Thank you the many comments relative to your NRTL experiences. The number
of responses thus far is more than adequate, and we can cease this
discussion.
A few comments and observations:
1. My objective was to shed a little light on the "dark" side of NRTLs
which
do not always act in a reasonable, consistent, or competent, manner.
I
hope this "publicity" helps in some small way to improve this
situation.
2. It was not surprising that so many others had similar experiences.
3. While individual interpretation is a large part of applying standards,
any given NRTL or company product safety group should strive for at
least
some internal consesus in this regard.
4. In the case described, the product is a mains powered option for one
of
our printers, manufactured by a West coast vendor. I forwarded many
of
the appends to assist our vendor in deciding how to respond to the
NRTL's
FUS inspector or initial examining engineer. Fortunately, we work
with
a different office of the same NRTL which has not exhibited this type
of
inconsistency, i.e. approve a design and then challenge numerous
aspects
of the approved design a year later.
Thank you again for your comments.
George Alspaugh
Product Safety Authority
Lexmark International
