UL agrees to stop retesting CSA-certified low-voltage products

Nov 12, 2003 12:00 PM

Since 1994, CSA International has accepted UL-Listed products without retesting, and now Underwriters Laboratory (UL) is ready to reciprocate. With the signing of the Agreement on Acceptance of Components this week at NEMA’s Annual Meeting and Leadership Conference, UL agreed to no longer retest specified CSA-certified electrical components used in low-voltage distribution and control equipment.

Despite CSA’s nearly decade-long practice of accepting UL-Listed electrical components, UL had insisted on retesting CSA-certified products, ostensibly delaying certification and increasing component manufacturers’ testing and certification expenses. CSA will continue to accept all UL-Listed electrical products, while UL’s new policy will only extend to the low-voltage products specified in the agreement.

Grant Carter, CSA’s vice president of marketing and communication called the agreement the “first tangible result” of the North American Electrical Component Forum held in December 2002 and hosted by CSA. “CSA will continue to pursue component acceptance in other product categories on behalf of lighting manufacturers, appliance manufacturers, and others,” Carter said.

A complete list of the products included in the agreement can be found on CSA’s Web site.