English term (edited): 3-pin earthed plug

It's important here to appreciate the cultural difference; in the UK and some other countries, a mains plug has 3 pins, for the phase / live / line + the neutral and a 3rd pin for the earth. This differs, however, from the practice in France and many other countries, where the plugs have 2 pins (phase + neutral) plus some other connection for the earth (in some cases a socket, or a peripheral device)

Hence it would be misleading for a FR reader to refer to a plug with 3 pins, so rather than a literal translation, it's important here to do a technical localization (unless, of course, this were a purely descriptive text of something in the UK etvc. — which this does not seem to be)

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Note added at 9 heures (2012-02-25 05:37:39 GMT)
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In colloquial, everyday language, we talk in the UK about a '3-pin plug' and everyone knows that this means the standard BS1362/3 pattern 13 A plug that is now the only permitted mains connector in the UK; the term '3-pin plug' arose way back in the days when 2-pin plugs were also common (as is still the case in France), but they have since been outlawed, though the term has survived.

So this needs to be read as 'a standard mains plug with earth', and then rendered by the equivalent term in FR.

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Note added at 9 heures (2012-02-25 05:43:43 GMT)
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The advantage of my description is that it doesn't specify pin or socket, and hence could be used for both FR and CA. ;-)

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Note added at 12 heures (2012-02-25 08:25:25 GMT)
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As Xavier has kindly pointed out, it should of course be « fiche 2 pôles ... » ! Apologies for my slip!

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Note added at 12 heures (2012-02-25 08:29:05 GMT)
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Here's a typical FR example, where it is sensibly referred to as a 'fiche mâle' (although less sensibly, with a typo!):

http://www.confort-electrique.fr/fiche-male-16a-2pt-plastiqu...

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Note added at 19 heures (2012-02-25 15:47:34 GMT)
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Note that under current EU legislation, it is illegal to sell domestic appliances with the 'wrong' type of plug for the country of sale; this is no doubt part of the reason for the modern trend for detachable mains cables, since it is easier to simply swap cables than to change plugs (especially since they are now usually moulded on!)

Hence if this documentation is being translated with a view to marketing the product in France, it is clearly important that the documentation refers to the correct form of plug for local use.

Naturally, if this text were simply describing some particular situation in the UK, for example, then a different translation solution might be appropriate.