UL OR CSA MARKS?
Frequently, it happens that customers ask specifically for UL marked products when they have to export to U.S. and for CSA marked products when they have to export their products to Canada. The scope of this article is to try to clarify that it exists a mutually acceptance between UL and CSA.
In USA and Canada there are several independent organizations working on national standards that are sometimes in direct competition. The most known organizations* that are working on electrical standards, product approvals and certifications for the American and Canadian markets are UL “Underwriters Laboratories Inc.” in U.S. and CSA “Canadian Standards Association” in Canada. Both companies, CSA and UL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (latest update: April 2006) which defines the mutually acceptance for tests and investigations in accordance to defined standards.
The Memorandum of Understanding agreement between the two organizations simplifies the certification process for companies who desire U.S. and/or Canadian marks. If a company requires the CSA or the UL mark, it can ask for the approval by the CSA “Canadian Standards Association” or by the UL “Underwriters Laboratories Inc.”.
It is important to demystify the certification marks. The certification mark provides visual evidence that the product has been tested and certified to meet the applicable standard for a specific market. All products (i.e. the luminaires, the tray cables, the fuses, etc.) certified for a specific market have been tested to the same standard, regardless of whether they carry a UL or CSA mark. Hence, as you can see in the following table, UL and CSA marks are interchangeable and are equally accepted today.
Based on the table above two products (one certified by UL and one certified by CSA) can be interchangeable from the certification and market-destination point of view, this means that the standard requirements are guaranteed by both the products. However, remember, if you just look at the visual marks that are on the products** you cannot understand which application they are manufactured for. You always have to check the technical characteristics and the performance declared by the producer but this is another story!
Some frequently asked questions.
- Isn’t the CSA mark only for Canadian products? No, although CSA is often perceived as only for Canadian products, this organization can test and certify products according for both Canada and USA markets.
- Tray Cable marked with the c(UL) mark can be used on the Canadian market? Yes, this product has been produced according to Canadian standards (identified by the “c” on the left of UL) and certified by the American Organization (UL) to be used in the Canadian market.
- I understand that your Series 1060 single core cable is marked with the c(UR)us mark but I need a cable marked CSA because my installation is in Canada! Our product has been produced according to both U.S. and Canadian standards (identified by “c” on the left and “us” on the right of UR) and certified by the American Organization (UL) to be used in the U.S. and Canadian market.
- I understand that your product has been tested to a UL standard but it carries a CSA mark, how can this be possible? If the standard is UL, doesn’t the mark also have to come from UL? Certification organization such as UL and CSA are involved in both standards publication and testing. It is a common misperception that because an organization’s name appears on a particular standard, that organization must exclusively perform product testing against the standard. The fact is that the standards publication and testing roles must be performed independently in order to avoid a conflict of interest. The standards are available for the manufacturer’s use in design and manufacturing process but are also available to all accredited certification organizations for product testing. The manufacturer can choose to certify his product by any of the certification organizations.
For further details about CSA, UL Recognized and UL Listed marks please click here to download the document.
* Other Organizations (NRTL Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) recognized by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) are QPS, CCL, FM, ETL, MET, NSF, TÜV, etc. ** Not necessarily the mark is printed or stamped on the product, it could also be on the packaging, it depends on the type of product and on the requirements of the specific standard.
