Armund, Many think that Listing, whether in the USA or Canada, is not government-mandated. This is not completely accurate in most cases. The reason: wrong government!
In the USA, OSHA does mandate electrical safety in the workplace, but it is the local and state governments that mandate Listing (or approval) for all other installations, not the Federal government. Typically, the state governments or the city government of major cities adopt the NEC as their own code. If you go for an electrical construction permit, you will not get your certificate of occupancy (CO) until you get inspected by the local inspector. As far as the plug-in appliances go, it may be like speeding-you may not get caught, but speeding is against the law nonetheless, and so is approval of all electrical equipment. Similar in Canada, except that the provincial governments mandate approval of all electrical equipment in accordance with the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I. Best regards, Don Gies From: Pete Perkins <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 25, 2020 10:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PSES] [EXTERNAL] [PSES] Electrical safety testing US and Canada ... Mandatory ? [External email: Use caution with links and attachments] ________________________________ Amund, Ted does a nice job of summarizing the US situation with regard to the legality of the NRTL certification for products installed during construction, including remodeling, which is inspected in the US. There is also the issue for retail products here in the US as most large retailers have contractual clauses in their POs which require a NRTL listing on any electrical product which they will sell for you. This will cover the coffee pot purchased to use at work as discussed. So, you see that legally required means several things; it is required by the US NEC which is invoked for the workplace by OSHA and for all installations including industrial, commercial and residential construction by AHJ inspection plus contractually thru the distribution chain. Finally, I'll repeat my own experience when I worked for a large electronics company. During the period in which talk TV shows exploded we received a frantic call from our local field rep. Because this studio construction was on a fast track they ordered all the equipment which was to be installed to be delivered before the final AHJ electrical inspection of the building. Upon that inspection the AHJ inspector saw the boxes on the floor he went to inspect them for their NRTL mark. Almost none of the commercial equipment was NRTL marked and the AHJ inspector 'red tagged' all of it - meaning that it could not be installed until it was acceptably certified. Our solution was to send an experienced Safety Engineer onsite and taking the products, one type at a time, for a NRTL review, getting all of them updated at our local repair facility per the deficiencies and then having the NRTL lab provide a 'Field Label' on each individual updated product. The entire exercise took a couple of weeks (& more U$ bucks than marketing had expected to spend) but the equipment was then acceptable to be installed in the studio. Our products did not delay the installation schedule. To avoid that dilemma again, the VP for that equipment group reluctantly agreed to get NRTL Listing on all of their products moving ahead, a win for the overall safety program at the company. Hopefully, for your equipment there will be harmonized technical safety requirements between the US NRTL requirements and the Euro CE requirements which can simplify your work by getting a CB Report which includes showing compliance with all the Country deviations. :>) br, Pete Peter E Perkins, PE Principal Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs Consultant PO Box 1067 Albany, ORe 97321-0413 503/452-1201 IEEE Life Fellow IEEE PSES 2020 Distinguished Lecturer [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Entropy ain't what it used to be From: Ted Eckert <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Monday, May 25, 2020 7:57 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [PSES] [EXTERNAL] [PSES] Electrical safety testing US and Canada ... Mandatory ? 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://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.osha.gov%2Fdts%2Fotpca%2Fnrtl%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cdonald.gies%40se.com%7C576e42a496a44fd9da8208d801192406%7C6e51e1adc54b4b39b5980ffe9ae68fef%7C0%7C0%7C637260554779049256&sdata=u7ho9odrorO%2FtvN57WRVq7%2BVHOQIWZ4ImTSmFJMJPfI%3D&reserved=0>) program, and it requires NRTL approval for a limited set of products<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.osha.gov%2Fdts%2Fotpca%2Fnrtl%2Fprodcatg.html&data=02%7C01%7Cdonald.gies%40se.com%7C576e42a496a44fd9da8208d801192406%7C6e51e1adc54b4b39b5980ffe9ae68fef%7C0%7C0%7C637260554779059253&sdata=CYeS29P6lSZkVJdcl1ZPl62tYnFkW7k1P860cQJtMyY%3D&reserved=0>. 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]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Monday, May 25, 2020 6:09 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[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. 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