
UL Listing vs. Recognition. What's the difference?
A product is UL Listed if the UL Listing Mark is on the product, accompanied by the manufacturer's name, trade name, trademark or other authorized identification.
A UL Listing Mark on a product is composed of four elements: the "UL in a circle Mark, the word "LISTED in capital letters, an alpha-numeric control number, and the product name. Sometimes the UL file number is used as company identification. The UL Listing Mark on a product is the manufacturer's representation that samples of that complete product have been tested by UL to nationally recognized Safety Standards and found to be free from reasonably foreseeable risk of fire, electric shock and related hazards and that the product was manufactured under UL's Follow-Up Services program.
If you do not find a UL Listing Mark on the product, you may find, on closer examination, that some of the individual components have the UL Recognized Component Mark . The UL Recognized Component Mark means that the component alone meets the requirements for limited, specified use. UL's Component Recognition Service covers the testing and evaluation of component products that are incomplete or restricted in performance capabilities. These components will later be used in complete end products or systems Listed by UL.
UL's Component Recognition Service covers millions of components, such as plastics, wire and printed wiring boards, that may be used in either very specific, or a broad spectrum of end-products, or even components such as motors or power supplies. These components are not intended for separate installation in the field they are intended for use as components of complete equipment submitted for investigation to UL. Component/end-product compatibility is the critical link between certification of a component and certification of the end product in which the component is used.