UL Listing of ALL SYSTEMS? WTF? New World Brewing Systems

[BIRCUS Brewing]

Hey All,

We here at BIRCUS are fighting some serious battles to get our brewery up and running.

We have a 1996 New World Brewing Systems 5BBL BrewHouse with 3-10BBL Fermenters & 3-10BBL Brites.

We had what "we thought" was our final inspection today and were failed on just a few small, minor "fixable" things except for one.

They are requiring proof of UL Certification for the entire brewing assembly as a unit.

There is a UL Listing on the Brewhouse of AC-037891 - Enclosed Industrial Control Panel
There is a UL Listing on the Glycol Control Box of AC-037890 - Enclosed Industrial Control Panel

We were told that these are not sufficient and only apply to the "empty boxes" that the controls are housed in.

Our system is up! We are ready to take a brewing to scale, but simply have no clue how to research UL Listings of what is now an out of business brewery manufaturing co. or if they were ever UL Certified as a "system" vs. the individual components used to construct them.

Anyone with any input on how to proceed from here would be greatly appreciated. We are told there are independent labs that will come out and UL Certify operations, but before we bite that bullet we want to make damn sure we aren't just being hosed by the man here! This is getting rediculous!!

Thanks,

BIRCUS Team

[rdcpro]

There is a UL Listing on the Brewhouse of AC-037891 - Enclosed Industrial Control Panel
There is a UL Listing on the Glycol Control Box of AC-037890 - Enclosed Industrial Control Panel

We were told that these are not sufficient and only apply to the "empty boxes" that the controls are housed in.

I believe they are incorrect. It seems unlikely to me that these listings are for the empty boxes. From the Spring 2013 issue of UL's newsletter you find this definition of "enclosed industrial control panels:"

Within UL product category NITW, there are three main product identities associated with industrial control panels, “Enclosed Industrial Control Panel,” “Open Industrial Control Panel” or “Industrial Control Panel Enclosure.” These specific product identities need to be considered by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) when inspecting an installation, as each one has its own distinct installation application.

Enclosed industrial control panels
An enclosed industrial control panel is comprised of the enclosure, all components located within the enclosure, and all components mounted to the walls or cover of the enclosure. The construction of the entire unit has been investigated, including its ability to safely function within the specified marked voltage, current and short circuit current ratings.

That section goes on to state:

One can also refer to section 90.7 of the NEC, which in part states that except to detect for alterations or damage, the factory-installed internal wiring or the construction of equipment need not be inspected by the AHJ at the time of installation, provided the equipment has been listed by a qualified electrical testing laboratory, such as UL. So when inspecting a UL Listed enclosed industrial control panel, the AHJ is only required to verify that the equipment has not been
damaged, its marked ratings are sufficient for the load and intended application, the field connections are properly terminated, and there has not been any field modifications to the wiring schematic.

Unfortunately there may not be anything you can do about it, except escalate with the building dept. I've run into this before with inspectors. I even had one that insisted "recognized testing laboratory" means Underwriters Laboratories" and he wouldn't accept any other label than UL. If you do decide to get an onsite visit, try ETL labs, who may be much cheaper than UL for this. But make sure they're acceptable to the AHJ.

I'd be interested in hearing how this turns out. Good luck!

Regards,
Mike Sharp

[mmussen]

That's going to depend a lot on your local inspectors. I would suggest you open up the panels and take a look at the components inside. If those components all have UL listings you may well be good to go.
Mike may have a very good point in the comment above - you may want to try to contact UL directly with the numbers and see what exactly they cover.

Finally I just want to mention that the last brewery I was working at we had similar problems with the inspectors on a used Pub brewing system. It ended up being cheaper/easier to get individual Ranco controllers for the FV's and have a new brewhouse control panel built by a local company that was UL listed than to have someone come out and re-approve the old control systems.

Cheers and Good luck!

[BIRCUS Brewing]

"Unfortunately there may not be anything you can do about it, except escalate with the building dept."

Yeah... unfortunately, it IS the building dept. that is requiring a UL (or similar) certification.

Thanks for all the replies, this is great information (and ammunition) for us to have on hand.

[BIRCUS Brewing]

Great information. Thank you!

"Unfortunately there may not be anything you can do about it, except escalate with the building dept."

Yeah... unfortunately, it IS the building dept. that is requiring a UL (or similar) certification.

Thanks for all the replies, this is great information (and ammunition) for us to have on hand.