UL And CSA Requirement - Supplier Certifications and the E File Report

[Rios oxnard qe]

We are a UL registered company and we identify our completely assembled unit as such. I would like to know if we need to verify (certs) material or product received from all of our suppliers or is it only for those items listed on our E File report. For instance, since cables our used on our product do we need to verify that the connector and every color wire is UL approved? The insulation on the wire is marked but not the plastic connect. Our auditor never looks at our cables and only those items listed on the E File report.

Also, what department in your company is in charge of maintaining the UL certs?

I'd appreciate your input. Thank you.

 

[Al Rosen]

We are a UL registered company and we identify our completely assembled unit as such. I would like to know if we need to verify (certs) material or product received from all of our suppliers or is it only for those items listed on our E File report. For instance, since cables our used on our product do we need to verify that the connector and every color wire is UL approved? The insulation on the wire is marked but not the plastic connect. Our auditor never looks at our cables and only those items listed on the E File report.

Also, what department in your company is in charge of maintaining the UL certs?

I'd appreciate your input. Thank you.

Read your report and verify that there is a statement about the internal wiring in the front of the report. It will state the voltage and temperature that it has to be. Although each bundle, harness or wire is not called out in the list of parts relied on for safety, you have to meet the requirements stated.

I am a department of one and maintain the product safety files. We use ETL Intertek for this instead of UL. The standards used are UL and CSA as well as international standards for CE marking. We have separate reports for UL/CSA and CE/EU.

As far as who should maintain the reports, it depends on what works for your organization. In our organization, as the compliance manager, I review all engineering change requests for regulatory impact.

 

[Kevin H]

UL Certs - who's responsible

When I worked at a steel mill as a lab supervisor, we had one grade of steel in two particular thicknesses that was UL certifed for use in heating equipment. Within the system at that mill, it was my responsibility as mchanical lab supervisor to maintain the UL certification for that product. The registration, etc. came out of my budget, and I had to coordinate visits with the UL representative.

Along similar lines, at a different mill back in the late 70's, I was the metallurgist for an in plant heat treat line. One of our products had to be certified by Lloyds of London and ABS (American Bureau of Ships). It was my responsibility to co-ordinate the visits from the two representatives to observe tensile tests being pulled from the material being certified - had to get both stamps on the test reports which were sent to the customer. Of course, there's also the material we heat treated for nuclear bolting stock - somewhere near Cleveland in a federal depository I assume there are still several tons of steel with my name on it that will be used to verify reported test results if the bolts associated with it ever fail.

That's my experience with UL and other entities. Kevin

 

[Hershal]

UL, CSA, ETL Intertek, FM and others are accredited product certifyers. As a part of that, the inspection arms are accredited under ISO/IEC 17020. While the requirements are similar for the various organizations, the specific requirements will likely vary a bit.

Al is correct about referring to UL's documentation about the requirements. That is the best place to begin. If there are still questions, then contact UL directly.

The manufacturer gets to determine the best department to coordinate the certification, whether it is QA or Safety or another department. The inspector cannot give a prescriptive answer to the manufacturer for that question. The requirements of Guide 58 extend down through 17020 with respect to consultancy.

Hershal

 

[Rios oxnard qe]

Ul Requirement

I contacted UL and reviewed their requirements although they are to vague. It is not set up like QS9000 which specifies what is needed. Since our engineering department submits the information (list of parts) needed for this UL report. I guess for now we will focus on having certs for only those items listed on the report to avoid a 'variation notice'. Thank you.

I will be posting another question soon on a UL traceability. I hope you can all help as well.