nrtl

The biggest compliance risks to your product launch are quiet, early, and easy to miss. Learn how to integrate product safety compliance from day one — and why the engineers who do build better products and reach market faster.

You know that feeling when a capacitor’s datasheet claims one thing, but NRTL’s online certification directory tells a different story? This blog is all about that - specifically a capacitor rated X1 and Y1, but the certification directory only showed X1. Moral of the story? Double check those certs early in the game to avoid delays.

It’s imperative for successful completion of a testing project that as a compliance engineer or technician leading a product certification effort, you trust but verify the work of testing facilities.

The usual experience when working with a NRTL is that projects are, more often than not, late, costs are overrun, and certification reports often inaccurate. This is not always the fault of the NRTL.

In the beginning there was Underwriters Laboratories, and not much else.

Manufacturers and distributors of electronic and electrical devices are required to meet various Product Safety standards established by the United States, Canada, European Union, and various global agencies. Today, manufacturers have multiple options for testing their products to various North American Standards through Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs) and independent value-added laboratories that have approvals for NRTL testing under a variety of programs. Good independent labs must be assessed to ISO 17025 for testing laboratories, similar to those requirements found under ISO 9000 requirements for manufacturers.