UL Testing is a Surprise to me

[Dennis Alwon]

I had no idea UL farmed out its testing in some case, and to the manufacturer no less​

​

What is UL Certification and Why is it Important?​

UL stands for Underwriter Laboratories, a third-party certification company that’s been around for over a century. UL was founded in 1894 in Chicago. They certify products with the aim to make the world a safer place for both workers and consumers. Besides testing, they set industry standards to follow when innovating new products. Last year alone, about 14 billion products with the UL seal entered the global marketplace.

In a nutshell, UL is a safety organization that sets industry-wide standards on new products. They continually check these products to ensure they’re up to these standards. UL testing makes sure that wire sizes are correct or devices can handle the amount of current they claim to be able to. They also ensure that products are constructed correctly for the highest safety.

A common misconception is that UL tests every product themselves. This isn’t always the case. Instead, UL authorizes a manufacturer to test the product themselves using the UL stamp. They then follow up on a regular basis to make sure that they are testing their products and following proper guidelines. This is one of many reasons that UL certification is attractive to businesses.

However familiar you might be with the recognizable UL stamp on machinery, it’s not as simple as it may appear. There’s no such thing as a general UL approval. Instead, it’s broken down into several tiers. These three tiers are UL listed, UL recognized, and UL classified.

While all three are relatively similar to one another, there are some important distinctions. In order to figure out what’s best for your business, or to be more informed as a consumer of UL products, it’s good to know the basic differences.

Here we’ll go over the two most basic distinctions you need to know about: UL recognized vs UL listed.

 

[romex jockey]

who watches the watchers?

~RJ~

 

[synchro]

It's similar with the EPA as mentioned on the webpage below:
"Most testing is performed by auto manufacturers at their own facilities. EPA then audits the data and performs its own testing on some of the vehicles to confirm the manufacturers' results."

https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/testing-national-vehicle-and-fuel-emissions-laboratory

 

[petersonra]

There are only a few non-manufacturer high current labs in the country. UL has one but between the lot of them they have nowhere near the capacity to do all the short circuit testing that is needed. A lot the specialized testing is done by the manufacturers themselves under some kind of UL supervision.

UL does not inspect every listed switchboard, MCC, or control panel either. It is just not possible for them to do so.

 

[synchro]

There are only a few non-manufacturer high current labs in the country. UL has one but between the lot of them they have nowhere near the capacity to do all the short circuit testing that is needed. A lot the specialized testing is done by the manufacturers themselves under some kind of UL supervision.

Yes, my brother was doing such high current testing at S&C when he was doing his co-op there.

 

[romex jockey]

manufacturers have infiltrated trade rags, nrtl's & cmp's

bias and agenda follow suit

~RJ~

 

[paulengr]

You are totally missing the point. Think of say receptacles. Sure the manufacturer sends a few samples to UL at the beginning and periodically. But it would be impossible for UL to test EVERY receptacle, especially since many required tests are destructive. For instance UL has to test breakers with fault current, reset and test again for dozens of cycles. Would you buy a breaker subjected to this?

The manufacturer is required to keep detailed records. And UL shows up for surprise inspections typically four times per year. They check paperwork, tools used for inspections, the product, you name it. Regardless of what UL demands, all manufacturers in the US are held to strict product liability and implied warranties by law. That’s beyond the fact that in today’s environment the market demands reliability and unreliable manufacturers quickly fail. Thus they are compelled to do at least some quality control regardless of what UL demands. And being delisted or having products held up or recalled is very expensive and something that keeps even the most unscrupulous companies in line.

The surprise inspection and surprise sample is a major problem. It’s hard to bypass UL requirements if they don’t announce inspections and there is a high risk of getting caught. That’s not to say that there aren’t “FPE”s out there but that’s pretty rare.

 

[romex jockey]

How the 'tests' are created would be my Q

~EJ~

 

[hillbilly1]

I installed a level 2 DC EV charger years ago that was so new the manufacturer did not have it listed yet. The listing agency did the testing on site after I installed it, so I could pass my final inspection.

 

[romex jockey]

correct me if i'm wrong, but any NRTL only tests to a standard, it does not create one

~RJ~

 

[electrofelon]

correct me if i'm wrong, but any NRTL only tests to a standard, it does not create one

~RJ~

UL seems to have lots of standards. I am assuming they created them but I don't know for sure

 

[jim dungar]

UL seems to have lots of standards. I am assuming they created them but I don't know for sure

Yes, UL creates standards. In fact, in the US, most other NRTLs test to the standards created by UL.

 

[Buck Parrish]

That reminds me of saying " I don't know how that ever got UL approval "

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Yes, UL creates standards. In fact, in the US, most other NRTLs test to the standards created by UL.

They do create standard but I was told by UL that they only test what the manufacturer asks them to test. This seems dubious to me.

 

[jim dungar]

They do create standard but I was told by UL that they only test what the manufacturer asks them to test. This seems dubious to me.

They are saying they do not test beyond their standard. If the manufacturer wants to have a 10kAIC, UL does not test beyond that point, however the test is performed to their standard. Same thing would go for a lug intended to be mounted to a breaker for building wiring, it might not be tested for ultra fine stranded conductors.

 

[jim dungar]

That reminds me of saying " I don't know how that ever got UL approval "

Partly because UL tests for safety only not performance, quality, or usefulness.

 

[paulengr]

correct me if i'm wrong, but any NRTL only tests to a standard, it does not create one

~RJ~

This is partly true. In the case of UL we are referring to two different organizations.

UL the standards writer (UL.org let’s say) writes standards. UL the NRTL (UL.com) tests to UL standards and ONLY UL standards.

This is similar to say FM Global that operates in a similar manner but different from CSA that writes some standards but will test to just about anything or ETL or TuV that tests but doesn’t write standards.

Standards get written by subject matter experts and the details hammered out by both peer review and feedback from everyone using the standard.

 

[romex jockey]

thx Paul

~RJ~