Gary, Third party witness testing? Which agency out there will accept testing witnessed by someone else? It is my understanding that any testing to obtain a safety approval, UL Listing in this case, must be one of the following: 1. UL performs testing, 2*. Manufacturer performs testing & UL witnesses testing, 3. UL Certificated Agent performs testing without testing. 4. UL COMPASS program. (not sure if this is currently in effect) There may be others. * Manufacturer may opt to have testing performed as a third party test lab. Simply stated, certifcated agents are those organizations where UL has evaluated their capability, competence and quality systems whereby UL will then be able to accept test data obtained from these agents without direct UL witnessing. I have not participated in #3 or #4 and have no involvement with UL3101, however, choosing either #1 or #2 depends on conditions such as cost, time scheduling, available test equipment, complexity of the testing, etc. Whichever path you take, it is important, and beneficial, that you build a good working relationship with whomever performs the testing and those that witness the testing. In the end, it is, in fact, a business decision for you and/or your employer to make to decide which path (not necessarily the above) that you must take. I disavow any knowledge of my opinions. Comments? Best regards, Ron Pickard [email protected]
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Witness Testing Author: Gary Labadie <[email protected]> at INTERNET List-Post: [email protected] Date: 7/13/98 2:53 PM I am interested in the pro's and con's of using a third party test lab for UL3101 witness testing to obtain Underwriter's Laboratories(UL) approval versus going to UL directly. Has anyone gone done this path? I would be interested in what agencies you worked with and unforeseen problems or delays that occurred in the process. Also the impression you had of using a third party "agent". In the end, is it better to just go with UL or go through an agent/consultant to help speed up the approval process. CE (product safety side) and UL listing is my end goal for my products. EMC side of life is already taken care of. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated. Best Regards, Gary Labadie Approvals Coordinator Acromag, Inc. 30765 Wixom Rd. Ph: (248)624-1541 ext. 205 P.O. Box 437 Fax:(248)624-9234 Wixom, MI 48393 Email: [email protected]
