ETL Certification in the United States
Certification Introduction
ETL is the abbreviation of ETL Testing Laboratories Inc., which was founded by Thomas Edison in 1896 and is a NRTL (National Recognition Laboratory) recognized by OSHA (Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in the United States. After more than 100 years, the ETL mark has been widely recognized and accepted by major retailers in North America, and enjoys a high reputation like UL. The ETL mark is the exclusive mark of Intertek, the world's leading quality and safety organization. Any electrical, mechanical or electromechanical product with the ETL inspection mark indicates that it has been tested and meets the relevant industry standards.

ETL in the United States

Certification Scope
ETL SEMKO is part of Intertek Testing Services Co., Ltd., the world's largest product and daily necessities inspection organization, with 240 laboratories and 469 offices in 93 countries in North America, Europe and Asia. ETL SEMKO provides product safety testing and certification, EMC testing, product performance testing, and registration of quality management systems for a variety of industries such as medicine, HVAC, appliances, telecommunications, aviation, automation, semiconductors, building materials, energy generation systems, etc.

Any electrical, mechanical or electromechanical product with the ETL inspection mark indicates that it has been tested and meets the relevant industry standards. Each industry has different testing standards, so be sure to consult professionals for specific product requirements. The ETL inspection mark is widely used in cable products, indicating that the relevant tests have been passed.

In most parts of the United States, electrical product approval is mandatory. ETL refers to ETL Testing Laboratories Inc. ETL's listed products are recognized by "Authorities Having Jurisdiction" and can be considered "approved".

The difference between ETL and UL

1. Both UL and ETL represent that the product has passed the test of the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) and meets the corresponding safety standards.

2. ETL certification and UL certification have the same North American market access effect, but the cost of ETL certification is much lower than that of UL certification, generally only half of that of UL certification. Moreover, the product testing of ETL certification can be transferred through CB test reports, which can save you a lot of testing costs.
3. The time of ETL certification is also much shorter than that of UL certification. In special cases, ETL can issue the certificate first and then conduct factory inspection to save precious time for the export of your products.

4. UL is the most authoritative certification in the United States. On the other hand, UL is an American company and ITS is a British company.

Application materials
There are currently two ways to obtain ETL certificates, one is to transfer through CB test reports, and the other is to apply directly. The required submission materials are as follows:
1. Application form
2. Copy of CB test certificate (not required for direct application)
3. Copy of CB test report (not required for direct application)
4. Samples (4-8)
5. Other relevant test results and product data, such as product description, photos, component list, product performance and specifications, circuit schematics, etc. (If transferred through CB report, difference testing is required)