Hello,

So I was given a La San Marco espresso machine (85-16M-2) for a new Cafe that I am opening up from the company that roasts the coffee that we are carrying at our location. We just had an electric inspection and he said that this piece of equipment did not have a label that it has been tested or certified for the USA. Like a UL or NSF ect... however it does say CE and TUV Cert ISO 9001.

What is the difference? Is this machine able to be used in a commercial business in the United States??? Where do I get papers for this to show the inspector?? Or do I have to have a company come out and test it?

This is holding up our timeline and the lady who gave it to me is out of the country till the end of March, so can anyone help?? THANK YOU

This question is perhaps better asked on barista-exchange.com where there are more professional users contributing.

In short: it's cleared for the market in Europa (CE is the electric safety label/marking and the ISO 9000-numbers're quality certificates).

Google is your friend. I searched on "ce electrical certification". Wikipedia wins for best summary:

Wikipedia wrote:Existing in its present form since 1993, the CE marking is a key indicator of a product's compliance with EU legislation and enables the free movement of products within the European market. By affixing the CE marking on a product, a manufacturer is declaring, on one's sole responsibility, conformity with all of the legal requirements to achieve CE marking and therefore ensuring validity for that product to be sold throughout the European Economic Area. This also applies to products made in third countries which are sold in the EEA.

The UL site had this noteworthy tidbit:

UL wrote:Unlike the UL Mark, the CE Marking: (a) Is not a safety certification mark, (b) Is generally based on self-declaration rather than third-party certification, and (c) Does not demonstrate compliance to North American safety standards or installation codes.

The last point is especially relevant to the question at hand. The answers on another website to "UL, CSA, ETL and CE: Whats the Difference?" were good enough to win runner-up with this tidbit:

Crown Audio wrote:ITS tests products according to nearly 200 safety and performance standards. The ETL Listed Mark and C-ETL Listed Mark are accepted throughout the United States and Canada when denoting compliance with nationally recognized standards such as ANSI, IEC, UL, and CSA.

Back to the original question, I assume the electrician inspector is looking for proof that the appliance is approved for commercial use. As Marshall noted, members of this board are not likely to have firsthand experience with such problems, though the question of certification is relevant for home espresso enthusiasts because lots of Italian products are not marked with familiar US certification marks like "UL" and "NSF". It's worth noting that some vendors will specifically call out the validity of a given machine for such use in the US. For example, Chris' Coffee Service notes the following for the La Spaziale Vivaldi II:

• (ETL) Sanitation Listed (Conforms to ANSI/NSF STD 4)
  c(ETL)us Listed (Conforms to UL STD 197 Certified to CAN/CSA STD C22.2 NO. 109

This is an important selling point because some buyers plan to use it for catering and the question of valid certification in the US is sure to arise; in this case, Chris' Coffee Service has helpfully noted the ETL-to-UL and ETL-to-NSF equivalent. I realize this doesn't answer your question, but it's my hope the background information will help you get one step closer in your investigation.

The inspector's job is for safety, these marks make it easier for them to do their job because machines that have been certified are known good, so are given an automatic pass.

Machines that are not certified are not necessarily unsafe, but they aren't given a free pass.

I'd ask the inspector what your options are. It is ultimately them and the local regulations you need to satisfy. If they have no other option than UL certification, you may be out of luck, but there might be other routes, such as a more detailed inspection.

Note that the electrical inspection is only one aspect. There is also the food safety inspection, so even if you pass on electrical, without a US food safety certification or passed inspection, you might still be out of luck.

The inspectors are not there to make your life hell - they are there to keep the public safe. If you have a good attitude and an inspector willing to work with you it can make a huge difference.

Somebody is going to get stuck doing a bunch of homework. (Insert big sigh here) There are a couple of options possibly available depending on location and budget. One can actually have a piece of electrical equipment inspected by a Underwriters Laboratory inspector or a person certified to do UL inspections. You will have to check if this service is available in your local. I worked for a company that built industrial switch gear and we often had to go this route to satisfy different code requirements. Then comes the budget issue.
Other choice is to see what your local codes are pertaining to hard wired equipment versus plug in devices. You might be able to have a suitable NEMA outlet on a suitably sized circuit and the espresso machine sits in the back of the truck till all inspections are done. The electrical inspector is normally done with his/her work long before the shop renovation is done. They hate wet paint.
jpboyt

I don't think I've ever had equipment on location and installed when the electrical inspection took place (unless it was hard-wired).