The growth of the lighting manufacturing industry in Southern California prompted Underwriters Laboratories to open a facility in Brea to test various products for performance.
The new facility complements a lab for lights that’s also in Brea and tests lights.
Underwriters Laboratories is the testing and certification entity of Northbrook, Il-based UL LLC, which has been testing and certifying lighting products for safety and energy efficiency since 1894.
It opened the performance lab in Brea late last year and is holding an open house for customers and potential customers this week.
Underwriters Laboratories has a domestic performance-testing lab in Allentown, Pa. The new Brea lab is identical to it, according to UL Engineering Manager David Edwards.
UL chose Brea for its second performance testing location based on its 20 plus-year tenure there and because the large community of lighting manufacturers in the region needed a more modern and convenient facility to do testing above and beyond what the original location offers, Edwards said.
“Manufacturers near our Brea location now have local access to a comprehensive suite of testing and certification services,” Edwards said. “Additionally, UL’s laboratory is singular in the sense of the customers’ expectations of our testing lab: industry-leading technical expertise and turn-around times, economical pricing, and diversity of the testing services offered.”
The performance lab was originally supposed to open last July. However, logistical issues delayed the opening until October, Edwards said.
The lab encompasses 19,000 square feet, and there are currently eight employees. UL declined to disclose the cost to build it, Edwards said.
