Does your ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT have any of these symbols on it?

Dangers and Liabilities of Installing Un-Certified Electrical Equipment

By ontario law and legislation it is mandatory to ensure before any electrical product or piece of electrical equipment is used, sold, displayed or advertised for sale in Ontario, it must be approved by an accredited certification or evaluation agency. The item must carry the official mark or label of the agency which indicate that the product has been independently assessed for safety. If your electrical equi[pment does not bear one or more of these marking it can carry some unfortunate consequences for you. If, for example, if a fancy light fixture is bought from a foreign country and has not been inspected and approved for use in canada then it is imperative that it be certified before installation. If not then there are legal ramificatrions, first off you or the installer can be charged upwards of $50,000 including up to one year of imprisonment. Also, if there is a fire or serious injury found to be caused by this piece of un-certified electrical equipment than it is highly likely that your insurance claims will be denied. Canada has some high standards of safety and its levels of standards are often much higher than most other countries, so the electrical equipment you purchased from another country may not be built to satisfy the canadian standards and may be considered a hazardous piece of equipment due to its inferior construction.

So, if you have a special fixture or piece of equipment you would like to install in your home or office and it does not bear one of these markings then there are steps that can be taken to have them certified through certain avenues. Per Ontario Reg. 438/07, electrical products can only be certified by agencies that have been accredited by the Standards Council of Canada. No other product approval markings are accepted in Ontario.