UL/CSA/Intertek Fees

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi, I'm semi new to this area. We have developed a small line of LED retrofits and have a mfg in China that is ready and able to produce. Obviously want to get them listed first if we want to go through with our plan as is.

I'm wondering if anyone has any basics on UL/CSA/ Intertek ( or any other organization fees, like inspections (might not be able to get this bc may be geographic), certification fees, imprinting fees, label fees, stuff like that.

If anyone has any helpful info, would be much appreciated.

I know the cost of investigation of the product will be quoted but if one is much cheaper on the fees, I'd like to start there.
 

wireguru

Senior Member
you have to go through UL/Intertek in china as they have to visit the factory. Expect your listing for this product to run in the low to mid five figures, with annual fees. (also dont forget product liablity insurance, and insurance or something else to cover you if your product is recalled -you will have zero recourse to the factory). It would be cheaper and much faster to use a factory that already has a UL listing, then your cost is just to add the new product to their existing listing.
 

Jake6879

Member
Also, If the factory does not yet have a listing of any sort, UL or otherwise, maintaining one can be a bit daunting. I would definitely work with a factory that has had experience with it. As for the differences between UL and Intertek, UL is very thorough and somewhat strict. They will cost twice what Intertek costs because of name recognition. It depends on what your goal is, if you are building consumer products, you might choose to go with UL for the credibility it lends to the product. If just getting it through another hurdle is the main goal, Intertek will be cheaper, faster and easier.
 

Matthew_B

Member
I've used CSA several times in addition to UL quite a bit. I have fairly limited experience with Intertek.

About all I can say positive about Intertek is they are less costly and fast. I wouldn't call them thorough.

CSA is a bit more expensive than Intertek and is just as fast. They are as thorough as UL, without UL's arrogance and glacial speed.
 
Thank you all for the suggestions. Just back from Holiday. They are consumer products. I have quote requests out to all three plus another company MET labs. Going to have to go through them and decide what the name recognition is worth to us. The factory is ISO 9001 but doesnt produce anything right now more than having a CE mark...so we shall see. Appreciate all the advice though.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Nothing wrong with Intertek, the simply keep changing names. They've bought up other test labs such as ETL, Warnock Hersey, and some others. On the inspection side we want to get the job done, don't really ever have time to wait on UL. There is also TUV that's from Germany.
 

LEDdude

New member
Thank you all for the suggestions. Just back from Holiday. They are consumer products. I have quote requests out to all three plus another company MET labs. Going to have to go through them and decide what the name recognition is worth to us. The factory is ISO 9001 but doesnt produce anything right now more than having a CE mark...so we shall see. Appreciate all the advice though.

The fact that they have a ISO9001 certificate on the wall unfortunately does not mean a whole lot in China and CE is a self-certifying mark. Also, if they do become a UL listed factory, do not depended on the UL inspectors to necessarily catch on to (unauthorized) changes going on. IMHO, You need to be prepare to spend money on regular 3rd party inspections of product being built at the factory, get sample from each lot, FedEx'ed to you for approval, visit the factory multiple time per year and/or other quality system elements. These are all items I have had put in place at various times at past companies due to ending up with boxes/pallets of unsatisfactory product in my warehouse from a manufacturer in China.
 

Cmdr_Suds

Member
The fact that they have a ISO9001 certificate on the wall unfortunately does not mean a whole lot in China and CE is a self-certifying mark. Also, if they do become a UL listed factory, do not depended on the UL inspectors to necessarily catch on to (unauthorized) changes going on. IMHO, You need to be prepare to spend money on regular 3rd party inspections of product being built at the factory, get sample from each lot, FedEx'ed to you for approval, visit the factory multiple time per year and/or other quality system elements. These are all items I have had put in place at various times at past companies due to ending up with boxes/pallets of unsatisfactory product in my warehouse from a manufacturer in China.

ISO9001 is a quality standard, which mostly requires you to have procedures that you follow to produce your junk. UL & CE are safety standards. Two totaly different standards & goa.ls
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top