Product certification and installer certification certify different things: the charger as a tested product, the person fitting it as a licensed, trained installer. A project needs both files, because each one covers a failure the other cannot prevent. A listed charger fitted badly is still a bad installation; a skilled installer handed an uncertified charger has no product file.
Key Takeaways
- Product certification proves the model; installer certification proves the people. Neither substitutes for the other.
- A certified charger fitted badly fails on workmanship; a certified installer with an uncertified charger has no product file.
- Run the two-file check against the exact model and job, before work starts.
- Where a listing names no certification marks, that is a written question to the manufacturer.
Two Credentials, Two Different Objects
Product certification attaches to a model. The evidence is a listing by a recognised testing laboratory — in the U.S., a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory under OSHA’s programme — or a declaration route such as CE in Europe. The document that counts names the exact model and configuration, as our explainer on EV charger certifications sets out. A certificate for a sibling model covers that model only.
Installer certification attaches to people and firms. The base layer is the electrician’s licence, issued locally. On top of it sit charger-specific training credentials: EVITP, for example, is a training and certification programme for licensed electricians — held by individuals, not by products or companies. Scheme approvals for installers are separate again.
The Pair, Side by Side
| Side | What the credential actually proves | The gap if it is missing | The document to file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product certification | The exact model passed the tests its market requires | Nothing verifiable stands behind the unit’s safety claims | Certificate, reports or declaration naming the exact model and variant |
| Installer certification | The people fitting it are licensed and trained for this work | A sound product can still be fitted against code and manual | Licence record, plus any programme credential the project names |
What Breaks When Only One Side Is Present
Take the certified product with an uncertified installer. The hardware is sound; the risk moves to the installation. EV charging is a continuous load under the NEC, so the breaker is sized at 125% of the charger’s current — 40 A of charging needs a 50 A breaker. A fitter who sizes the circuit like an ordinary socket load, or skips the manual’s conditions, produces work that can fail inspection and spark warranty arguments about workmanship, not hardware.
Now the reverse: a well-credentialed installer handed an uncertified charger. When the client, funder or insurer asks for the product file, there is nothing to produce — and the installer’s name is on the job. How laboratory listing works is covered in our guide to UL and ETL listing for EV chargers. The installer’s protection is to refuse the pairing: no product file, no install.
The Two-File Check Before a Project Starts
- Product file: certificate, test reports or declaration for the exact model shipped — not the family brochure.
- Label check: a photograph of the rating label as shipped, matching the file.
- Installer file: licence records for the named electricians, plus any programme credential the project documents name.
- Ownership check: on private-label work, confirm whose name the certificate carries.
How EVDANCE Presents Its Side of the Pair
Our side of the pair is the product file. The EV-ACT5006T listing states its marks directly — ETL, FCC and CE, for a 48 A NACS wall charger with IP65/IP66. The EV-AC03201T listing states OCPP 1.6J, RFID and IP54 and names no certification marks, so for that model the file question comes to us in writing before it is specified. Neither speaks to your installer: that credential is yours to file. EVDANCE was founded in 2011; private label runs from 100 units with a 3-year standard warranty, and model files start via the OEM and private-label programme or contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a certified charger make installer certification unnecessary?
No. The product file proves the unit as tested; it cannot prove the circuit was sized, the earthing arranged or the manual followed. Inspections, funders and insurers ask for the installer’s side separately — it answers a different question.
Is EVITP a product certification?
No. EVITP is a training and certification programme for licensed electricians: it certifies people, sits on the licence, and says nothing about any charger model.
Who asks to see both files?
Whoever carries the risk: funders, tendering clients, insurers and larger property owners.
Federally funded corridor work under 23 CFR Part 680, for example, sets conditions on both equipment and workforce in the same rule text — read the project’s own documents for what they name.
Related Reading
- EV Charger Certifications Explained: CE, UKCA, UL, ETL, CB and What Buyers Should Ask For
- UL and ETL Listing for EV Chargers: How NRTL Certification Works
- How to Become an EV Charger Installer (and Get Certified)
- Who Owns the Certificate in a Private-Label EV Charger?
