UL Flame and Flammability testsThe schedule below is a comparison of UL and IEC / CSA flame tests. This summary does not include the flame tests specified in UL Subject 758, section G.
| UL Standard | Test designation and description | Equivalent IEC test | Equivalent CSA test | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 1581 §1100 | Horizontal-specimen flame test | Horizontal-tray low-energy, flame propagation test IEC 331-2 | Roughly equivalent; No equivalent existing | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 1581 §1060 | Vertical flame test | Vertical-tray low-energy, flame propagation test IEC 332-1 | Generally equivalent; No equivalent existing | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 1581 §1080 | VW-1 (vertical specimen) flame test | Verticall-tray low-energy, flame propagation test IEC 332-1 | Generally equivalent Equivalent to FT-1 | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 1581 §1160 (IEEE 383) | UL vertical-tray flame test | Vertical-tray, high-energy, combustion propagation test IEC 332-3 | Generally equivalent Similar to FT-4 | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 1581 §1164 (IEEE 1202) | UL vertical-tray flame test; vertical-tray, high-energy, combustion propagation test | No equivalent existing | Equivalent to FT-4 | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 1666 |
General Riser test |
No equivalent existing | No equivalent existing | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 910 |
General Plenum cable test (Steiner tunnel) |
No equivalent existing | Equivalent to FT-6 | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 910 |
Smoke section Smoke density test for plenum cables IEC 1034 |
Test procedure very different, but addresses the same issue | No equivalent existing | ||||||||||||||||
| UL 1685 | Low-smoke, low-flame cable test |
Combination of IEC 332-3 & IEC 1034 Tests not equivalent or comparable, but addresses the same issue and cables |
No equivalent existing | ||||||||||||||||
Please note: "Generally equivalent" or "Roughly equivalent" does not mean that a cable passing a UL flame test (e.g. UL 1581, §1080, VW-1) passes automatically an IEC flame test (e.g. IEC 332-1).
