UL 294 certification in access control: why it’s still the gold standard

Published on 22nd May 2025

UL 294 certification in access control: why it’s still the gold standard

There’s a lot of noise in access control right now. Everyone’s talking about cloud-native systems, mobile credentials, remote management, smart building integrations. Fair enough, the space is evolving fast.

We’re shedding decades of legacy wiring, clunky local servers, and clumsy badge printers. The future is elegant, touchless, and controlled remotely .

But here’s the part nobody likes to talk about: none of it works when the hardware fails.

And that’s why UL certification still matters. Arguably more than ever.

UL stands for Underwriters Laboratories which is a safety certifier that tests equipment and technology before it goes to market.

The foundation that nobody sees

UL (Underwriters Laboratories) isn’t flashy. It doesn’t run ad campaigns or host smart building expos. But what it does do is test the hell out of things.

In access control, the relevant standard is UL 294. It’s a quietly authoritative benchmark that asks a very basic but crucial question: Will this system work properly when something fails?

Power cut? Interference? Hardware fault? Tamper attempt? UL 294 doesn’t care how pretty your dashboard is or how slick your Apple Wallet integration looks. It wants to know what happens at the door, when reliability matters more than branding.

And what exactly is this benchmark? The door must open (or stay shut) exactly as intended when other parts of the system break down.

What UL tests and why it’s brutal

UL 294 isn’t a single checkbox, it’s a stress test suite that picks apart every component of your access control setup:

  • Electrical immunity: Does your system survive voltage fluctuations and EMI interference?
  • Fail-safe behaviour: Do doors unlock or stay locked the right way during a fire alarm?
  • Tamper response: Can it detect or resist physical meddling?
  • Power resilience: What happens when the mains drop and the batteries kick in?
  • Operational endurance: Will it still be working perfectly after years of continuous use?

UL 294 isn’t interested in how well a product performs on paper. It wants to know how it performs in reality. The unglamorous, chaotic, messy reality of commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, hotels, and airports.

The cloud can’t save you in a crisis

Don’t get us wrong, the cloud is transformative. Platforms like DoorFlow are improving the way that access is provisioned, monitored, and automated across entire sites: from single coworking spaces to global hotel chains.

But there's one hard limit that remains: the cloud doesn't physically open the door.

It's the on-site working hardware that provides this crucial element of security.

You can have the best cloud platform in the world, but if your reader fries during a surge or your controller ignores the fire panel signal because of poor shielding, it’s over.

Your access control story becomes a liability story. The difference between a UL-certified component and a generic box from a budget vendor can literally be the difference between compliance and legal exposure.

Safety isn’t optional

Let’s be real: in many verticals, UL isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s written into the rules, otherwise, why else would you have an access control system if it’s not reliable and prone to failure?

If you’re installing access control in:

  • A building with fire-rated doors
  • A hospital or care facility
  • A university or school
  • A hotel or multi-tenant office

…then you’re likely required by building codes, insurers, or fire marshals to use UL-listed components. That includes your electric locks, your controller boards, your power supply, and your fire alarm interfaces.

Ignore this, and your insurance might refuse to pay out after an incident. Even worse, your system could interfere with emergency exits, leaving you legally responsible.

The shortcut to trust

Here’s the thing most people miss, UL isn’t just for safety-critical environments. Having hardware with the UL certification is also a sign of professionalism and product maturity.

Specifiers and consultants know this, that’s why tender documents so often require UL-certified systems. It’s a shortcut to trust, a signal that your product has passed a bar set by someone outside of your own marketing department.

UL certification tells the world:

“We didn’t just build this to work. We built it to fail safely.”

That’s the mark of real engineering.

Hardware still matters

There’s a recurring myth in the SaaS world that hardware is a commodity, something to get past as quickly and made cheaply as possible. But in access control, the hardware is the front line of the system. It’s the part that gets touched, slammed, shorted, ignored, bumped, reset, and tested daily.

UL-certified components from vendors like Axis and ASSA ABLOY don’t just meet the minimum specification. They’ve been torn apart and rebuilt under lab conditions to make sure they’ll still work when chaos strikes.

As the software and management control system provider, that’s why we at DoorFlow recommend them, not because they’re trendy, but because they won’t fail under pressure.

CE vs UL: European context, global standards

In the UK and Europe, the CE (stands for European Conformity) marking is the usual baseline. But here’s the dirty little secret: CE can often be self-declared. Manufacturers test against standards, declare themselves compliant, and slap the mark on.

UL, on the other hand, is always third-party tested. UL-listed products are audited, re-tested and verified in ways CE simply doesn’t demand.

If your business operates internationally, you’re dealing with global clients, or you’re future-proofing for expansion into North America, UL compliance gives you peace of mind beyond borders.

Modern access control can be UL-certified too

One myth can be busted right now: that UL compliance means sticking with outdated gear, it doesn’t. If it’s hardware, it’s capable of undergoing UL testing.

The modern UL ecosystem includes:

  • PoE-based edge controllers
  • Wireless locks
  • Apple Wallet-compatible readers
  • Smart power supplies with battery failover
  • Fire alarm override panels with local logic

This means you can still build a fully cloud-native, beautifully integrated system whilst feeling confident in that knowledge that it’s all compliant and will survive every worst-case scenario.

We see this so often, customers assume they have to pick between cutting-edge UX and bulletproof physical systems. But with the right architecture, you get both. Platforms like DoorFlow show how you can run the show from the cloud and still sleep at night, knowing that your hardware devices are UL-tested and will cope in the event of a system failure.

So what can’t UL do?

UL certification is not the answer to everything. It doesn’t guarantee that your software is any good. It doesn’t mean your permissions model is intuitive or your reporting is helpful. It doesn’t say anything about your customer support team, your uptime SLA, or your REST API docs.

This is where platform design comes in.

UL guarantees that when the software needs the hardware to behave instantly, silently, and correctly, it will.

And if that hardware doesn’t respond? Good luck explaining to the fire inspector that your reader didn’t open because the cloud hadn’t synced yet!

Reliability is the real feature

When you look at the whole picture, what is the main selling point of access control?

It’s not just convenience, it’s not just visibility and it’s not even just security.

It’s all about trust.

Trust that your system will behave the right way, every time, without hesitation. Trust that emergencies won’t turn into headlines.

UL certification is one of the few tangible signs that this trust has been earned. That someone, somewhere, tested this thing to the limit and said: yes, it holds.

Best-in-class hardware is always the right choice

If you’re serious about access control, then having UL certified hardware matters, it’s a quiet badge of honour.

Because when the door doesn’t open (or close), the excuses don’t matter. The spec sheets don’t matter. The marketing spin doesn’t matter.

Only the system matters. And the system, if it was built right, will open the door.

If you’d like to talk more about how UL-hardware can integrate with DoorFlow’s cloud-access control system, contact us to arrange a chat.