If my company is intending to sell a product that is comprised solely
of components that are UL (Underwriters Laboratories) recognized, are
there any US states that will require (under their respective
electrical safety codes and laws) my company to have the new product
separately UL recognized or UL listed or UL tested?

All of the components are stand-alone devices that are readily
available to the public and all the wires are standard
over-the-counter USB type cables and similar type computer cables that
are each fully and separately insulated.

Most states require that electrical products that are sold in their
jurisdictions to be UL recognized (or listed) or approved by a
nationally recognized laboratory. If all the components in my
company's product are separately approved, do we need to get the new
product separately approved so as to not violate their safety codes,
laws and ordinances? Which states prohibit the sale of non-UL tested
electronic products?

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 21 Apr 2004 19:01 PDT

I am not aware of any legal requirements for a product to be UL-listed.

Are you certain that states have such requirements?  My understanding
is that states (or other jurisdictions) may require the *use* of
UL-approved components in construction, or whatever.  But that's very
different from requiring all electrical consumer products to be
so-approved.

If I'm mistaken in this, perhaps you could point me to a website where
such a comprehensive requirement exists, so that I (and other
researchers) can become more familiar with the standards that are in
place.

As for the overall thrust of your question, I must say that it seems a
rather simple matter to take a bunch of UL-approved components and put
together a highly dangerous, inherently unsafe device.  So I suspect
it is the device itself that warrants certification, rather than
simply the individual components.

Let us know how you would like us to proceed on your question.  I look
forward to hearing back from you.

I would say that it would have to be reevaluated, just because I
remember seeing pre-lit artificial Christmas trees that said UL
listed, but with a disclaimer stating that the lights were UL listed,
not the light and tree combination. Its not exactly the same deal, but
its a similar situation.