Hi John: Unless I've totally misunderstand things, UL is a commercial company, and is only one of several (many?) competing companies able to provide certification services, albeit the largest of them. How can it be valid law in any state to give a private company a monopoly position in the provision of such a wide-ranging service? How does it get on the statute book? Why don't other labs create a fuss?
At one time, UL actively pursued such regulations that excluded other certification houses. I sat in on several Oregon Electrical Board meetings when UL gave their pitch. In Oregon, UL sold themselves to the exclusion of ALL other certification houses. Suddenly, Oregon found that gas furnaces, traditionally certified by the AGA, could not be installed because they were not certified by UL! That was quite an embarrassment for both the Electrical Board and UL. If UL couldn't be overtly named as in Georgia, UL pitched for monthly follow-up services, which most other cert houses couldn't match. And other similar ploys. Best regards, Rich -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Cotman Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 2:17 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [PSES] Mandatory NRTL certification As a European familiar with the CE marking system and the resultant free market for goods across more than 30 countries, this debate has left me utterly amazed! Just plucking this bit for Georgia out of the survey document: "GEORGIA Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 300-5-14-.02 (2007) All electrical wire, apparatus, and equipment in temporary or permanent use shall be, where applicable, of a type approved by and bearing the Underwriters Laboratories label." Unless I've totally misunderstand things, UL is a commercial company, and is only one of several (many?) competing companies able to provide certification services, albeit the largest of them. How can it be valid law in any state to give a private company a monopoly position in the provision of such a wide-ranging service? How does it get on the statute book? Why don't other labs create a fuss? John C - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]>
