Is it OK to install electrical equipment that is not UL listed but is ANSI certified?

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COWLITZ29

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I am an electrician in Washington state and have a customer who wants me to install some EZ read meter bases that are not UL listed but they are ANSI certified. Is ANSI considered as safe in electrical equipment as the UL listing?
 
As far as I know ANSI does not test or certify anything, they are a standards writing organization. UL is both a testing and standards writing organization. There are other organizations that are test to the published standards, but do not write standards.
 
When I do a code correlation data base search on UL for NEC Article 230 I find that UL has listing categories for Energy Usage Monitoring Systems, Meter Mounting Equipment, Meter Fittings, Meter Socket Bases, Meter Sockets, Meter Socket Accessories, and Meters, Electric Utility.
 
COWLITZ29 said:
I am an electrician in Washington state and have a customer who wants me to install some EZ read meter bases that are not UL listed but they are ANSI certified. Is ANSI considered as safe in electrical equipment as the UL listing?
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Washington is one of the states that does not specifically say 'UL", but requires what is referred to as "NRTL listing". NRTL means Nationally Recognized Testing Labs. There is a list of acceptable NRTLs maintained by OSHA that you can access on the Web by searching on "OSHA NRTL list". Washington state will accept any of those testing labs.

ANSI, as mentioned above, is a standards writing organization, not a testing lab. So if your meter mfr is trying to imply that the meter is "ANSI Certified" he is either a liar or you are not getting the whole story. There is no such thing as "certification" by ANSI. Maybe, just maybe, he is trying to say that they, the meter mfr, is "certifying" that their meter is built to ANSI specifications, but that is kind of like saying "I, Mr. Fox, hereby certify that there are no predators in this hen house". In other words, let the buyer beware. But the only benefit of doubt I'll give them is that maybe they have gone to some OTHER lab to have the meter tested and certified to have met ANSI specifications (see below). If so, and that lab is on the NRTL list, you MIGHT be OK.

ANSI has only one specification for "meters" that I can find, C12 for "energy metering", including "smart grid" metering. The ANSI spec calls out standards for metering accuracy and performance, as well as different classes for accuracy attainment. So saying a meter MEETS ANSI C12 is a marketing claim, until someone else (known as a "3rd party", like a testing lab) backs it up with a test report. But I do not believe the ANSI spec is related to product SAFETY anyway, which is what UL and other NRTL testing as required by the State would be about.

So bottom line, I seriously doubt your meter is going to be allowable if that's all they can say about it.
 
Do not know about Seattle city light or Tacoma light or providers other than PSE< but PSE DOES require UL approved meter bases, among other requirements. Contact your service provider.

Be a ring-type socket that includes a screw-type, stainless steel, or aluminum meter ring (snap-type rings must be stainless steel).
Be Underwriters Laboratories (UL) approved.

Be rated for exterior use and be rain-tight according to NEMA-3R.

Have all unused openings tightly sealed from the inside of the socket.

Be plumb and securely fastened to the supporting structure.

Have a cover that is securely attached to the meter base/socket case.
NOTE:
Meter base/socket and current transformer enclosures shall not be used as a
junction box.
 
To clear up some confusion on national listings.

Your building code will have a chapter which lists nationally recongized testing laboratories. There is never a requirement for anything to be "UL Listed", only "Listed".

Any NRTL can do testing and certification to a UL Standard or any other standard. We have our products listed under UL916 and also ANSI C136.10 but our testing and certification is done by Intertek because they are a little cheaper than UL but more importantly much faster in the laboratory work. UL always has a long lead time for lab work.

I think a relavent question in this case is "Does a meter can have to be listed?"
 
I think I see what might be the issue. GE makes a specific meter called an "EZ Read" style where the face has simple digit readouts instead of dial indicators. The meters themselves are not UL listed, because they don't need to be for utilities, their primary customers. But the SOCKETS absolutely will need to be NRTL listed. The sockets however are no different from ny other utility meter socket, the "EZ Read" is just an option from GE on the readout.
 
There is an allowance in the Washington WAC 296-46B for an engineering evaluation of non listed equipment.
See WAC 296-46B 997. I have had this done one time, I was 1/2 the cost of UL
 
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