Please note: As of now, we do not maintain active UL certification. However, we can resume certification at any point if a customer requires it. Please contact us to discuss your UL certification requirements.
SC ESO Electronic S.R.L, our electronics manufacturing (EMS) factory in Lipova, Romania, has been UL-certified since February 3, 2017.
Printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA) produced at our Romanian factory are thus in compliance with UL 796 (Standard for Printed-Wiring Boards).
Our certificate number is E490533 and is valid for the US and Canadian market. ESO Electronic’s UL certificates can be found in the UL Database:
- ZPVI2.E490533 – Printed Wiring Assemblies
- ZPVI8.E490533 – Printed Wiring Assemblies Certified for Canada
There are currently fewer than 50 production facilities across Europe that are able to offer UL certification for printed circuit board assemblies. ESO Romania is also the only facility in Romania within the ZPVI2 and ZPVI8 category.
UL-certified production means that we have to ensure that UL assemblies are manufactured with UL-critical items only as specified by the customer. UL certification or listing is relevant for the American market to ensure products meet fire-hazard requirements.
Why PCBA with a UL-Certified EMS Company?
If you need your final product to be UL Listed, you must source your printed circuit board assembly from a factory that is UL-certified under the UL 796 (Standard for Printed-Wiring Boards).
About UL Certification
UL stands for Underwriter’s Laboratories and is a multinational American company located in Northbrook, Illinois with sales offices and laboratories worldwide. UL’s core service is setting safety standards – whether for electrical and electronic products, building products, industrial equipment, consumer products, or plastic materials. In the electronics industry, UL standards define the design and safety standards of everything from electric household goods to PCBs, lithium batteries, appliances, industrial equipment, and IT equipment.
Flammability is a key issue in UL certification: product design, product materials, and production processes are evaluated and tested for fire-resistance.
Why UL Certification for Printed Circuit Board and Electronics Manufacturing?
UL certification is a seal of quality that helps internationally oriented businesses prove that their products conform with high safety and environmental standards. UL is essentially a gold standard that is accepted across a variety of global markets, especially the American marketplace. For European or Asian manufacturers, for instance, who want to sell their products worldwide, UL is a good certification to have since it ensures the product can be sold essentially anywhere.
The UL Listed label confirms that the electronic product complies with important safety standards, which helps manufacturers or consumers evaluate the relative risk of using a product under certain conditions. For instance, a “UL Listed” control may be appropriate to use in a flammable environment such as in aviation or mining. UL also maintains a publicly accessible database of some 3 million UL-Listed products so it is easy to reference a product’s certification status.
UL Certification Labels in Electronic Products
There are two main classes of UL certification in electronics. The first is the “UL Listed” label. This means that the complete product has been officially audited and certified by UL to comply with UL safety standards. For a product to achieve “UL Listed” certification, the manufacturer or designer must submit a sample product and extensive documentation for evaluation and approval by UL. The manufacturer or designer also must prove that their manufacturing process ensures strict reproducibility, meaning that every product produced will meet these standards. Should the manufacturer redesign the product, UL must evaluate the new version before it can carry the “UL Listed” label.
The second is UL’s “recognized component mark,” which is printed on PCBs and other sub-components used in “UL Listed” products. This ensures certain critical components in a “UL-Listed” product are in compliance with the standards set for UL design.
UL 796: Standard for Printed-Wiring Boards
Our factory in Romania is UL-certified (UL 796: Standard for Printed-Wiring Boards) for PCBA printed circuit board assembly. To achieve this certification, every critical UL component must be documented and labeled so that it can always be identified as UL. This applies to every step of the production process from the time the customer order arrives, to the actual assembly, and final delivery. The production processes were audited in person and on site by UL representatives who checked that the UL standards are upheld and that critical UL components are visibly marked.
UL Critical Items
In product qualification tests with a UL laboratory, the customer decides which parts of their bill of materials (BOM) are critical for the UL certification. These parts are marked as "UL relevant" in the customer BOM.
At ESO Electronic/Newmatik, we create these items with an internal "UL" suffix to the part number (example: 123456UL) and strictly adhere to the manufacturer and manufacturer part numbers given by the customer. Changes to these items require customer approval in order for the customer to check if the change is compliant to the UL requirements. The "UL" suffix on the parts and in the bill or materials ensures everybody in the company can clearly identify UL parts.
In our MPN Check during incoming goods processing we ensure that the items received are checked to be a 100% match to the items purchased. In this process an employee checks the manufacturer and manufacturer part numbers against our ERP system, in a second stage a second employee verifies the check was correct according to the manufacturer label. The MPN check is marked in ERPNext by a scan with a digital signature and is checked off on the ESO Batch Label.
Printed circuit boards which are sourced by us are not marked with the "UL" suffix, instead the UL 94 V0 Approval is required in the PCB Specification and PCB suppliers are required to print the UL Mark (reads like a mirrored italics "UR") with the UL file number in the PCB solder mask. Both electronic components and PCB which are UL products for our customer are marked as "UL Critical Items" in our ERP system.
UL Listed v. CE Marking
The CE Marking is a European standard that indicates the product conforms with applicable European laws or directives. It is affixed to goods sold in the European Economic Area. Unlike the UL Listed certification, which requires an external, third-party audit by Underwriter’s Laboratories, the CE Marking is usually self-declared by the manufacturer. “UL Listed” products can therefore be said to undergo stricter, more rigorous certification, and goods bearing only a CE Marking do not comply with U.S. product safety requirements.