UL 60950 (Information Technology Equipment)
Definition
UL 60950 was the product safety standard for information technology equipment, covering construction, insulation, and protection against electric shock, fire, and mechanical hazard. UL withdrew it as an active standard in December 2020 and replaced it with UL 62368-1 for new certifications.
What the standard requires
UL 60950 was a product safety standard for information technology equipment. It covered the construction of the equipment, its insulation and creepage distances, protection against electric shock, resistance to fire, and mechanical and thermal hazards. Certification to it was a testing laboratory's determination that a product had been examined against those requirements.
It answered a different question from UL 1363. UL 1363 covers relocatable power taps as a product category; UL 60950 covered information technology equipment safety, which is why several of our series carry both and why the two listings are published on separate legacy pages under separate part numbers. A product listed to one is not thereby listed to the other.
UL 60950 was never a procurement rule, said nothing about where a product or its components were made, and rated no surge performance. Those are the Buy American Act and UL 1449 respectively.
UL 60950-1, Information Technology Equipment, Safety
What supersession means, and what it does not
Superseding a standard is not recalling a product. UL, as the developer of the standard, withdrew UL 60950-1 as an active standard in December 2020 and replaced it with UL 62368-1, which means UL 60950 is no longer maintained and is no longer the standard against which new certifications are issued. Equipment examined under it was examined against the requirements in force at the time, and the change did not alter the equipment or cancel anything issued against it.
What the change does affect is what a specification can ask for. A solicitation written today that requires information technology equipment safety certification will name UL 62368-1, the standard that superseded it. A buyer working to a current specification should ask for documentation against the standard their specification names, rather than against the one a catalog page happens to carry.
UL 60950 and UL 1363 are not interchangeable
Four of our series are published under both, and they are two separate determinations by a testing laboratory against two separate standards. UL 1363 covers the relocatable power tap: a cord-connected assembly with several receptacles, intended to be moved. UL 60950 covered information technology equipment safety.
The practical consequence for a buyer is that the two listings can differ in scope, in the configurations they cover, and in the ratings they carry. On our legacy catalog the same physical unit appears under both standards with different part numbers and, in several series, with different amperage figures. Naming the standard your specification requires, rather than the product, is what gets the right document back.
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Frequently asked questions
- What happened to UL 60950?
- UL withdrew it as an active standard in December 2020 and replaced it with UL 62368-1, which is the current standard for the safety of information technology and audio-video equipment. Existing certifications to UL 60950 were not canceled: Intertek's guidance is that a certification remains in force provided the product design has not changed in a way requiring a new certification decision.
- Which Brooks series are published with a UL 60950 listing?
- Six: IEC International Outlet Strips, Industrial Grade Outlet Units, Large Channel Outlet Units, Low Profile Outlet Units, Rack Mount Units, and Slim Line Series. Ask for the listing documentation covering the configuration you need and we will send what applies to it.
- Does a superseded standard mean the equipment is unsafe?
- No. Supersession means the standard is no longer maintained and no longer the basis for new certifications. It says nothing about equipment already examined under it, which was tested against the requirements in force at the time.
- What replaced UL 60950?
- UL 62368-1, which merged the scope of UL 60950 for information technology equipment with UL 60065 for audio and video equipment and takes a hazard-based approach rather than a prescriptive one.
- Is UL 60950 the same as UL 1363?
- No. UL 1363 covers relocatable power taps as a product category and UL 60950 covered information technology equipment safety. Several of our series are published under both, as two separate determinations against two separate standards.
Ask a UL 60950 question
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- No minimum order: one unit to full production.
- A person reads every request and replies within two working days.
- ETL listed to UL 1363 and certified to UL 1449. Buy American Act compliant construction.
Products we manufacture carry a two-year warranty.
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