How do I get UL approval for Bridge Saw?

[ted@napoligranite.com]

I just spent the last 6 months and significant expense moving our shop. Now the final Electrical Inspector is breaking my balls over UL stickers. He did not accept brand new Marmo line polishers because there was not UL stickers on the machine AS WELL as the electrical control boxes (he insists that Italy send the actual test approval)

AND wants UL approval or Field Inspection of my 1999 Marmo HTO-1B Bridge Saw. Marmo tells me nobody did UL testing in 1999 for bridge saws. Anyone ever run into this???

[Mark Smith]

Oh man, what state are you in? Sounds like a nightmare.

[Omni Cubed Larry]

What a bummer!

This is very concerning. We have never ran into that putting machines in our shop.

After a little research, I believe there is no federal law that states mandatory UL marking, but there are some local governments that do require it in their building codes. It appears that Florida may be a state that has it in their building code.

Link from UL's website...
http://ul.com/corporate/faq/industries/thirdpartyflqa/

This could be way off, but maybe it gets you pointed in the right direction. Good luck.

[ted@napoligranite.com]

I'm in south Florida and our city is extremely proud of themselves ie. they think they are more superior than the state and federal regs. I found an independent Field inspection tonight on the internet but can just imagine what this is going to cost.

[jbergman]

There are a number of firms that do field certification such as Metlabs which I have used in the past. Most are cheaper than UL. You might inquire about ETL certification also. It is usually less expensive and should be equally acceptable. Unfortunately some local inspectors can be real ball busters are are strictly by the book. If you get that kind of a guy, you will have to bite the bullet. Shop around for certification, the prices will vary considerably.
Good luck,
John Bergman
Bergman-Blair Machine Corp/GMM USA www.bergmanblair.com
Prescott, AZ 86305
928-443-1100
516-381-6774 Cell

[PoseidonMachinery]

Sorry to hear about that Ted. We have had 2 customers have that issue and both were in Fl. I believe, one in the West Palm area and the other near Orlando.

If I'm not mistaken, the NEC(National Electrical Code) does not necessarily say that UL is the main standard by law for which your panel needs to be certified. After all, UL is a private institution and one of many "standards" that exist in the USA. I think the verbage states that the panel must have a "recognized" certification. One could argue that CE is a pretty recognized standard(since valid mostly all over the world). However, going up against an electrical inspector is like trying to debate with a supreme court judge.

They are typically concerned with only the main panel of the machine. I believe the cost to our customers was about $2000 plus the things he needed to modify(parts and labor @$700).

One customer is fighting still with the city because after he certified his panel, they weres saying he needed to have the whole machine UL listed which entails the mechanics, exterior electrical(outside the main panel), etc, etc which no machine maker has.

Feel free to contact us if you would like and I can dig up that section in the NEC guidelines for you.

Good Luck

Joe Alva