What Are CMVs of IEC Standard Documents?
In response to market demand, the International Electronic Commission (IEC) launched new editions of its most popular standards with comments from IEC technical experts. These publications are known as Commented Versions (CMVs).
What Are IEC CMV Standards?
Developed by the International Electronic Commission (IEC) Standard’s experts, Commented Versions (CMV) are value-added products that detail explanations of the official standard document’s main changes. CMVs are the only product where the consensus-based content of a publication is enriched with technical commentary from IEC’s technical experts. To fully grasp the benefits of CMVs, they are available only in electronic format.
What Are the Benefits of CMVs?
CMVs are an enhanced version of the traditional IEC Redline Version (RLV)—an IEC document that highlights the changes made between a new edition of the standard and its previous edition, usually by visually marking the differences in red. Comments in CMVs may include a concise explanation for the changes as well as information on the impact of these changes on the application and usability of the standard. They also may provide additional information and way to record historical changes of the official standard document.
With CMVs, users can easily understand the rationale for changes made to the newest edition of the standard, and they can track changes for future reference.
How Do CMVs Visually Appear?
CMVs appear as a vertical bar in the margin wherever a change has been made. Additions are in green text, and deletions are in strikethrough red text. IEC experts’ comments are identified by a blue-background number. A user can hover their cursor over a number in the body of the document to display a pop-up note with the comment—making it easy and intuitive for the user to understand the rationale of new requirements or revisions.
What Do Users Think of IEC CMVs?
IEC feedback from users has been positive. In a survey conducted in 2022, 84% of users were highly satisfied by the comments of the CMVs and 97% would buy CMVs again in the future.
Standards Available as CMVs
CMVs comprise a package, which includes both the new edition of the official standard document as well as the Commented Version (CMV). By reading the comments from IEC technical experts, the CMV allows users to easily and clearly identify the changes made to the previous edition of the standard.
Several of the most widely sold IEC Standards are available as CMVs that are available on the ANSI Webstore, such as:
- IEC 60228 Ed. 4.0 en:2023 CMV— Conductors of insulated cables
- IEC 60112 Ed. 5.0 en:2020 CMV—Method for the determination of the proof and the comparative tracking indices of solid insulating materials
- IEC 60437 Ed. 3.0 en:2023 CMV— Radio interference test on high-voltage insulators
- IEC 60475 Ed. 3.0 en:2022 CMV— Method of sampling insulating liquids
- IEC 60567 Ed. 5.0 en:2023 CMV—Oil-filled electrical equipment – Sampling of free gases and analysis of free and dissolved gases in mineral oils and other insulating liquids – Guidance
- IEC 60599 Ed. 4.0 en:2022 CMV— Mineral oil-filled electrical equipment in service – Guidance on the interpretation of dissolved and free gases analysis
- IEC 60913 Ed. 3.0 en:2024 CMV— Railway applications – Fixed installations – Electric traction overhead contact lines systems
- IEC 61039 Ed. 3.0 en:2025 CMV— Classification of insulating liquids
- IEC 61508 Ed. 2.0 en:2010 CMV— Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems – Parts 1 to 7 together with a Commented version (see Functional Safety and IEC 61508)
- IEC 61591 Ed. 3.0 en: 2023 CMV— Cooking fume extractors – Methods for measuring performance
