Access Door for the US Market: UL 10C Listing
A Chinese access door manufacturer needed a UL 10C listing to enter the United States. No supplier would take responsibility for specimen design, test construction and test-day guidance in one contract.
The Challenge
A manufacturer of fire-rated access doors wanted to sell into the United States, which meant a UL 10C listing. They had spoken to several suppliers. Some sold furnace equipment, some built specimens, but nobody would take responsibility for the whole chain: specimen design, construction, thermocouple layout and the day of the test itself. Every failed attempt cost them a furnace slot and three months.
What We Did
We took the project end to end. First, test construction: the specimen wall was built to the UL 10C requirements with the door installed and thermocouples positioned as the standard requires. Second, product review: we worked through the frame, the leaf stiffening, the intumescent seals and the hardware, closing the weaknesses that drive integrity and insulation failures before the test rather than after it. Third, test-day support: furnace pressure, the temperature curve and deflection were monitored throughout, so any drift could be corrected while there was still time to correct it.
The Result
The doorset passed on the first submission and the client obtained the listing. Orders followed. More useful in the long run, the construction and test path became repeatable: the next product in the range could follow the same specimen design and the same fixing details instead of starting from scratch.
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