Posted: 16 September 2022
Compliance with UL standards is an optional and globally recognised accreditation and a standard ATC has chosen to conform to, showing our continued commitment to quality and supporting our international OEM customers.
UL stands for Underwriters Laboratories – a US-based safety and certification company, who adopt standards produced by international standards writers such as the International Electrotechnical Commission.
Underwriters Laboratories are an independent Nationally Recognised Testing Laboratory (NRTL) as certified by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Their perceived dominance in the group of 19 NRTLs (at time of writing) stems from the two parts of their business; one focused on standards writing (where the prefix ‘UL’ is added prior to the standard number), the other part focused on testing and certification. All NRTLs are authorised by OSHA to assess products against UL standards, and to declare compliance with that standard. An OEM can thereafter ‘mark’ their product with the symbol of the certifying NRTL. ATC have a longstanding relationship with Intertek, that have over 130 years’ experience in the field, and ensures ATC meet the required quality, safety and social accountability standards. As a recognised NRTL, Intertek can declare ATC’s products compliant to UL standards. When Intertek do this, they issue the authorisation to ‘ETL Mark’.
ATC’s products span across four ‘Constructional Data Reports’ (CDRs, also known as listing reports). Since the products are not ‘UL-listed’ they won’t be found on Underwriters Laboratories listing directory, but they can be found on Intertek’s ETL-listing directory. The safety critical components within ATC’s products carry a mark from at least one NRTL. Chillers are listed in the ETL-listed directory under the UL61010 and Canadian CSA22.2#61010 standards (general lab equipment).
UL compliance demonstrates the highest standard of product engineering for safety. Products are inspected with consideration of fire, voltage and energy risk and how they interact with the user during typical and foreseeable misuse scenarios. Electrical safety standards are applied, to ensure the product doesn’t become unsafe in the event of a failure.
Intertek conduct quarterly onsite inspections of the components used in approved chillers to ensure these continue to be UL compliant. During the visit, the current approval status of the components are reviewed, ATC’s testing procedure checked, and more generally, the status of the Quality Management System. This includes pressure testing and a review of the testing equipment used to measure dielectric strength and quality of earth bond.
The need for UL compliance has been customer driven. Our customers often request UL compliance as a means of reducing the time to UL approve their own equipment (where the chiller is a component part) and often to satisfy risk assessments for facilities where fire safety is paramount. ATC are committed to development and working closely with OEM’s to service their needs. Seeking UL accreditation for our chillers is a demonstration of our commitment to quality and safety, supporting our global customers.
UL shows a mark of quality and safety, the latest chiller, Mini will be sent for approval at the end of 2018.
See more on the ATC chiller product range.