The Importance of UL Standards in Power Distribution Products

The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is an independent, not-for-profit testing laboratory. The Underwriters Laboratories is based in Illinois and conducts safety and quality tests on a variety of products, including power distribution products, and works to strengthen safety systems. Underwriter Laboratories is one of several different companies and organizations approved for testing by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA maintains a list of approved testing laboratories, which are known as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories.

Underwriters Laboratories Designations

Underwriters Laboratories has been in existence for more than 100 years. UL provides one of three different designations to products that pass its tests: UL listed, UL recognized and UL certified. There is no such designation as “UL approved.”

UL Listed: This designation means that the product has been tested by UL and meets the laboratory’s standards and can be used on its own.

UL Recognized: This designation is given to equipment and components that are used in combination with other pieces of equipment to created a finished product.

UL Certified: This designation is used it has been successfully tested to the standards of an outside authority, such as building code requirements.

Testing by UL, as well as similar testing labs, can be both expensive and time-consuming. On average, product testing takes approximately six months to complete. Depending on the industry and type of product, however, the UL designation is well worth the wait.

UL Standards and Power Distribution

One area UL tests and designations is related to power distribution products. Power distribution products can include: grounding equipment, control panels and switches and switchgear. Services UL provides for power distribution products include: product certification, preliminary investigations, informative test reports and advisory services. Working with power distribution and electrical products can be extremely dangerous, therefore, having UL designations helps to ensure the safety of the equipment, that it will function properly and those charged with maintaining the equipment will stay safe.

When researching the purchase of new power distribution equipment, it is important that they have the appropriate UL designation, which will help ensure that the equipment has been tested properly and will function as expected.