How often does UL inspect factories and who pays for it?

[likephysics]

Any one know about UL factory inspection?
I think they visit the factory 2-4 times a year.
Who pays for it - does the factory take care of it.
Is there something like a UL listed factory.

 

[berkeman]

Any one know about UL factory inspection?
I think they visit the factory 2-4 times a year.
Who pays for it - does the factory take care of it.
Is there something like a UL listed factory.

Here you go!

http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/solutions/services/finder/detail/index.jsp?cpath=/global/eng/pages/solutions/services/finder/detail/data/305_factory-inspections.xml

UL factory inspections provide customized product inspection support, based on customers' predefined parameters or customer-accepted specifications. These inspections provide retailers, buyers and original equipment manufacturers confidence in the quality of the suppliers that they work with as well as the reliability of the products that are sourced from these suppliers.

 

[berkeman]

And yes, the factory pays for the inspection/certification.

 

[likephysics]

And yes, the factory pays for the inspection/certification.

berkeman, If an organization is getting UL certification for a product, they have to pay for certification.
If the organization is getting it manufactured externally like in China, the Chinese factory pays for UL factory inspection?

 

[berkeman]

berkeman, If an organization is getting UL certification for a product, they have to pay for certification.
If the organization is getting it manufactured externally like in China, the Chinese factory pays for UL factory inspection?

Yes and yes.

Of course, the contract manufacturing factory in China will pass the cost of certification along to their customers, as they do their other operating costs. But the cost is shared among several manufacturers typically, so it really doesn't add much to the product cost that a company pays to the contract manufacturer.

 

[likephysics]

berkeman, do you know if this is only for UL or do factories pay for UL equivalent factory inspection also like CSA, TUV.

 

[berkeman]

berkeman, do you know if this is only for UL or do factories pay for UL equivalent factory inspection also like CSA, TUV.

I don't know that offhand, but you should be able to check the websites for CSA and TUV to see if they have an "inspections" section like the UL website does. If you're not able to figure it out, I can e-mail the question to a guy in my company over in the UK who specializes in agency approvals.

 

[likephysics]

All the agencies (CSA, TUV etc) have mandatory factory inspections. But I am not sure if the factory pays for it.