Underwriters Laboratories

In early 2000, UL's product certification accreditors, such as American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Standards Council of Canada (SCC), adopted ISO/IEC Guide 65. As a result, ANSI and SCC began assessing UL and other North American certification bodies to these new requirements. In addition to the adoption of ISO/IEC Guide 65, ISO/IEC Guide 25 was upgraded to ISO/IEC 17025 for testing laboratories. UL is now required to comply with both ISO/IEC Guide 65 and ISO/IEC 17025. The combination of these two changes has required UL to adjust their data acceptance programs to align with these accreditation requirements.

On July 1, 2008, UL's data acceptance program (DAP) fully replaced UL's client interactive program (CIP), and full compliance to the DAP policy is required.

This means that all CTDP, TCP and TPTDP laboratory operations must be organized with documented procedures and policies in place to assure accuracy and correctness of the performance of the tests, the data obtained, and the results reported. The system must be based on ISO/IEC 17025 and encompass the test equipment, test environment, personnel qualifications, test standards and procedures, and data recording and reporting procedures.

All noncompliance is cited as a finding.

ISO/IEC 17025 "General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories" is the standard used by accreditation bodies globally to assess the competency of laboratories to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling. The standard is applicable to all organizations performing tests and/or calibrations, including first-, second- and third-party laboratories, and laboratories where testing and/or calibration forms part of inspection and product certification. The standard includes elements of ISO 9000 and specific technical requirements.

Accredited calibration vendors must be used to calibrate your equipment to ensure traceability of the measurements. The International Laboratory Accreditation Forum's interpretation of traceability uses accredited vendors as one primary method to ensure traceability. As such, UL -- and all laboratories that supply data to UL -- must also comply by using an accredited calibration vendor.

Please note:

Even if your calibration vendor is accredited, you must obtain an accredited service from that vendor.

A calibration certificate/report must be endorsed (see an example of a "calibration certificate" from an accredited calibration laboratory).

Yes. UL has developed guidelines for clients with in-house calibration programs.

UL will accept data generated under CB scheme manufacturers testing programs for the UL Mark program. When working with your engineer, please be clear regarding the certifications you are seeking prior to starting the project to ensure that the correct program documentation is completed. If this is stated after the issuance of the certification, it may not be suitable under another scheme.

The main difference relates to the end certification processes. CB Scheme work can be used to promulgate a UL Mark certification. However, UL Mark certification work may not always be used for CB Scheme certifications due to differences in audit requirements.

The UL DAP program for UL Mark certification does not recognize third-party accreditation. However, the SMT program for CB Scheme can use third-party accreditation as a the basis of their audits. If at any time UL recognizes third-party accreditation for DAP programs, subscribers of these programs will be notified.

There is more information on the data acceptance program on this Web site.