Hazardous Location (HazLoc) Certification

Hazardous Location (HazLoc) certification is based on the commonly used explosion protection standards for North America. Element can facilitate HazLoc certification by providing explosive atmosphere equipment testing, factory inspection, and certification for various international certification schemes. 

Only classified equipment may be used in hazardous locations in many parts of North America, although zoned areas are becoming more common. This equipment is classified using the same criteria as the hazardous location and carries clear marking to this effect. All hazardous location equipment, for either classified or zoned areas, must be certified by a third-party Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) or Standards Council of Canada (SCC) certification body. 

Ordinary location testing for HazLoc certification

For many types of mains-powered equipment, HazLoc certification for either the US or Canada will also require third-party certification for the relevant industrial or ordinary location standards. This is a different approach to that adopted for ATEX or IECEx, where this aspect is generally self-declared.

Common industrial standards for the ordinary location aspects will be UL/CSA 60950-1 or UL/CSA 61010-1.

Factory inspection requirements

Factory inspections are a mandatory part of the NRTL certification process under OHSA and SCC rules. With 20 years experience of NRTL audits, Element operates a team of expert assessors to provide Pre-Certification Factory Inspections (PCFI), Bi-Annual Factory Inspection, or Quarterly Hazloc factory Inspection.

The Element advantage 

We have many years of experience in this complex technical area and we can provide a comprehensive HazLoc certification and compliance package, which provides one of the quickest routes to the North American market.

To learn more about HazLoc Certification and to see how we can help, contact us with your specification and requirements.