UL, CSA, ETL and CE: What Do They Stand For?

Hydrofarm has more UL and CSA rated products than any other company in the industry.

What the acronyms stand for:

UL: Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
CSA: Canadian Standards Association
CE: Conformance European (Communauté Européenne or Conformité Européenne)
ETL: Originally a mark of ETL Testing Laboratories, now a mark of Intertek Testing Services

What they mean:

Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (www.ul.com) is an independent, nonprofit organization that writes testing standards and tests products for safety and certifies them. UL has developed more than 800 standards for safety, and millions of products and their components are tested to UL’s safety standards.

Canadian Standards Association

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is a nonprofit association serving business, industry, government and consumers in Canada and the global marketplace. Among many other activities, CSA (www.csa.ca) develops standards that enhance public safety. A Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, CSA is very familiar with U.S. requirements. According to OSHA (U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations, the CSA-US Mark qualifies as an alternative to the UL Mark.

Conformance European

The CE Mark is a requirement for products sold to the European Market. The CE Mark identifies a product as complying with the health and safety requirements spelled out in European legislation (Directives) and is mandatory for equipment operating in the European Union (EU). Once the product has received the CE Mark it can circulate freely throughout the European Union countries.

Intertek Testing Services

ETL is a mark provided by Intertek and ETL Semko. Intertek (www.intertek-etlsemko.com) is a global leader in testing inspection and certification services. They are a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory and tests products to UL, CSA and CE standards.

A product bearing the ETL Listed Mark is determined to have met the requirements of prescribed product safety standards. Moreover, the mark indicates that the manufacturer's production site conforms to a range of compliance measures and is subject to periodic follow-up inspections to verify continued conformance.

An ETL Listed mark with both "us" and "c" identifiers signifies that the product bearing the mark complies with both UL and CSA product safety standards. If it bears just the "us" identifier, it has been tested and deemed compliant to UL. product safety standards only. An ETL Listed mark with a "c" identifier means the product bearing it complies with CSA product safety standards only.