▍Introduction of certification in North America
OSHA(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) affiliated to US DOL(Department of Labor) required that all products used in workplace cannot sold in market until they are tested and certificated by NRTL. The standards used in testing include (ANSI)American National Standards Institute; ASTM(American Society for Testing Material),UL(Underwriter Laboratory ), and factory multi-recognition organization standards.
▍OSHA, NRTL, cTUVus, ETL and UL terms definition and relationship
OSHA: the abbreviation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which affiliated to US DOL (Department of Labor).
NRTL: National recognized lab, the abbreviation of Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, is responsible for the recognition of labs. Presently, there are 18 third-party testing institutions, including TUV, ITS, MET etc. were approved by NRTL.
cTUVus: the mark of TUVRH certificate in North America.
ETL: is the abbreviation of American Electrical Testing Laboratory. It’s established in 1896 by Edison-- an American inventor .
UL: is an abbreviation of Underwriter Laboratories Inc.
▍cTUVus 、ETL及UL之间的区别 Differences between cTUVus 、ETL, UL
Item |
UL |
cTUVus |
ETL |
Applied standard |
Same |
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Accreditation institution for certification |
NRTL(National approved lab) |
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Applied market |
North America(US and Canada) |
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Testing and certification institution |
Testing in Underwriter Laboratory (China)Inc which share the project conclusion letter |
MCM is in charge of testing and TUV issues certification |
MCM is in charge of testing and ITS offers certification |
Lead time |
5~12 weeks |
2~3 weeks |
2~3 weeks |
Application cost |
The most expensive in the filed |
About 50~60% of UL cost |
About 60~70% of UL cost |
Advantage |
American institution with high recognition in US and Canada |
International institution with high authority as well as reasonable price, and it can also be recognized by the North American market |
American institution,with high recognition in North America |
Disadvantage |
High price for testing, factory inspection and filing and certification with long lead time. |
Its brand recognition rate in North America is lower than UL’s. |
Its certificate recognition rate for component is lower than UL’s. |
▍The certification in North America for lithium battery
In North America, Lithium battery is not in the limited product list of NRTL. Namely, it does not belong to mandatory products for certification. However, under the strong safety consciousness, local people will not buy product without certificated safety mark. Therefore, it’s necessary for product to apply the testing and certification, or product would faced great difficulty in entering the North America market.
▍Testing Item for Lithium battery
Testing Item |
Short circuit |
Abnormal charge |
Abusive overcharge testing |
Mandatory discharge |
Limited power source |
Temperature rise test(component) |
Temperature rise test(surface) |
Crush |
Impact |
Shock |
Cell |
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Battery |
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Testing Item |
Vibration test |
Low pressure test |
250Npressure test |
Mold case stress at High temperature |
Drop test |
Flame |
Thermal abuse |
Thermal cycle |
Flame resistance test |
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Cell |
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Battery |
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Remarks |
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This test is not applicable for v-1 or shell does not need flame resistance. |
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▍MCM’s advantages for certification in North America
● Qualification Support: MCM is the witness testing lab of TUVRH and ITS for the Certification projects in North America. So all the tests can be completed in MCM lab, which provides better face-to-face communication and service to client.
● Equipment Support: MCM is fully equipped with large- scale, small- scale battery testing equipment as well as equipment with high precision which applied in various batteries fields such as electric mobile car, storage energy, electronic digital products and etc. Providing comprehensive batteries testing and certification services in North America, including standards of R100, UL1642, UL2054 etc.