Juan, In the USA and Canada the concept of self-declaration is not possible (at this time). Also, there are no clear and single laws like the EU Directives.
In the USA there is no federal, or country-wide, law requiring compliance with UL standards. However, this is required by the laws of some states, or counties, or even cities. One federal regulation is by OSHA, that requires certified equipment to be used in the work-place. Many localities in the USA actually have no requirements at all! Other localities will accept certification to CSA standards, instead of UL standards. In Canada the situation is a bit more simple. There is also no country-wide federal law, however each Province and Territory has enacted legislation requiring compliance to the relevant CSA standards. So compliance is mandatory and the requirements are uniform across the country. Unfortunately, for both the USA and Canada, self declaration is not acceptable; certification must be done by an accredited third party. Accredited third party laboratories that can provide certification for Canada and the USA include CSA and UL. Both of these organizations can provide certification that is 100% acceptable throughout Canada and the USA. By the way, neither CSA nor UL charge an annual certification fee. There is an initial certification fee for the testing and evaluation. There may also be re-certification fees if your design changes. There is an annual factory inspection fee, but it is not too expensive and is not related to the number of products certified. You can find some relevant information at the following URLs: <http:\\www.csa.ca\> <http:\\www.ul.com\> Best regards, Egon PS: If you want more information on the services that CSA can provide, or pricing, please feel free to contact me personally. __________________________________________________________ Egon H. Varju, P.Eng. Wednesday, 22 January 1997 @ 12:19 PM CSA Pacific Region Tel: 1-604-244-6640 HAVE MODEM - WILL TRAVEL Fax: 1-604-244-6600 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] __________________________________________________________
