ochIECULstandarder

Och IEC/UL-standarder refer to safety and performance standards for electrical and electronic equipment that are harmonized or jointly recognized by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Their aim is to facilitate international conformity assessment and market access by aligning testing criteria so that a product can meet multiple markets with a coordinated set of requirements, when possible.

Development and scope: IEC publishes international standards used worldwide, while UL develops safety standards and issues its certification marks in the United States and other regions. In practice, many product families rely on IEC-based requirements, and UL often aligns with or references these standards. The IEC System for Conformity Assessment (IECEE) operates the CB Scheme, which enables recognition of test results across member economies. UL participates as a certification body within this framework, and some IEC standards have corresponding UL adoptions or parallel UL standards. This relationship helps manufacturers demonstrate compliance for both IEC-based markets and UL-listed markets.

Certification process and impact: A product is evaluated against the applicable standard, which may be an IEC standard, a UL standard aligned with it, or a combination of both. Tests are conducted by accredited laboratories, and successful products receive a certification mark such as UL Listed, along with any necessary IEC-based declarations. Through the CB Scheme, national bodies may accept test reports to streamline approvals in other countries. For manufacturers, IEC/UL-standardization can reduce duplicative testing and speed time-to-market, though differences between national regulations and labeling requirements may still apply.

Examples of areas covered include household appliances (IEC 60335; UL 60335), medical electrical equipment (IEC 60601; UL 60601-1), and information technology equipment (IEC 60950/62368; corresponding UL standards).