White Paper:
The Acceptance of the CSA/US Product Certification Mark
For over 100 years, products have been tested and “listed” by independent testing laboratories for use in North
America to assure public safety. Product certification marks are the result of an independent, accredited third party
testing and certification process. Today, the largest three product-safety testing and certification laboratories in
North America are UL, CSA and ETL.
Although UL is often thought of as the “Kleenex” of certification laboratories, the acceptance of the CSA/US mark
has grown tremendously in the past decade, to the point where UL and CSA/US marks are virtually interchangeable today.
The Most Important Thing to Understand
There are actually two considerations, the standard to which a product is tested and the independent testing and
certification laboratory that tests the product and certifies its compliance, authorizing the manufacturer to apply its
certification mark.
All “listed” luminaires in the US are tested to the same standard, regardless of whether they are tested and certified
by, and carry either a UL or CSA/US mark. Hence, UL and CSA/US marks are interchangeable and are generally
equally accepted today.
History of CSA
CSA is an independent, not-for-profit organization supported today by more than 8,000 members in the US,
Canada, and around the world. Although UL pre-dates CSA by 25 years, CSA has a rich history of leadership,
established in 1919. While CSA may still be perceived by some as a standards organization for the Canadian
marketplace, CSA also has a certification and laboratory division that provides services globally. CSA changed the
name of their certification and testing division to CSA International in 1999 to reflect this international focus.
• Since 1992, CSA International has been accredited by the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) to test and certify products to over 400 US Standards (including ANSI and UL Standards). To view the OSHA listing go to: http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/csa.html
• CSA International is accredited by other organizations including ANSI, IAS, ASTM, IAPMO,
and others.
• As a National Certification Body (NCB) in the IECEE CB and Ex Schemes, CSA can test and
certify to IEC Standards for the international marketplace.
• CSA participates in the harmonization of standards (UL, CSA and NOM) for North America.
• CSA maintains offices across the US and Canada. CSA also has offices in Europe and the Far East.
CSA Mark Acceptance
The National Electrical Code (NEC) frequently calls for “listed equipment”.
“Listed: Equipment or materials included in a list published by an organization acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction and concerned with evaluation of product or services, that maintains periodic inspection of production of listed equipment of materials or periodic evaluation of services, and whose listing states
that the equipment, material or services, either meets appropriate designated standards or has been tested and found suitable for a specified purpose.”
- NEC Article 100: Definitions
For lighting equipment, the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is usually the local electrical inspector that may use
the NEC, applicable building code or local codes as a guide. Thousands of AHJs nationwide require that products
be certified by an “accredited” laboratory. US AHJ’s including the cities of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, as
well as the states of Washington, Oregon and North Carolina specifically, require certification marks as mandatory and have formal recognition programs. CSA is recognized by all of the above-named city and state AHJs as
well as many other local jurisdictions. In other jurisdictions, certification marks may be voluntary. In either case, the
presence of a reputable certification mark on the product is important because it shows that a product has been
independently tested and certified to meet recognized standards for safety or performance.
“We feel, and have always felt, that CSA is already a nationally recognized testing agency, a name that is well known and respected throughout the industry.”
- Reedy Creek Municipality,
Gwinnett County, GA
The CSA/US mark is widely accepted by US electrical inspectors. CSA has a close relationship with the International
Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) dating back to 1931. In fact, CSA Director of Audits and Investigations
Doug Geralde is an IAEI board member and past-President. IAEI Executive Director James Carpenter is also a
member of CSA International’s Board of Directors.
The CSA/US mark is widely accepted by US specifiers. Through collaboration with CSA, The American Institute of
Architects’ MASTERSPEC template has been revised to reference OSHA recognized NRTL labs (like CSA) as acceptable testing laboratories. The MASTERSPEC specification system is used by Engineering and Architectural companies throughout the US.
The CSA/US mark is widely trusted by manufacturers. CSA marks appear on over 1 Billion products worldwide
including products from leading US manufacturers including Apple, Compaq, HP, IBM, Lennox, Mitsubishi
Electrial & Electronics, Black & Decker, Delta Faucet, GE, IBM, Sanyo, Whirlpool, Moen and others. Luminaires
from numerous leading manufacturers also commonly feature the CSA mark.
The CSA/US mark is widely accepted by retailers. CSA marks are found on many products sold in leading US retail
chains today including Ace Hardware, Best Buy, Circuit City, JC Penney, K-Mart, Lowes, Sears, the Home Depot,
Costco, Wal-Mart and others. Most distributors of electrical products, including Graybar and WW Grainger, sell
CSA marked products.
“CSA is a trusted partner and we’re confident that products bearing the CSA mark have been rigorously examined and tested to standards that are constantly reviewed and adjusted.”
- Dan Kamykowski
Ace Hardware Merchandising Manager, Plumbing & Electrical
Demystifying Certification Marks
The certification mark provides visual evidence that the product was tested and certified to meet the
applicable standard. All “listed” luminaires for the US market are tested to the same standard, regardless of
whether they carry a UL or CSA/US mark. Hence, the following UL and CSA marks are interchangeable and are
generally equally accepted today.
Marks for the US
CSA
US
A CSA mark with the indicator “US” or “NRTL” means
that the product is certified
for the U.S. market to the
applicable U.S. standards.
C
CSA mark with the indicators “C”
and “US” or “NRTL/C” means that
the product is certified for both the
U.S. and Canadian markets, to the
US applicable U.S. and Canadian
standards.
NRTL/C
NRTL
UL
Marks for US and Canada
This is one of the most
common UL Marks. Products
with this mark are certified
for the US market to the
applicable US standards.
UL mark with the indicators “C” and
“US” indicates compliance with both
Canadian and U.S. requirements. The
Canada/U.S. UL Mark is optional. UL
encourages those manufacturers with
products certified for both countries to
use this new, combined Mark, but they
may continue using separate UL Marks
for the United States and Canada
How US Product Testing & Certification Works
Testing and certification confirms that products meet US standards by bringing three independent groups together:
1. Manufacturers: who make the products (ex: Prescolite). Manufacturers use the applicable US standards in the design process.
2. Standards Writing Organizations: who author US national product standards (ex: ANSI). These
organizations include representatives from industry and other interested parties
who define the specific standards for a particular type of product (e.g. a luminaire). In the US,
responsibility for publishing, maintaining and distributing standards is often delegated to a standards
writing organization such as ANSI, ASTM, UL, NSF, ASME, ASFE, etc.
3. Product Testing & Certification Laboratories: who test products to applicable standards and authorize product approval marks (ex: CSA). The laboratory is hired by the manufacturer to test and certify that their products meet the applicable standards.
Upon certification, the product is authorized to carry the appropriate certification mark licensed by the testing
laboratory (ex: CSA/US).
Sometimes, the name (or a portion of the name) of an organization well known for its testing and certification
activities appears in the name of standards published by that organization’s standards division (for example, UL
standard 1598 for lighting fixtures or CSA standard Z21.47/2.3 for gas-fired central furnaces). This does not mean
that a product must be tested and certified by the laboratory whose name appears on the standard. So-called “CSA
standards”, “NSF standards”, “UL standards”, and others, are available to ALL qualified and accredited testing
laboratories for use in testing and certifying products.
What is a “Recognized” Laboratory?
In the US, testing laboratories are “recognized” by the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) as
Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs) that are qualified to test and certify that a product meets US
standards, as governed by OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1910.7. All NRTLs test products against the same sets of
standards, regardless of who wrote or published them.
CSA International has been accredited (“recognized”) by OSHA since 1992 and is fully qualified to test electrical
and lighting products for the US market. CSA is recognized by OSHA to test and certify products to over 400 US
standards including ANSI and UL Standards.
CSA Testing Standards
Today, it makes no difference which recognized laboratory tests and certifies a product. This is a direct result of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as applied to third party conformity assessment procedures
recognized by OSHA.
CSA and UL luminaire testing is conducted in compliance with the same standard. This bi-national US/Canadian
testing standard, called “UL 1598/CSA 22.2 No. 250.0-00”, went into effect February 1, 2001 as a replacement
to such previous UL/ANSI standards as UL 1570, UL 1571 and UL 1572.
The Benefits of Competition
Because multiple laboratories are recognized by OSHA to test and certify products, manufacturers have the
freedom to select among them based on turnaround time, price and convenience. Since all OSHA NRTLs evaluate
products against the same standards, owners, contractors, distributors and specifiers can select products based on
brand, price and quality rather than on who did the testing and whose certification mark appears on the product.
A competitive testing and certification marketplace helps manufacturers bring products to market quickly and
economically while also ensuring that they are subjected to the testing called for by the applicable standards.
How to Write a Better Specification for Approval Marks
Customers can take advantage of this openness and competition and ensure that they have access to the broadest
possible selection of products only if they ensure that their product selection practices are not unduly restrictive. A
purchasing or specification policy requiring products certified by a particular laboratory unnecessarily limits the
range of products available whereas a policy that accepts products tested and certified by an OSHA Nationally
Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) protects against the use of nonconforming products without placing
unnecessary limitations on product selection.
To ensure access to a full range of qualifying, safe and high quality products, specifications should be written to
accept products tested and certified by “any Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) as defined in OSHA
regulation 29 CFR 1901.7.”
Prescolite Product Listings
Since UL and CSA/US marks are virtually interchangeable today, Prescolite enjoys the freedom of pursuing whichever mark allows us to bring products to market the most swiftly. Hence, Prescolite products might carry either a UL
or a CSA/US mark. No Prescolite products are ETL listed today.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where can I get more information on CSA?
Call CSA International at 800-463-6727 or visit www.csa-international.org.
WP # 0001b
March 19, 2008
2. Who can I call for help if I encounter a specification that prefers UL over CSA?
Contact CSA International Business Development Manager at 416-747-4142. or
Sue Dempsey, CSA International VP North American Sales at 216-524-4990.
3.
Can I obtain documentation of CSA’s acceptance by my local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)?
Over 10 years ago, CSA initiated their Recognition in the US program, visiting many state and local
authorities to promote and obtain acceptance of the CSA/US mark. CSA retains many letters of
acceptance from these jurisdiction as evidence of their acceptance of the CSA/US mark.
Contact Len Mitchell at CSA International (416-747-4277) to check on your local jurisdiction and obtain
acceptance documentation.
4.
5.
How is it ensured that products continue to comply with the standard(s) against which they are
listed over time?
Certification agencies conduct a series of unannounced, on-site inspections as mandated by OSHA for products sold in the US and the Standards Council of Canada for products sold in Canada.
I understand that a product can be tested to a UL standard yet carry a CSA mark. How can this be?
If the standard is UL, doesn’t the mark also have to come from UL?
Companies such as UL and CSA are involved in both standards publication and testing. It is a common misperception that because a company’s name appears on a particular standard, that company’s
laboratory must exclusively perform product testing against the standard. The fact is, the standards and
testing roles are performed independently within companies like UL and CSA in order to avoid a conflict of interest. The standards are available for the manufacturer’s use in design and manufacturing and are also available to all accredited testing and certification agencies for product testing.
6.
If all “listed” luminaires in the US are tested to the same standard and it makes no difference which accredited agency tests and certifies a product, why doesn’t Prescolite just list all of their products with a single agency?
Since the quality and meaning of the listing mark is the same between UL and CSA, the differentiator
in Prescolite’s agency decision is service. To meet the needs of our customers, we must develop products quickly. To meet the needs of our company, we must also do so cost effectively. At any given time, one agency might be more responsive than the other. We also negotiate competitive fee structures with both agencies. We try to leverage the universal acceptability of UL and CSA certification to work with the agency that allows us to develop high quality, safe products the fastest and the most cost effectively. Your acceptance of Prescolite products that carry either a UL or CSA/US mark give
us the flexibility we need to do this.