UL certification

UL is short for Underwriter Laboratories Inc. UL safety test institute is the most authoritative and large private organization in the world engaged in safety test and identification. It is an independent, non-profit, professional institution that does experiments for public safety. It uses scientific test method to determine whether various materials, devices, products, equipment, buildings and so on have harm to life and property; Determine, prepare and issue relevant standards and information that can help reduce and prevent loss of life and property, and conduct the business of real situation investigation.

UL is mainly engaged in the safety certification and operation of safety certification business. Its ultimate purpose is to obtain goods with a fairly safe level in the market and contribute to the guarantee of personal health and property safety. As an effective means to eliminate the technical barriers of international trade, UL plays an active role in promoting the development of international trade.

UL was founded in 1894. In the initial stage, UL mainly relied on the fire insurance department to provide funds to maintain its actions. It was not until 1916 that UL was completely independent. After nearly 100 years of development, UL has become a world-renowned certification organization, which has a complete set of strict organization and management system, standard development and product certification procedures. UL is managed by a Council of security experts, government officials, consumers, education, public utilities, insurance and standards departments, and daily work is handled by the president and vice president. Currently, UL has five laboratories in the United States, headquartered in Northbrook town in northern Chicago, and has established corresponding laboratories in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the United States, UL is the symbol of safety signs for consumers. Globally, UL is one of the most reliable qualified evaluation providers of manufacturers.

UL logo introduction

UL logo style

UL marks are usually identified on the product and / or product packaging to indicate that the product has been UL certified and meets the requirements of safety standards.

form

The most important part of these marks is the UL logo, which are all UL registered trademarks.

UL logo use requirements

1. the minimum height of the registered trademark shall be 3 / 64 inch.

2. when the outer circle diameter of UL Mark is less than 3/8 inch, the registered trademark symbol can be ignored if it is not clearly readable under naked view.

3. marking can be directly and fixed on the same product by stamping, mold making, ink printing, screen printing or similar methods.

4. acquisition of marks: the manufacturer can reprint or obtain it from UL authorized dealers.

5. Ulus mark (only us, no c): safety sign for product entering the U.S. market; Cul (only C, no US): the safety mark of product entering the Canadian market; CULus logo: safety mark for products entering the U.S. market and Canadian market

Service Items

UL product certification and test service can be divided into listing, approval and classification.

1. list:

Generally speaking, listing is only applicable to complete products and various devices and devices that qualified personnel can replace or install on site. Various products belonging to UL Listed services include: household appliances, medical equipment, computer, commercial equipment and various electrical products that function in buildings, such as distribution system, fuse, wire, switch and other electrical components. Products listed by UL can usually be labeled with UL listing marks on each product. The usage of column name flags.

2. recognized:

The recognized service is a project in UL service. The products identified can only be used as components and raw materials on UL Listed, classified or other approved products. The approved product is not complete in structure or has certain restrictions on its use to ensure the expected safety performance. In most cases, tracking services for approved products are R-class. The approved products of category l include electronic wire (avlv2), processing wire rod (zklu2), wire harness (zpfw2), aluminum wire (dvvr2), and metal flexible pipe (dxuz2). The approved product shall be marked with approval mark.

3. classification:

The classification service only evaluates the specific hazards of the product or the products that implement standards other than UL standards (including internationally recognized standards, such as IEC and ISO standards, etc.). Generally speaking, most classified products are not products used by consumers, but products used in industry or commerce. The classification mark in UL Mark indicates that the product has certain restrictions and specified scope when it is identified by UL. For example, for chemical drugs such as solvents used in industry, only the range of fire that may occur when the temperature reaches the ignition point is evaluated. The classification service and listing service of some products are the same, but generally only one or several aspects of the products are evaluated. For example, in the United States, medical X-ray diagnostic equipment and other equipment shall comply with the laws of the United States and the regulations on radiation emission and beam flow accuracy. However, because UL only regards X-ray as classified products, it only evaluates its mechanical properties Electrical and other non radiation properties.

4. multiple listing, multiple recognition or multi rating services:

When an applicant of UL obtains the listed, approved or graded services mentioned above, its products are to be produced in the name of another company to meet the needs of sales. In this case, the manufacturer who has been listed, approved or graded can use the name of another company in the product list, However, except for company code, product code or other features UL company thinks acceptable, it must be consistent with the original listed, approved or graded products.

5. list, approval or grading service of "Al"

If UL applicants do not want to obtain listing, approval or rating services in the name of their own company, they may apply for listing, approval or rating in the name of another firm (usually a retailer or wholesaler), i.e. "Al" listing, approval or rating services. The difference between it and multiple listing, multiple recognition or multi rating services is that its applicant is not a celebrity.

6. system certification service:

As one of the members of the International Accreditation Committee, UL has been involved in ISO9000 quality system certification, ISO14000 environmental protection certification, QS9000 automobile industry quality system certification and as9000 aircraft industry quality system certification service. 116 factories have obtained UL system certification in China; Among them, 21 are ISO9001 certification, 85 are ISO9002 certification, 1 is ISO14001 certification, and 9 are QS9000 certification.

7. other services of UL:

Such as certification service, inspection service, truth judgment service, research service, etc.

technological process

UL logo application includes the following steps:

1. the applicant submits the relevant company and product information

Written application: you should require ul to test your products in writing.

Company information: provide the following company's detailed and accurate name, address, contact person, postal code, telephone number and fax in Chinese and English.

(a) . application company: the company that applies for product testing and is responsible for all engineering service expenses

(b) . listed companies: companies with names listed in various product catalogs published by UL

(c) . production factory: the manufacturer and producer of the product.

Product information: the product information shall be provided in English.

(a) . Product Name: provide full name of the product.

(b) . product model: list all the product models, varieties or classification numbers that need to be tested in detail.

(c) . intended use of products: for example: family, office, factory, coal mine, ship, etc.

(d) . parts list: list the components and models (classification number), rating and manufacturer name of the products in detail. For insulation, please provide the name of the raw material, such as GE polycarbonate, Lexan type 104. When the parts have been UL approved or approved, please prove the specific model of the parts and indicate their UL file number (E). Electrical performance: for electronic and electrical products. Provide electrical schematic diagram (circuit diagram) and electrical performance table.

(f) . structure diagram: for most products, the structure diagram or explosion diagram and ingredient list of the products shall be provided.

(g) . photos, instructions, safety and other items or installation instructions of the product.

2. make decisions based on the product information provided

When the product data is complete, UL engineers shall make the following decisions according to the data: UL standard, engineering cost of test, time of test, sample quantity, etc. on which the test is based shall be notified in writing and the formal application form and tracking service agreement shall be sent to your company. The application form indicates the cost limit, which is the maximum engineering cost estimated by UL according to the test items. Without the written authorization of your company, the cost limit cannot be exceeded.

3. application for remittance and return of application form and sample

The applicant signs the application form and tracking service agreement and sends the form back to UL company. Meanwhile, the sample is sent out by bank remittance, post office or express delivery. Please give appropriate description (such as name and model) of the sample submitted for inspection. Please send the application form and sample separately. For each application project, UL will specify a unique project number (Project No.) to indicate the project number and the name of the applicant company when remitting, sending samples and application forms to facilitate ul to check.

4. product testing

UL will inform you of the time when the test plan is completed upon receipt of the application form, remittance and test samples signed by your company. Product testing is generally conducted in UL laboratories in the United States, and UL can also accept audited third-party test data. The test samples will be returned or destroyed according to your requirements.

If the product test results meet UL standards, UL will send a test qualification report and follow up service procedure test report detailing the test situation, the indicators reached by the samples, the product structure and the safety signs suitable for the use of the product. The description of the product and the instruction to UL area inspectors are included in the tracking service details. A copy of the test report is sent to the applicant company and a copy of the tracking service rules is sent to each production plant.

5. the applicant is authorized to use UL Mark

UL regional inspectors in China contact the production plant for the first factory inspection. The inspector shall check the storage of your products and their parts in the production line and warehouse to confirm whether the product structure and parts are consistent with the tracking service rules. If required in the detailed rules, the regional inspector will also conduct visual test, When the inspection results meet the requirements, the applicant is authorized to use UL Mark.

After IPI, inspectors will check the product structure and visual test from time to time. The frequency of inspection is determined by product type and production volume. Most types of products are inspected at least four times a year. The inspector's inspection is to ensure that the products continue to conform to UL requirements. Please inform UL before you plan to change the product structure or components, For minor changes, no experiments need to be repeated, UL can quickly modify the tracking service rules so that inspectors can accept such changes. When UL considers that the changes of the product affect its safety performance, it is necessary to apply for the company to submit the samples for necessary testing.

The cost of tracking services is not included in the test cost.

If the product test results fail to meet the requirements of UL standard, UL will inform the applicant of the existing problems. After the applicant improves the product design, it can re submit the products to the applicant for inspection. You should tell UL engineer what improvements have been made to make the decision that the above is the step of applying for UL certification.

summary

The inspection of UL inspectors is basically mechanical. According to different products, inspectors' inspection basis includes bulletin, procedure, fuii (if any, included in the rules) and UL standard (if required in fuii).

If the inspector visits the plant and the factory is producing UL products or UL products in stock, the inspector will take samples in one of the following ways:

1. extract each part from the production line and a complete product from the warehouse.

2. extract all parts from the warehouse and add the complete products of the production line.

3. extract the complete product from the warehouse for splitting.

The specific number of samples depends on the rules, fuii (follow-up inspection instructions), sap (standard attached pages), or direct orders from UL laboratories. Inspectors do not necessarily inspect all products at each inspection, but they will try to inspect all product categories or models within one or at least two years.

Generally speaking, UL is not too high for the production system of the factory. It only requires measuring the instrument and equipment once a year, keeping the inspection records of the factory itself, and having certain control means for the non-conforming products.

During inspection, the site representative (UL inspector) will focus on the product itself, and they will check the structure, components and assembly of the product according to the above inspection basis. For parts related to product safety, the general rules will specify UL certified products, and indicate the manufacturer and model; For injection molding parts such as shell, shield, etc., the specification will specify the raw material and dimension requirements in general. The site representative will check the UL marks specified in the above items and rules.