Hello Amund,
This is an oversimplification, but here is how I understand the laws and regulations of the United States. I'll leave the discussion of Canadian regulations to somebody who better knows those rules. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor. OSHA has legal authority over the workplace. OSHA runs the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL<https://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/>) program, and it requires NRTL approval for a limited set of products<https://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/prodcatg.html>. The NRTL program covers a much wider set of standard to support the broader requirements in the NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Generally, the NEC says that products must either be Listed or be approved by the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). In general, that means that you either get your product listed or it's up to the local inspector to determine if he/she will accept the unlisted equipment. The AHJ will generally check the Listing status during construction inspections. This typically means that products that are hard-wired or attached to building structure will get checked, but plug-in equipment might not be checked. It's unlikely that any AHJ will check the coffee pot that somebody brings into the employee break room. Legally, they can, but it probably won't happen. The applicability of the NEC depends on whether the local jurisdiction has adopted it or something similar. Most jurisdictions in the United States have either adopted a version of the NEC or have some other regulation with a similar statement on Listing. These codes will apply to all installations, commercial and residential. There are a number of de-facto Listing requirements. For example, insurance companies may have clauses in their policies that require Listed products be used. Regards, Ted Eckert The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, OSHA, the Department of Labor or any local electrical inspectors. -----Original Message----- From: Amund Westin <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 25, 2020 6:09 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [EXTERNAL] [PSES] Electrical safety testing US and Canada ... Mandatory ? Sorry for bringing up this issue again, but I have lost my history for all previous IEEE mails ... I know (assume ...) that UL, CSA, FM and others are voluntary for showing compliance. But that is actually required by law in US and C? Thanks! Best regards Amund - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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