What is the difference between UL Recognized and UL Listed?

You don’t have to be working in a technical or industrial industry to come across components that have the “UL Listed” or “UL Recognized” markings on them. They are stamped on many household items and are instantly recognizable.

They are definitely not the same, so what’s the difference between them?

Products affixed with the UL Listed marking means that they are certified and have been vigorously tested and evaluated by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to ensure proper functionality in regards to safety hazards such as: electrical shock, fire, and other mechanical hazards. For example: these products can be large machines like bundlers that have many interworking parts, or computers and accessories, on a smaller scale. There are a lot of restrictions involved when companies set out to meet this UL Listed status, so when products have that marking it gives you that added trust and peace of mind. 

Products, components, and their packaging will be affixed with the UL Recognized marking (sometimes casually referred to as UL Approved or UL Registered). This means the components are recognized by UL and meet their industry standards. These types of products might serve a limited function and will be used in the process of manufacturing devices. For example, think of a cable tie holding a wire loom together, or a spade terminal affixed to a terminal block, or an emergency stop push button on the side of a panel box. These small individual components can be UL Recognized and when used to build a complete device, as mentioned above, the device has a better chance of becoming UL Listed.

Here at Ferrules Direct we have a wide variety of UL Recognized components from Terminal Blocks to Cable Ties and all the crimping connectors in between. Be sure to check out our selection: www.ferrulesdirect.com.