U.L. Approval

[rheydel1]

Is there a section in the N.E.C. that states that equipment and parts should be U.L. approved. If so where.

 

[charlie b]

First of all, UL does not "approve" anything. They list some things, and they label some things, but they approve nothing. As to the NEC's requirements, try looking at 90.7. It is not as clear as one could wish, and that may be by deliberate intent. What it tells me is that a laboratory's testing program is a good basis that the AHJ can use for approving a component that is part of an installation. Having a UL listing takes away some of the burden from the AHJ's inspection process, in that the AHJ does not need to repeat any testing that the UL will have already conducted.

I seem to recall that there is at least one place in the NEC (and I don't have an electronic version to look for it) that explicitly states that that particular item must be UL listed. But that is not a generally applicable requirement.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

There are a number of sections that require the use of listed products. The ones that I can think of now are most, if not all, of the raceway articles require the use of listed raceways and fittings.

 

[raider1]

Another thing to remember is that there are other Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL) then just UL. When the code states a product or material must be "Listed" it does not specifically require UL listing.

CSA, ETL, TUV, Met Labs are just a few of the other NRTL's.

410.6 was added in the 2008 NEC to require all luminaires to be listed.

Chris

 

[bphgravity]

OSHA recognizes (4) organizations to develop product safety standards:

1. ANSI
2. ASTM
3. UL
4. FM

Standards from the above organizations are approved for use by ANY of the NRTL's to test & certify products.

The current list of NRTL's include:

CSA
CCL
CSL
FM
ITSNA
MET
NTS
NSF
QPS
SGUS
SWRI
TUVPSG
TUVAM
TUVPTL
TUV
UL


UL is two distinct companies with the same name. One is the standards writer, the other is a NRTL.

 

[elohr46]

First of all, UL does not "approve" anything. They list some things, and they label some things, but they approve nothing. As to the NEC's requirements, try looking at 90.7. It is not as clear as one could wish, and that may be by deliberate intent. What it tells me is that a laboratory's testing program is a good basis that the AHJ can use for approving a component that is part of an installation. Having a UL listing takes away some of the burden from the AHJ's inspection process, in that the AHJ does not need to repeat any testing that the UL will have already conducted.

I seem to recall that there is at least one place in the NEC (and I don't have an electronic version to look for it) that explicitly states that that particular item must be UL listed. But that is not a generally applicable requirement.

FYI. I checked the Electronic 2011 NEC for "UL listed" and came up blank.

 

[iwire]

FYI. I checked the Electronic 2011 NEC for "UL listed" and came up blank.

That is because you included "UL" the NEC simply says listed. It would be wrong for the NEC to specify one particular NTRL.

 

[rbalex]

Listing or labeling is not a universal NEC requirement although it may be for some local jurisdictions; e.g., the City and County of Los Angeles, CA.

Where FedOSHA applies, the definition of acceptable in 29 CFR 1910 Section 399 basically says if something can be listed it must be. Compare it with the definitions of accepted and approved.

NEC Annex A is "... a list of product safety standards used for product listing where that listing is required by this Code." It isn't entirely accurate.

 

[nollij]

In Washington State, the state inspectors want everything to be Listed AND Labeled. Other states/regions may not have as stringent of requirements. It is really up to the inspector and if you are contesting it, good luck.

 

[elohr46]

That is because you included "UL" the NEC simply says listed. It would be wrong for the NEC to specify one particular NTRL.

Read the last sentence in Charlie's post #2.

 

[Twoskinsoneman]

Read the last sentence in Charlie's post #2.

there are some FPNs that reference UL standards but I don't know of any part of the code that does.

 

[bphgravity]

What people should be saying is; "listed to a UL standard", instead of "UL listed".

All of the recognized NRTL's list to one of the ANSI / UL standards.

Again, the confusion arises due to the fact that UL both writes the standards & is a NRTL. But these two aspects of the organization are completely separate.

The standards division of UL is Not-For-Profit & is government regulated. The Standards Technical Panels are made up of members of the public and electrical professionals. I serve on several STP's.

The NRTL division is For-Profit and is operated by paid employees.