Manufacturers of innovative
building products are often faced with an interesting challenge: How do I
convince my customers that my product is as dependable as I know it to be?
While a seemingly simple question, there are several possible answers to it.
The manufacturer could:
o Rely on
published data about similar products.
o Work
with a professional engineer or other qualified designer to create evidence.
o Conduct
in-house testing.
o Have the
product evaluated by an accredited product certification agency.
There are several differences
between building product testing and certification, and deciding which way to
go depends on your objective. The table below outlines some of the major
differences between the two paths. There are exceptions, of course, but these
rules of thumb generally hold true.
Building Product
Certification
|
Building Product Testing
|
|
Generates data using
nationally recognized standards (test report)
|
X
|
X
|
Provides performance data for
a product
|
X
|
X
|
Includes continual assessment
of a product over time
|
X
|
|
Requires an in-house quality
system inspected by a third-party agency
|
X
|
|
Fully documents a product
prior to testing by a third-party agency
|
X
|
|
Demonstrates compliance with
certain sections of accepted building codes
|
X
|
|
Provides evaluation beyond a
test standard (evaluation or listing report)
|
X
|
Building product testing alone can be a better solution when an innovative
building product is used infrequently for a certain application. Given
enough data, a professional designer may be able to provide calculations or
other evidence to satisfy an authority
having jurisdiction.
When the building product will
be widely used on a frequent basis in several different districts, a building
product certification program becomes
more appealing from a time- and money-saving perspective.
Use these helpful analogies to
understand the differences between product testing and certification:
o Product
testing provides a photograph of a product: You have a time-stamped piece of evidence
that describes the specific product and how it performed at one point in time.
o Product
certification provides a video of your product: You have a running collection of evidence
that describes the product’s performance in both the past and the present, and
that provides the assurance it will continue to perform the same way in the
future.
Want more information
about building product testing and certification? At NTA, we’re here to
help. Contact us
today.
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