IEC 62271-4:2022 applies to the procedures for handling of gases for insulation and/or switching during installation, commissioning, repair, overhaul, normal and abnormal operations and disposal at the end‑of‑life of electric power equipment.
These procedures are regarded as minimum requirements to ensure the reliability of electric power equipment, the safety of personnel working with these gases and to minimize the impact on the environment. Additional requirements could be given or specified in the operating instruction manual of the manufacturer.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition of IEC 62271-4 published in 2013. This edition constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:

1. title has been modified;
2. handling procedures of alternatives to SF₆, which are used for insulation and/or switching, are added;
3. the main clauses are independent from the type of gas;
4. for each gas a separate annex describes gas specific information, handling procedures, safety measure, etc.;
5. information about SF₆ (former Annex E) and about environmental effects of SF₆ and its mixtures (former Annex F) has been moved to IEC 60376;
6. information about by-products of SF₆ and its mixtures (former Annex G), the procedure for evaluating the potential effects on health of by-products of SF₆ and its mixtures (former Annex H) and the cryogenic reclaim of SF₆ (former Annex I) have been moved to IEC 60480.