Certification

NRTL & SCC Certification

Curtis Straus LLC, a Bureau Veritas Electrical and Electronic Product Services company, is accredited by OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) and SCC (Standards Council of Canada) as a certification body enabling us to provide electrical safety (and performance in some instances) certification for a broad range of electrical products including consumer, medical, IT and telecoms equipment to speed up your North American market entry. Curtis-Straus can now offer a bi-national product safety certification allowing market access in the U.S. and Canada from a single approval process. The intersecting scope includes two broad categories of products; Information Technology Equipment and Medical Devices.

Accreditation is a valuable way for us to demonstrate that we are not only dependable, but are also dedicated to delivering a quality service. Through the accreditation process, clients can be assured that we are an expert market access partner with our people, expertise and equipment being regularly assessed.

To maintain the integrity of these certification marks, a factory inspection / market surveillance program is required by the Standards Council of Canada and OSHA. Bureau Veritas inspectors monitor products that bear the Bureau Veritas/Curtis Straus certification mark to make sure they continue to be manufactured in accordance with the specified safety requirements. This is completed through a series of on-site factory inspections, generally two to four times per year depending on the product and the volume of production at a specific factory. A key benefit of using Curtis Straus for both SCC Canada and NRTL USA market access is the reduced audit requirement, with clients benefiting from a combined inspection audit for Canada SCC certification and USA NRTL certification.

Together with our comprehensive European and Asian network of laboratories and offices, and as a result of our North American accreditations, Bureau Veritas provides an extremely attractive market access solution to discerning clients seeking superior turn around, lower cost and high quality services to access more markets.

NRTL Certification

NRTLs are third-party organizations recognized by OSHA as having the capability to provide product safety testing and certification services to the manufacturers of a wide range of products for use in the American workplace. The testing and certifications are based on product safety standards developed by U.S.-based standards developing organizations and often issued by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

A product that has been certified by Curtis Straus essentially means that the product met the requirements of an appropriate product safety standard either by successfully testing the product itself, or by verifying that a contract laboratory has done so; and that we have certified that the product met the requirements of the product safety standard.

The manufacturer can indicate that that Curtis Straus has certified the product and that the product has met specified product safety standards by placing the Curtis Straus certification mark on the manufactured product.

Following the product certification, Curtis Straus monitors the manufacturer, the product, the marketplace, and the use of the Curtis Straus certification mark.

When first adopted, OSHA regulations gave two examples of approval organizations: Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Factory Mutual Research Corporation (FMRC). In 1983, OSHA was ordered by a court to remove the specific references to UL and FMRC in a successful lawsuit brought by a private lab. In 1988, OSHA revised its regulations to remove the references, and established the NRTL Program to recognize other organizations as NRTLs, such as Curtis Straus.

To be recognized as a NRTL, an organization must meet 4 basic criteria:

• The capability (including proper testing equipment and facilities, trained staff, written testing procedures, and calibration and quality control programs) to perform testing for each item to be certified
• Adequate controls for:
• Identifying the items it certifies
• Conducting follow-up inspections of the actual production of items to evaluate conformance with test standards
• Conducting field inspections to assure proper use of its marks or labels
• Complete independence from employers (i.e., users), manufacturers, and vendors of the items it tests and certifies (generally interpreted as not owned or controlled by)
• Effective procedures for producing its findings and reports, and for handling complaints and disputes

Useful Sources of Information (from OSHA website)

• NRTL Introduction
• NRTL Program Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines
• NRTL FAQs

Curtis Straus LLC NRTL Scope can be downloaded here, and includes:

• UL 544 - Electric Medical and Dental Equipment
• UL 3111-1 - Electrical Measuring and Test Equipment, Part 1: General Requirements
• UL 60601-1 - Medical Electrical Equipment, Part 1: General Requirements for Safety
• UL 60950 - Information Technology Equipment
• UL 61010A-1 - Electrical Equipment for Laboratory Use; Part 1: General Requirements

SCC Certification

The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) is committed to ensuring that Canadians benefit from standards. Located in Ottawa, the Standards Council has a 15-member governing Council and a staff of approximately 80. The organization reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry and oversees Canada's National Standards System.

Standardization is the development and application of standards - publications that establish accepted practices, technical requirements and terminologies for products, services and systems. Standards help to ensure better, safer and more efficient methods and products, and are an essential element of technology, innovation and trade.

Globally, the SCC represents Canadian interests at the international organizations that develop product and service standards. The SCC also works closely with international partners to ensure that certifications from their accredited bodies will be recognized in the countries that clients of these bodies may want to trade with.

Our SCC Scope can be downloaded here, and includes:

• Anaesthetic, respiratory and reanimation equipment
• Automatic controls for household use
• Cables
• Cleaning appliances
• Commercial refrigerating appliances
• Components for rotating machines
• Conduits for electrical purposes
• Connecting devices
• Cooking ranges, working tables, ovens and similar appliances
• Diagnostic equipment
• Dishwashers
• Domestic electrical appliances in general
• Domestic refrigerating appliances
• Electric and electromechanical components
• Electric heaters
• Electric tools
• Electrical and electronic testing
• Electrical engineering in general
• Fluorescent lamps. Discharge lamps
• Fuses and other overcurrent protection devices
• Generating sets
• Generators
• Incadescent lamps
• Information technology (IT) in general
• Interface and interconnection equipment
• IT terminal and other peripheral equipment
• Lamp caps and holders
• Laundry appliances
• Lighting installation systems
• Luminairies
• Microprocessor systems
• Miscellaneous domestic and commercial equipment
• Motors
• Office machines
• Plugs, socket-outlets, couplers
• Radiographic equipment
• Rectifiers. Convertors. Stabilized power supply
• Relays
• Small kitchen appliances
• Surgical instruments and materials
• Switches
• Theatre, stage and studio equipment
• Therapy equipment
• Transfusion, infusion and injection equipment
• Wires