Certs

[drembert01]

I have been hired by a company as an Electrical Inspector to help verify UL/CE/IEC and other various certifications of electrical material before it is purchased or placed into stock. I am trying to build a database of resource to reference. Anyone have any suggestions on websites to access third party certs?

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Not sure what you are asking but here is a list of 3rd party testing labs that North Carolina accepts

http://www.nciaei.org/wp-content/uploads/section/pdfs/ThirdPartyAg.pdf

 

[drembert01]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for the reply, that is a start. I have a few others. What we are trying to do is eliminate the counterfeit material that is flooding the market this side of the world including counterfeit certs submitted by suppliers.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

We have seen uncertified Sq. D breakers. They use the same name and listing etc....They have no shame in making illegal products

 

[drembert01]

Creative

Creative

Unfortunately due to OPSEC concerns I cant share photos or specifics but you would be blown away by the creativity of some of the manufactures, everything from high voltage transformers, cable, switches to simple enclosures.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Unfortunately due to OPSEC concerns I cant share photos or specifics but you would be blown away by the creativity of some of the manufactures, everything from high voltage transformers, cable, switches to simple enclosures.

we get it. we have been awash in fake consumer products for decades.

 

[drembert01]

Thanks

Thanks

That's a great graph, mind if I use it as part of a powerpoint I'm putting together for some new team members coming in??

 

[Dennis Alwon]

That graph was taken from the web so I am sure you can use it

 

[JFletcher]

That's a great graph, mind if I use it as part of a powerpoint I'm putting together for some new team members coming in??

You may want to find a newer pie chart... That one is apparently a decade-old. And while I don't think anybody is going to take exception if you used that pie chart in a presentation, not everything on the internet is in the public domain. Using any copyrighted material is usually not a problem as long as you are not trying to make money on it.

 

[Jraef]

With respect to UL, you can go to UL.com and find information on how to spot fakes, as well as a web based database search engine in which you can enter a UL file number and it will give you the name of the actual manufacturer and their file info that will tell you what it is listed for/as and where the listing label must be and what it must have on it. Often when counterfeiters do this, that’s a level of detail they don’t bother with. Also if the actual manufacturer shown on the product is not the same as what UL says, or the file number doesn’t match the product or description, those are major red flags.

IEC is I think more difficult when it comes to detecting counterfeits, because it is all “self certified”, there is no third party testing agency like UL. CE is a little better in that there are third party testing agencies that provide testing and certification, but some of the bigger companies can self certify as well. But CE listing is not indicative of what the product is supposed to do or how it performs, it is just mostly about its EMI/RFI emissions. I’ve seen people misinterpret this here in the US as if “CE listing” is the same thing as UL, when in truth it is nothing of the sort. I can get a CE label on a water bottle with two wires in it so long as when I connect the wires, they don’t cause interference in adjacent electronics.

 

[rbalex]

With respect to UL, you can go to UL.com and find information on how to spot fakes, as well as a web based database search engine in which you can enter a UL file number and it will give you the name of the actual manufacturer and their file info that will tell you what it is listed for/as and where the listing label must be and what it must have on it. Often when counterfeiters do this, that’s a level of detail they don’t bother with. Also if the actual manufacturer shown on the product is not the same as what UL says, or the file number doesn’t match the product or description, those are major red flags.

IEC is I think more difficult when it comes to detecting counterfeits, because it is all “self certified”, there is no third party testing agency like UL. CE is a little better in that there are third party testing agencies that provide testing and certification, but some of the bigger companies can self certify as well. But CE listing is not indicative of what the product is supposed to do or how it performs, it is just mostly about its EMI/RFI emissions. I’ve seen people misinterpret this here in the US as if “CE listing” is the same thing as UL, when in truth it is nothing of the sort. I can get a CE label on a water bottle with two wires in it so long as when I connect the wires, they don’t cause interference in adjacent electronics.

:thumbsup: