UL has tested products for public safety for more than a century. Since being founded in 1894, UL has held the undisputed reputation as a leader in product-safety testing and certification within the United States. UL is one of the most recognized and reputable conformity assessment providers in the entire world. The services provided by UL include helping companies achieve global acceptance for electrical devices, programmable systems, and their quality assurance.

The UL Mark is one of the most recognized, accepted, and trusted symbols in the world. It means that a not-for-profit, independent laboratory has tested and approved samples of products for safety requirements. It also means that periodic checks of UL certified manufacturing facilities have reaffirmed this safety status. The UL Mark is shown in Figure .

In 2001, UL accomplished the following:

• 17 billion UL Marks appeared on products.
• 64,482 different manufacturers produced UL-certified products.
• UL evaluated 108,296 products, including 18,655 different types of products.
• UL conducted 537,277 follow-up visits to audit compliance with product certification requirements.
• UL reached 190 million consumers with safety messages in the United States and Canada.

Web Links The Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL)  http://www.ul.com