It seems as though every wire now a days has a number of different approvals.
But the ultimate question is what exactly do these approvals mean? "UL" is short for the Underwriters Laboratories and is one of the many certifications and approvals that a manufacturer can get on their product.
There are also Mil-Spec approved products, as well as, CSA approvals just to name a few.
There are other third party companies that also test and certify products as well.
UL Approvals The UL is an independent, not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization that certifies, validates, tests, inspects, and even audits companies and products.
Each time a product is certified by UL the company has agreed to periodic audits of their products and factory.
UL also continues to retest products to make sure the product is continued to be high quality.
The product will remain certified until the manufacturer requests it be terminated or the product fails to fulfill a requirement.
Mil-Spec Mil-Spec approval is short for Military Specifications.
Originally this approval was meant to help standardize objectives by the Department of Defense.
The wires and cables that meet these specifications are suitable for the demanding applications and are made to withstand extreme conditions.
This does not make each wire perfect for every job.
Just like wires that are not Mil-Spec, they also have certain applications where they work the best.
CSA CSA Group is short for the Canadian Standards Association.
They are an internationally known company.
The company is a standards development organization.
They test products to make sure that the products actually meet the claims of the manufacturer.
For a wire and cable manufacturer to be able to sell their products in the US, they need to be tested and approved by a third part agency.
This is what CSA does, they test a manufacturer's product to make sure the wires and cables meet certain standards as well as the claims made by the manufacturer.
Typically each of the approvals comes from a different third party company that tests and regulates products.
These approval companies are not government run, they are not for profit, and are independent.
These companies test manufacturers products so that the customer can be sure that the wire or cable is going to perform as promised.
Customers can be sure that the products with these approvals are going to be able to withstand the correct temperatures and voltage levels as well.