Glossary of Terms

Accredited Standards Developer

An organization that meets the ANSI Procedures for the Development and Coordination of American National Standards, and has been approved by the ANSI Executive Standards Council (ExSC) for the development of American National Standards.

ANSI

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private nonprofit organization that coordinates and administers the U.S. voluntary standards and conformity assessment system. ANSI also coordinates the U.S. participation in the development of international standards.

Appeals Panel

A standing impartial panel that hears administrative and special circumstances appeals pertaining to the development or revision of an ANSI/UL standard.

CANENA

CANENA (Council for Harmonization of Electrotechnical Standards of the Nations of the Americas ) is a not-for-profit industry membership organization that facilitates and promotes international electrotechnical standardization and harmonization of standards within the Americas.

Certification

A process that determines that the source, substance, quality, manufacture, performance, described features, precision, ruggedness or other characteristics of a product or service meets the standard/s, code or criteria developed for that product or service.

Chair

The person responsible for the leadership of the Standards Technical Panel, including determining membership and ensuring the process is conducted efficiently and effectively.

Code

Local, state or national regulations that specify requirements to protect public safety and health, such as home/building construction codes.

Collateral Standard

Proposals to a standard may directly or indirectly affect other products or industries that use the products covered by the standard, or the products or industries providing components for the products covered by the standard. As part of UL's standards development or revision process, subscribers to collaterally affected standards are notified of the availability of proposals that may affect their products.

Comment

A position (for or against), opinion, observation, explanation, criticism or recommendation concerning a proposal to develop or revise a standard. A comment can also refer to a technical justification of a negative vote or an explanation of an abstention or affirmative vote.

Consensus

A commonly agreed-upon viewpoint held by stakeholders regarding a standard, certification or related process. While the consensus process seeks to reconcile conflicts, it does not imply unanimous agreement. Under the STP (Standards Technical Panel, see below for more information) Process, consensus is considered achieved if there is approval by at least two-thirds of those members voting who have submitted a vote, excluding abstentions, negatives without comment, and negatives based on material not under consideration and a majority of the STP have returned a ballot.

Co-Published Standard

A standard submitted through the standards development process of UL and one or more additional Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) that is published separately (with common text and common publication date) by all of the involved SDOs. A co-published standard may also be referred to as a harmonized  standard, or as a binational (two nations) or trinational (three nations) standard.

CSDS (Collaborative Standards Development System)

UL's web-based standards development system used to submit proposals, comment, and vote on proposals at any time of the day from any computer system with internet access. CSDS is open to anyone interested and is the only tool for participation in UL's standards development process; no hardcopy or e-mail comments are accepted.

Effective Date

The date a new or revised requirement in a UL Standard goes into effect.

Harmonization

Coordinating and unifying requirements from multiple standards (often but not always multiple countries' standards) and providing one inclusive standard that affected businesses and organizations can use  to demonstrate compliance with the applicable requirements.

IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)

a non-profit organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

Industry Standard

An industry-developed guideline, sometimes referred to as "best practices," that documents generally agreed-upon requirements for products, practices, processes or procedures. Adherence to industry standards is voluntary rather than required by law.

International Standard

A standard in effect across multiple countries or regions, typically developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

ISO is a non-government federation of national standards bodies from 150 different countries intended to  promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to and facilitating the international exchange of goods and services.

Mandatory Standards

Standards enforced by law for the protection of public health, safety or the environment.

National Electrical Code® (NEC)

A U.S. safety standard for the design, construction and installation of electrical circuits, typically electrical wiring within buildings, and electrical equipment. The NEC is published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as NFPA 70.

National Standard

A standard developed primarily for domestic use, adhered to by local companies and, typically, organizations doing business within a country.

Primary Designated Engineer (PDE)

UL's global technical expert for a specific UL Standard. UL PDEs are responsible for driving integrity, global consistency and engineering quality throughout all UL operations in the UL family of companies. A PDE is UL's voting member on the Standards Technical Panel (STP).

Project Manager

Within UL, this is the person tasked with administering the Standards Technical Panel process and coordinating the development or revision (including harmonization) of a standard.

Proposal

A suggested amendment, deletion or addition to a UL Standard, made using a proposal request form in CSDS.

Provisional ANSI Standard

A document published by UL and in effect for a limited amount of time, when a proposed ANSI standard revision may result in an improvement to the safeguarding of life or to address another emergency situation or special circumstance.

Regionally Harmonized Standard

Developed to unify the standards of countries within a geographical region.

SDO (Standards Development Organization):

An organization that facilitates the development of standards and publication of standards. SDOs include:

• ANCE (National Association of Standardization and Certification)
• ASTM (ASTM International)
• ISA (International Society of Automation)
• NFPA (National Fire Protection Association)
• UL (Underwriters Laboratories)
• ULC Standards

Standards Technical Panel (STP)

A group responsible for the development and revision of a standard or group of standards. An STP serves as the consensus body for UL Standards.

Technical Harmonization Committee (THC)

A group responsible for the developing the proposed draft of a harmonized standard, specifically focusing on technical requirements to be included in the harmonized standard. The group consists of an industry representative of each involved country as well as representatives of the involved SDOs, if applicable.

UL Standard

A document published by UL detailing construction, performance, environmental, sustainability or other requirements utilized for certification.