Just to add a Canadian perspective, there are some approvals that can be done for certain products, devices, machines , etc. Here we have what is called a "special inspection" approval for equipment connected to mains voltage, domestic or industrial.
This is done for equipment that is low volume or custom made. An example would be a piece of test equipment or a machine that you built. You call the government electrical utility agency and they will have an inspector come and look at the equipment, verify it meets wiring code for grounding, fusing, cables used, etc, and that it is "safe" for an operator to use. They will attach a little orange sticker with a serial number to the equipment showing it has been approved by special inspection. It is the equivalent to submitting a sample and design to for approval of items mass produced, but done on a "piece by piece" basis. It's a very common way of getting approvals here, and you see it everyday on things including outdoor business signs, factory machinery, and smaller electrical items that are not sold in large volume.
At one place I worked we would have this done on a production run of say 200 items that were built only every now and then. It was cheaper and faster than all the "red-tape" to get a "CSA / UL " or equipment approval number for such small quantity.