UL1446 to incorporate more IEC standards

With over a century of experience, UL is the longest-serving safety test provider for the electrical industry in the world today. But time doesn’t stand still for this company, which has continuously sought to improve the safety of electrical goods, from consumer electricals to industrial controls and transformers, through rigorous testing and standardisation. Now UL is adapting to the demands of an increasingly globalised electrical industry, where components are sourced in one country and products are built in another but distributed worldwide, by using test method standards of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

“UL has long been thought of as a gateway to the North American market for foreign manufacturers,” says Mark Raymond, Senior Staff Engineering Associate, UL. “And while that is certainly true, our test data can be used to substantiate certification processes in any other export market around the world. But for many manufacturers this can seem confusing, time-consuming and costly. By working towards a single international standard, we aim to improve the transparency, relevancy and convenience of our tests.”

UL strongly recommends that manufacturers get in touch early to ensure the right tests are carried out for their intended markets and that there’s no delay in getting products to market. Raymond cites the main cause of delayed product launches as not being aware of applicable product standard requirements until it is too late. Testing can even be carried out as part of the product design phase taking into account future product developments. This can allow the product to be refined or launched in new markets several years down the line without the need for additional tests.

“It’s also important for small manufacturers to get in touch early for financial reasons,” says Raymond. “Safety testing is not an inexpensive process and can constitute a significant amount of a small company’s budget. We can help these companies to work out how to move forward in the most economical way possible.”

Raymond will be leading a seminar, titled 21st-century advances in electrical insulation system performance evaluation, at CWIEME Chicago on Tuesday, 6th October at 11:20am. UL experts will also be on hand to answer questions relating to safety testing and certification processes at the company’s show booth (K9).

“For many years the electrical products industry was quite stagnant, especially in the power supply sector, everyone was manufacturing products, high-voltage power transformers, for example, in the same way,” says Raymond. “Now with the increase in popularity of wind power and new efficiency regulations, we’re seeing many new combinations of materials that need to be evaluated. Naturally, this has generated a lot of additional questions for manufacturers on the best way to get products certified for markets at home and abroad. Our presence at CWIEME Chicago is just one way we aim to engage with manufacturers and demystify the process.”