Standards and certifications comprise a vast number of companies and compliances that serve specific purposes—primarily addressing
safety, environmental impact and energy efficiency,
and sanitation. They are divided into categories for each product type and certification type to allow for very specific qualifications related to each product. When this system is being used as intended, it gives consumers, installers, suppliers, and anyone else that may be involved confidence that the product is safe and will work well in their application.
The most common UL and ETL certifications relate to safety and installation, although they do also provide some sanitation-related certifications (using NSF standards). Another common certification body is the DLC, which specializes in certifying the performance of a light—mainly related to environmental impact and electrical efficiency. Learn more about different certification types
here.