UL Eliminates all VN Fees for Electric Sign Listing Program

The Intl. Sign Assn. (ISA) reported today (January 15, 2013) that Underwriters Laboratories (UL) will eliminate all variation notice (VN) fees related to its electric-sign certification program, thanks to ongoing discussions between UL and the Sign Industry Business Panel, chaired by ISA Executive Vice President Rich Gottwald.

When sign products don’t comply with the UL Follow-Up Service Procedures, applicable standards or other requirements, UL field representatives issue VNs to document the nonconformance. The VN channel of communication between UL and a manufacturer creates a record when nonconformance issues are discovered. Prior to this agreement, each variation notice had been accompanied, in most circumstances, by a $580 fee.

“We celebrate the end of the variation-notice fees,” Gottwald said. “However, it’s important that manufacturers work to address not only the product nonconformance, but any underlying process or system issue that may have led to the nonconformance. We believe that elimination of the VN fee supports a collaborative relationship between the sign industry and UL, ensuring that we deliver products that consumers and end users can rely on.”

The Sign Industry Business Panel was formed five years ago to represent the sign industry in discussions with UL on critical issues. The panel is made up of sign and sign-component manufacturers from the Intl. Sign Assn. (ISA), the United States Sign Council (USSC) and World Sign Assoc. (WSA).