There's been a lot said over the years about FPE. 99% of what's been said has been little more than a re-hash of the same old New York Consumer's agency report - a report very, very limited in scope, and not confirmed by other parties.
Well, the latest issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine (Nov 2015) has the first NEW information I've seen in ages.
An article ("The Whistleblower," page 80) details the activities by Jim Meachum, an engineer who briefly worked for FPE. Jim documented various fraudulent activities, attempted to address them within FPE, and left in disgust.
The article does not tell us WHEN Mr. Meachum acted, but it does reference a 1955 legal action between UL and FPE.
Apart from the actions of FPE, this drama -MY opinion only- calls into question the integrity of UL and it's processes.
It appears UL knew, for decades, that FPE was dishonest.
Somehow UL's own in-house testing failed to identify FPE's issues ... or, if it did, the responses were inadequate and concealed.
It's revealing that, despite having defeated every regulatory safeguard, FPE was brought to heel by ordinary market forces. Folks simply stopped buying them as FPE's reputation withered.
There are two lessons in this tale.
The first is that it is folly to rely upon codes, standards, testing, and bureaucrats to protect us.
The second is: you can't beat a free market for keeping things in line.
That's something to consider, as the main effect of codes, standards, and bureaucracies is to interfere with the operation of the free market.
Absent the assurance provided by the UL sticker, FPE would have folded decades earlier. The 'system' failed.
