That's not true here in the States.
Class 1 line power and class 2 power limited circuits have have different requirements but are still subject to code.
Whether you want to follow code rules is another matter.
I stand corrected, Tha fios agaibh. I was drawing on my own 40+ years of professional experience of working with low-voltage systems for different companies, mostly alarm systems but also a little bit of access, video, intercom systems, and even phone lines and doorbells. I'd always assumed that since no license was required to work on these systems in MD, VA, and DC, that it wasn't regulated by code; so I never looked into it before.
I was right about not needing a license to install and service low-voltage wiring in alarm systems, but when I looked into it in the last couple of days, that has changed now. Requirement to work on low-voltage systems vary a lot now because the "low-voltage" umbrella covers a variety of different systems that were not thought of as being related before. There is still no national standard for low-voltage wiring. It's apparently Balkanized worse than the alarm industry, with different state, county, sometimes town requirements.
As it happens, I did have to get "certified" about 30 years ago (1990-1991 IIRC), officially Registered in VA and Licensed in MD, to work on alarm systems; but I never associated the required training, state and national background check twice (once each for both states), and certification with electrical code because it didn't include anything about wiring safety--nothing relevant to fire or shock hazard (which is approximately zero in my line of work). For instance, it's general knowledge in my industry that 18 AWG is preferable for running power from a class 2 16.5VAC plug-in transformer to the control panel, but it's also common practice to use 22/4 cable and twist two 22 AWG wires together for each leg.
I know it's still not as good (but perfectly adequate for short runs) as using an 18 AWG pair, but a lot of techs don't--
because it's nowhere in the training, which isn't about electrical standards, it's almost entirely about proper installation & service to avoid
false alarming, which was becoming
epidemic and driving police and fire departments crazy by the mid-'80s; which is the primary, if not sole, reason that states decided they had to regulate the alarm industry in the first place. The state agencies in my area handling the training and enforcing compliance were the Department of Criminal Justice Services in VA; and State Police in MD. (Did I mention the regulation was Balkanized?)
So I never associated it with electrical code requirements. I retired around 2010, and let my license and registration expire after that, so I haven't done a refresher in about 10 years, so I have to admit my experience is out of date. It's possible they teach class 2 power limited circuit code now, for all I know. But I doubt it, since it was never about electrical code.
Not related to the original subject, but as an afterthought:
As it happened, the required training, registration, and licensing did significantly reduce the false alarm rate in the early '90s---but not for the reasons one might suppose. Sometimes our classes were taught by instructors who knew less than most of us experienced techs. I can't think of anything I actually learned in any of the required courses, although it's possible that some of the newer techs did.
But in the '80s, the alarm business was booming and lucrative, and attracted a lot of 'trunk-slammers"--guys working out of the trunks of their cars, who could get an alarm system installed profitably, but not properly. They'd typically make a lot of money for awhile, installing a lot of 'trash' systems (sometimes the
components were good, but the i
nstallation was crappy), then disappear when enough customers started calling for the inevitable service needed. The reason I knew about it was because a lot of their customers finally gave up on them and called an established professional dealer, and
I would inherit the mess.
When VA and MD started regulating the industry, they actually enforced the regulation--when police responded to an alarm, they made note of the installing and servicing company, and made sure they were licensed/registered. It got too expensive and troublesome for trunk-slammers when they actually had to run a regulated dealership, and the false alarms dwindled.
I personally hated the extra hassle of getting my license and registration, but I have to admit: As fouled up as the regulation was, it
did serve its purpose.
