Southco gets UL recognition certification FTTA2/FTTA8

June 7, 2018 By Danielle Kirsh

Southco was recently granted UL FTTA2/FTTA8 recognition certification for its portfolio of hinge and latch products.

UL FTTA2/FTTA8 recognition certification evaluates components abilities to resist corrosion and performance degradation due to environmental conditions and usage over time. Southco is the first access hardware component supplier to receive the certification.

The products certified by UL include the company's E5 Cam Latch and E3 Vise Action Compression Latch series, TL and V7 Draw Latch series, ST Constant Torque Positioning Hinges and M3 Multi-Point Compression Latching System.

"Southco's work with UL will allow us to provide greater value to our customers, by helping them to bring their products to market faster with our FTTA2/FTTA8 recognized products," said Chris Waite, engineer of diversified technologies at Southco. "By pre-qualifying the enclosure access hardware for indoor and outdoor applications, it's been estimated the manufacturer will save at least 50 days of testing time, including fees associated with testing, and the cost of test samples."

UL is a global organization that helps companies demonstrate safety, confirm compliance, deliver quality and performance and build workplace excellence through a number of services like inspections, advisory services, education and training, testing, auditing and analytics, certification and marketing claim verification.

UL FTTA2/FTTA8 was released in 2015 and is a recognition certification for the U.S. and Canada. It covers enclosure accessories and helps manufacturers who want to use Type rated hinging and latching accessories in enclosures that are UL50E compliant.

Southco already has products that meet Type ratings for electrical enclosures. The new certification tests to the same standards, but also takes into account environmental factors to make it easier for enclosure manufacturers to make products that meet UL 50E requirements.

UL 50 requirements applies to enclosures for electrical equipment that is intended to be installed and used in non-hazardous locations in accordance with the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, CSA C22.1, the provisions of the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70 and the provisions of Mexico's Electrical Installations. UL 50 is a tri-national standard harmonized with CSA C22.2 No. 94.1-07 and NMX-J-235/1–ANCE-2007 and UL 50E covers additional environmental construction and performance requirements for these types of enclosures.

"UL works with manufacturers from the outset to help them address challenges and achieve compliance," said John Kovacik, principal engineer at UL. "Not only do we excel in research and science, but we understand our customers’ market needs. So, we are uniquely skilled to help them with testing, certification, and analysis of the results and explain, if needed, why there is a failure, in order to help them revise and retest."