You may have noticed that brass and plastic ball valve have markings on them. These markings aren’t random, and they help show what standards plastic ball valve have been tested to and what applications they can be used in. In this blog we will go over the different markings that you may come across when looking at plastic ball valve.

Testing and Quality Assurance:
Here are 5 markings that may appear on plastic ball valve as they identify testing and/or ensure quality.

UL – Underwriter’s Laboratories tests valves to 3 times the pressure rating stated on the valve body. These valves must pass UL’s test in order to have the UL logo on the valve body.

CSA – Canadian Standards Association is another organization that tests plastic ball valve to ensure they meet their standards. Even though this is a Canadian association, it does tests for both Canadian and US standards. A “C” or “US” may be found under their logo indicating which country’s standards the ball valve has been tested to. If both appear, the plastic ball valve has been tested to the highest standard in both countries.

FM - Factory Mutual Global, a US based insurance company, has approved the ball valve. They take an engineering approach to make sure the valve meets their high standards.

UPC / cUPC – Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) and Canadian Uniform Plumbing Code (cUPC) ensure that plumbing products are safe and sanitary.

ANSI – American National Standards Institute tests ball valves to various standards. The standards are stamped on the ball valve, ie ANSI Z21.15.