What codes are required for the design of household equipment 1

[CGSmith]

I'm finalizing a design for a simple household electrical component. I assumed NFPA 70 was the applicable code but it seems to only apply to household wiring and actual equipment installations. Is there a code or standard for the actual equipment design and wiring?

 

[IRstuff]

You could start with the UL standard for safety of IT equipment 60950

TTFN

FAQ731-376
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[DRWeig]

Can you tell us what sort of component this is?

There are tons of specific standards.

Good on ya,

Goober Dave

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[zappedagain]

FCC Part 15 is another standard for just about everything electronic in a household.

Z

 

[rbalex]

The NEC does not generally specify requirements for appliances; however, Annex A has a non-mandatory “…list of product safety standards used for product listing where that listing is required by this Code.” Unless it is a local mandate, not all products are required to be listed.

 

[CGSmith]

Thanks all! It sounds like there isn't a required specification but several that could be used as good practice? The product is basically an alarm clock. I see that the ones in my house are UL listed. My understanding of UL is that you have to do more than follow a standard to stamp UL on the product; am I right? I work in the defense industry so I don't have a lot of experience designing to these codes.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

You want to have an independent house check your design... UL is one, EL is another...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[DRWeig]

You can't put UL on it without submitting it to UL for testing and approval. There are other available services such as CSA, ETL, METLAB, TUV, etc... that can test to UL standards and allow you put their own logo on it. My refrigerator, for example, has CSA mark for electrical safety.

I assume your clock plugs into the wall (120 VAC). In that case, you really need a safety listing or it's going to be hard to sell. Most retailers won't accept it. If it's battery powered, it isn't necessary to list it.

If it is a digital clock and contains any signal that pulses at greater than 9 kHz, it is illegal to sell without FCC verification testing, whether battery powered or not. You'll have to get a lab to do that. Get a copy of FCC 15 Part B (it's free) and read the section about unintentional radiators very closely. You haven't told us enough about how your clock is powered, but it really needs to be your call anyway. There are some exceptions in there, and you might qualify for one.

Check these things out thoroughly. Also consider posting this in the UL Code Issues forum, and post a link to it here so you don't continue to get answers in this thread. The NEC has nothing to do with end-user products.

You might need to hire an EE with product compliance experience to guide you through it.

Good on ya,

Goober Dave

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[mcgyvr]

Your product should be tested/designed to UL 826 and whatever other applicable standards it references.

It would be a good idea to call UL to discuss costs.. UL testing can be VERY expensive.. Heck just to get your hands on the standard you are looking at $800+ dollars. UL does provide their standards for free if you are a paying customer of theirs too I believe.

 

[mcgyvr]

Actually forget UL.. Call ETL to discuss testing to UL 826.. You will find they tend to be much cheaper and quicker. Your product doesn't have to be tested by UL to hold a UL listing.

 

[btrueblood]

"Your product doesn't have to be tested by UL to hold a UL listing."

I'm confused about your wording, mcgyvr. I would have written that you don't need UL to get a part certified to UL standards, which is not quite the same as "UL listing". In the UL forum, you've discussed an issue that UL mayn't or probably won't accept a 3rd party certification. Maybe I'm reading more into it, but I'd assumed that UL won't even list a 3rd-party tested item. Might be a technicality (e.g. where submitting to UL an assembly using the unlisted part), but it is an important one.

 

[DRWeig]

mcgyvr may have mis-typed. ETL testing will result in an ETL listing to a UL standard. It won't result in a UL listing.

The label will have the ETL logo (ETL Listed), but it will say beneath it something like, "to UL standard 826"

It's fine for an end-use standard. It just won't work for a product that will later be used as a part of another product that is to be UL listed (like an industrial control panel).

ETL or CSA or TUV or METLAB is fine for a clock, or a refrigerator, or anything else that plugs into a wall in a house, in my opinion.

Good on ya,

Goober Dave

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[mcgyvr]

yep sorry mis-typed that.. btrueblood/DRWeig cleared it up.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

And while I have seen UL tested on the cord - THAT'S all it meant - the cord was tested to UL specs.

Be careful...

 

[CGSmith]

Thanks everyone! Great info.