Are CILS Labels approved for all UL categories?

Written by Oliver Stockton, Managing Director, CILS

We reviewed our customer’s typical requirements for products and component labels that needed UL 969 approved labels and then created a UL approved label product offering of 48 different label constructions to cover the majority of customer needs.

These labels are blank or partially printed for you to secondary print with data or are provided completely printed for you.

When we say our labels are UL approved, they are approved under UL 969 which is the standard for labels and markings used for permanent product identification. Every part of the label is tested and the combination of adhesive, material and printing ink, thermal transfer ribbon or laser toner is tested in combination to achieve the approval.

There are different categories of UL 969 including PGJI2, PGDQ2 etc, but this is a subcategory covering how the label is printed and by whom. See our video on this subject.

UL 969 approved labels are generally applied to equipment, appliances, components and equipment and carry rating information, instructions, warnings or anything else that provides guidance on the use of the product

UL 969 approved labels are appropriate for a huge range of products, however, there are many other categories for labels that have been tested and approved in various hazardous environments or are used on products that have their own specific label testing requirements. Some will be satisfied by the criteria of UL 969, some will not.

Example

Labels for UL1254 (Standard for Pre-Engineered Dry and Wet Chemical Extinguishing Systems Units) is a great example of how a label needs to be evaluated against specific performance requirements of the particular standard. In this case, the label must not be repositionable i.e. must not be able to be removed in-tact, is tested and approved against a minimum diameter, is tested for several exposures and oven aged for 90 days. None of these tests are covered by UL 969.

In these circumstances a UL 969 label is not appropriate but may be a good place to start, however, because the label construction will have to be fully tested and approved by UL, it is better that we work with you to firstly understand your end-use durability requirements and agree whether we provide a blank or partially printed label for you to secondary print, or provide the label fully printed.

We then liaise with our UL engineer to obtain a price for the tests for you. Once you agree to proceed, we will submit the label construction to UL to be tested. We pass on the cost of the test to you and may need examples of the surface that the label will be going onto if it’s a non-standard surface. In the case of UL 1254 we would need you to provide 25 pieces of the surface for the tests. We will provide the labels for the tests free of charge.

The best way to proceed is to let us know what you are wanting to label and let us know what UL standard the label needs to meet. Your project/engineering contact at UL should be able to provide this information. If not, speak with us and we will use our UL contacts to help us both establish the type of approval required and navigate the testing process if indeed there is one.