GFCI Personal Protection Devices Testing and Certification

Importance of GFCI certification

Our proven expertise in safety science and engineering enables us to serve the entire personal protection industry, from receptacle ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), portables and circuit breakers. One certification process allows you to benefit from faster speed to market. This streamlined and accelerated process saves time and money through a well-proven global certification program. Our extensive, flexible service portfolio covers research and development, Global Market Access, installation and end use.

Overview

A GFCI is a personal protection device that protects people from ground fault: an unintentional electrical path between, for example, a user of a power drill and the ground. The path for this electric current starts at the frayed cord of the power drill, passes through a person, and ends at the ground.

GFCI testing requirements and standards

The main GFCIs covered by UL 943/CSA C22.2 No. 144.1 are as follows:

Receptacle GFCI
Portable GFCI
Circuit breaker GFCI¹
¹Also is investigated to UL 489 Edition 13, Molded-Case Circuit Breakers, Molded-Case Switches, and Circuit-Breaker Enclosures

UL 943/CSA C22.2 No. 144.1 applies to Class A, single- and three-phase, ground fault circuit interrupters intended for protection of personnel, for use only in grounded neutral systems in accordance with the National Electrical Code (NEC), ANSI/NFPA 70, the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, and Electrical Installations (Use), NOM-001-SEDE.

These GFCIs are intended for use on alternating current (AC) circuits of 120 V, 208Y/120 V, 120/240 V, 127 V, or 220Y/127 V, 60 Hz circuits.

New requirements for GFCIs have been approved and will become effective on May 5, 2021. The new requirements relate to the new Auto-Monitoring Function for GFCIs, and manufacturers of GFCI products may require additional testing to comply with the new requirements. UL offers preliminary investigation services, as well as traditional evaluation and certification services, to help you evaluate and test in preparation for the release of the new edition of UL 943, the Standard for Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupters.