Follow-Up Service procedure

Authorization page

This page lists the name of the applicant and the listee. It provides authorization for the manufacturer to use the Recognition Mark on the products covered by the FUS procedure.

Section General

Lists all manufacturing locations and describes the Recognized company and factory identification, when required to be Marked on AWM. Also describes any details that apply to all styles, such as manufacturers capability to perform their own flame testing or the follow-up test requirements for Canadian Recognized products.

As part of changes due to the publication of UL 758, the previous Section General was withdrawn, and was replaced with a more traditional Section General format.

Table of authorized styles

These pages are the authorization for a manufacturer to produce a given style of AWM. The manufacturer is authorized to manufacture a given AWM style only if there is an "issued date" adjacent to that style number in the table of authorized styles. The manufacturer is then authorized to label that AWM style if it complies with the applicable requirements. The table of authorized styles is divided into the following sections:

Once an AWM style is categorized by the Conformity Assessment Services department, UL assigns a multiple digit AWM style number that starts with the section number. These AWM style numbers are four digits unless there are more than 1,000 AWM styles in a section. Then, UL adds a zero after the section number digit. For example, there are more than 1,000 AWM styles in Section 2. Consequently, style 20,000 follows 2,999. Note that the first digit of the AWM style number coincides with the section of the table of authorized styles.

Style pages

These pages are considered part of the manufacturer's copy of the procedure. Only those pages authorized in the table of authorized styles should be maintained as part of the procedure. Each style page is uniform in all manufacturers' files, and defines the construction, performance and marking requirements that an AWM style must meet to be eligible for labeling. The style page will also define the UL representative's countercheck program and the test program at UL. It is the manufacturer's responsibility to maintain updated copies of each AWM style page for which they have procedure authorization. See below for a detailed explanation of the composition of the style page. There were many changes made to the individual style pages as a result of the publication of UL 758. Since all style pages have been provided to all authorized AWM manufacturers via CD-ROM, and are also available on this Web site, each manufacturer should ascertain that they have the most up-to-date style pages.

The style page defines the requirements applicable to a given AWM style. Note that this page is broken up into various sections that are fairly common to all style pages. Sections of each style page include Rating, Conductor, Insulation, Jacket, Reference Standard, Instructions to Representative, UL Countercheck Program (Follow-Up Testing at UL), Marking, and Use. There may be additional headings such as Conductor Assembly, Covering, Shielding, etc., depending upon the specific type of construction of the material. The more complicated AWM styles will have style pages that comprise two or more pages, such as page 2463 together with 2463A. Since the surface and tag marking of AWM style numbers is optional, the UL representative determines the appropriate AWM style number by asking the manufacturer's representative to identify the AWM style under inspection.

• Heading -- The heading of the style page gives the AWM style number and a general description of the style.
• Rating section -- Both the temperature and voltage ratings for the wire are specified in the rating section. If not otherwise described, and no information is given, the minimum rating for any AWM style is 60C with no voltage rating specified. Note that the term "voltage not specified" does not mean that the wiring is not suitable for more than a very low voltage level. It means that, in the context of the style page, no particular voltage rating maximum has been assigned and the suitability of the wire for any particular voltage must be judged in the end application, by the UL's Conformity Assessment Services department. However, the wires have been tested to the same requirement as a 300V rated wire. For "voltage not specified" styles, the manufacturer is prohibited from referencing a specific voltage rating in the surface print or on the tags. The tags are to be marked "voltage not specified."
• Conductor -- This describes, in detail, the range of conductor sizes, the composition of the conductors, and any additional factors affecting the conductor which are to be employed in the wire. References to individual pages of AWM Section General were removed, and replaced with generic references to UL 758.
• Insulation -- AWM is categorized by UL as a performance-based category. In the majority of situations, insulation materials will be specified on the style page as a generic class (e.g., Class 43). The UL representative is only required to verify that the generic class has been employed in the manufacture of the AWM style. The exception is if a bulletin compound, a Recognized compound, or a compound described on a facing page is required to be used in the manufacture of the AWM style, AWM bulletins no longer list thermoplastic compounds in 12 mil and greater wall thickness, rated 80 C, 90 C or 105 C, and 300 or 600 volts. Also removed from the bulletins are the listing of the compounds suitable for use where exposed to mineral oil at a maximum operating temperature of 60 C or 80 C. Therefore, the style page descriptions in Sections 1 and 2 of AWM procedures calling for bulletin compounds, under the conditions recorded above, temperature, voltage, and wall thickness only, shall be accepted on a performance basis as long as the compounds comply with the follow-up program described on the style page. Where style pages call for bulletin compounds for other reasons such as wet locations-Type TW materials, etc., the bulletin or Recognized compounds must still be used. All style page references to the use of compounds specified on other UL bulletins are still in effect.
• Jacket -- As with insulation, in the majority of situations, jacket materials will be specified on the style page as a generic class (e.g., Class 43). The UL representative is only required to verify that the generic class has been employed in the manufacture of the AWM style. The exception is if a bulletin compound, a Recognized compound or a compound described on a facing page is required to be used in the manufacture of the AWM style.
• Standard -- This indicates which UL Standards are used in the examination and the conduct of the test, as superseded or modified by the Follow-Up Service procedure or the facing page. Most style pages specify UL 758 instead of the previous Standards used, namely one or more of the following:
  
  • UL 62, the Standard for Safety of Flexible Cord
  • UL 44, the Standard for Safety of Thermoset-Insulated Wire
  • UL 83, the Standard for Safety of Thermoplastic-Insulated Wire
• Instructions to the representative -- This indicates specifically those tests which must be witnessed in the factory by the UL representative.
• Countercheck program at UL -- This relates to the tests performed on the samples selected by the UL representative and forwarded by the manufacturer to the appropriate UL office. The numbers in parentheses which precede the tests indicate the number of times per year that this item is checked at UL.
• Marking -- The required surface print and tag markings are specified in UL 758. It should be noted that UL 758 does not require manufacturers to surface print or tag mark the specific AWM style number on their finished reels, coils or cartons of AWM.
• Use -- The last item on any style page is the "Use," which indicates the specific tag marking that each and every coil or reel of AWM has to bear. The use statement provided on the tags by the manufacturer does not have to be a verbatim version of the use statement on the style page, as long as the intent of the use statement is met.

Facing pages

These pages are issued for modifications to the style page. They may include specific compounds that should be used as insulation on individual conductors or for jacketing materials, and may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. Typically the unaged minimum tensile and elongation values will be provided on facing pages. They may also be issued to cover authorized constructions that may not be described in UL 758 or another wire and cable standard. A separate facing page will be issued for each AWM style requiring a facing page. These pages are also issued where manufacturers make or blend their own compound, as opposed to using a bulletin or Recognized compound. Facing pages do not exist for each AWM style. To determine if a facing page exists for a given AWM style, the UL representative should reference the table of authorized styles. If there is an "F" next to the "issued date" for the AWM style in question, then a facing page exists for that AWM style.

AWM Bulletins

UL will periodically issue Compound Bulletins, which are acceptable for use in certain applications without further testing. The Compound Bulletins shown below may also be required during the course of an AWM inspection.

Plastics Recognized Component directory

The product category "Polymeric Materials For Use in Wire and Cable-Component" (CCN: QMTT2), otherwise known as the Recognized Compound program, has replaced many of the Compound Bulletins for such materials as sunlight-resistant PVC jacketing compounds, PVC and nylon compounds, etc. These compounds are now described in the relevant sections of the plastics Recognized Component directory, and would be authorized in the style page and/or the respective descriptive sections of the Follow-Up Service procedure.