Support Grows for PMI/CIPH Initiative to Eliminate Duplication of Certification
PMI and CIPH issued a statement regarding unnecessary duplication in testing, certification, auditing and data review.
A statement developed jointly by the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI) and the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH) issued last summer regarding unnecessary duplication in testing, certification, auditing and data review, provided a framework to bring plumbing manufacturers and testers/certifiers together to discuss universal conformity assessment.
The statement (reprinted in a succeeding paragraph) was distributed to major certifying bodies and testing agencies to highlight U.S. and Canadian plumbing manufacturers' goal of products to be "tested and certified once, and recognized worldwide." The statement specifically urged that test data generated by testing laboratories accredited under ISO Guide 25 be accepted by certification agencies accredited through the Standards Council of America (SCC) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) without further review. Manufacturers also strongly urged that plumbing products and materials already listed/certified by an accredited certification agency using test data generated by an accredited testing laboratory should have that listing/certification accepted by other certification agencies, without further review. The statement concludes that certification agencies meeting those criteria would be the "preferred provider" for plumbing manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada.