# NEC 500 (Class/Division) — North American vs IEC/ATEX explosion protection designations

For NEC 500 (Class/Division), category is system attribute; iec / atex designation is ATEX / IECEx (Zone); basis or note is Geographic use: USA, Canada vs EU, UK, most of the world, recorded from its source on 2026-08-06.

- **Category:** system attribute _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **North American designation:** NEC 500 (Class/Division)
- **IEC / ATEX designation:** ATEX / IECEx (Zone)
- **Basis or note:** Geographic use: USA, Canada vs EU, UK, most of the world _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> Geographic use | USA, Canada | USA, Canada | EU, UK, most of the world

## Source

- https://exknowledge.com/pages/nec-500-vs-atex-iec.html

Last verified: 2026-08-06. Review by: 2028-08-05.
Part of [North American vs IEC/ATEX explosion protection designations](https://referencesource.org/ex-classification-system-crosswalk/).