OSHA required Industrial Control Panel to have NRTL listing?

[PeterOven]

I accept the claim that NEC does not require NRTL listing of industrial control panels which fall under NEC 409. There may be some AHJs, cities, and states who do require listing.

However, if OSHA applies (such as at a workplace), then it appears that all electrical equipment that can be listed, must be listed.
https://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/prodcatg.html
1910.303(a) - The conductors and equipment required or permitted by this subpart shall be acceptable only if approved, as defined in Sec. 1910.399.
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.399
Acceptable. An installation or equipment is acceptable to the Assistant Secretary of Labor, and approved within the meaning of this Subpart S:
(1) If it is accepted, or certified, or listed, or labeled, or otherwise determined to be safe by a nationally recognized testing laboratory recognized pursuant to § 1910.7; or
(2) With respect to an installation or equipment of a kind that no nationally recognized testing laboratory accepts, certifies, lists, labels, or determines to be safe, if it is inspected or tested by another Federal agency, or by a State, municipal, or other local authority responsible for enforcing occupational safety provisions of the National Electrical Code, and found in compliance with the provisions of the National Electrical Code as applied in this subpart; or
(3) With respect to custom-made equipment or related installations that are designed, fabricated for, and intended for use by a particular customer, if it is determined to be safe for its intended use by its manufacturer on the basis of test data which the employer keeps and makes available for inspection to the Assistant Secretary and his authorized representatives.
Approved. Acceptable to the authority enforcing this subpart. The authority enforcing this subpart is the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. The definition of "acceptable" indicates what is acceptable to the Assistant Secretary of Labor, and therefore approved within the meaning of this subpart.

This would appear to be a blanket requirement for all industrial control panels at a workplace to be built by a UL 508A panel shop.

Or is it okay as far as OSHA to not have the UL 508A, as long as all components inside are UL listed (as opposed to UL Recognized)?

I have in mind everything from a simple panel containing a building automation system or a temperature data logging system (only control components, no power), to panels controlling motors (containing power and controls).

I would like to advise my client as to whether he needs to spend the money to get a UL 508A panel shop to build a panel, rather than him building it in house, in order to be in compliance with OSHA. I don't want to recommend something that is unnecessary.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

It is my understanding that the OSHA rule requires the use of listed equipment if such equipment is available. Since there are plenty of panel builders that can build listed panels, the use of listed control panels is required. The following is part of a letter ruling issued in 2013 by OSHA on this issue.

Question 1: Does 29 CFR Part 1910 Subpart S apply to the design of industrial machinery, including the requirement under §1910.303(a) that the conductors and equipment required or permitted by Subpart S are acceptable only if approved, as defined in §1910.399?

Response: Yes, §1910.301(a) provides that the design safety standards for electric utilization systems are contained in §1910.302 through §1910.308. And §1910.302(a) states that §1910.302 through §1910.308 "cover electrical installations and utilization equipment installed or used within or on buildings, structures, and other premises." For purposes of Subpart S, "utilization equipment" means "[equipment that utilizes electric energy for electronic, electromechanical, chemical, heating, lighting, or similar purposes." 29 CFR 1910.399. And "equipment" is defined to include "material, fittings, devices, appliances, fixtures, apparatus, and the like, used as a part of, or in connection with, an electrical installation." 29 CFR 1910.399. Thus, industrial machinery that uses electric energy is "utilization equipment" covered by Subpart S (including §1910.303(a)).

 

[suemarkp]

The scope is wide and vast using the above definition (not just control panels or industrial machinery). The company I work for has been dealing with this as we have many items of utilization equipment that are not listed either because they are old, or just because the vendor chose not to pay to have it listed. Then there are the things we made ourself. We are trying to self certify all of these unlisted things based on some defined processes, testing, and documentation. That may fly for OSHA. Unfortunately, the state has a similar requirement and they mandate a state approved NRTL. I think the lawyers are either just focusing on OSHA, or are convinced that the state rule doesn't really matter if we can show we have done our due diligence.

I have examined and stickered probably 200 items by now. In theory, it would be cheaper to just go buy new items that are NRTL listed. But our procurement process is so cumbersome, it is cheaper to pay me for a half hour of work than to buy a new $500 item (example - a set of Hot Tweezers used for removing wire insulation -- most of the ones we have are not NRTL listed). They are trying to "fix" the procurement system to prevent us from buying unlisted items. Not sure if they will be successful in that as vendors can be tricky (it is UL Recognized, it meets UL xxxx) for items that end up not bearing a usable NRTL mark. We have been using Field Evaluation Bodies for the expensive or complicated stuff, but there is a significant cost to use them.