparison With Traditional Systems, Dimensions, Class 0 Plug and Socket