Product Certification update
Product certification is a crucial element in the current transformation of the building sector, which includes the building code review, the introduction of builder licensing, better outcomes for leaky-home owners, product certification, a better consent and inspection process, and consumer warranties for building work. All these inter-related strategies strengthen the supply line and quality assurance environment for the end consumer - home and building owners.
Product Certification
The New Zealand Building Act 2004 provides for the establishment of a product certification scheme to replace the accreditation arrangements managed by the Department under the former legislation. Certification of building products is not compulsory. It is considered an effective way for manufacturers or distributors of a broad range of building products to establish conformity with the NZ Building Code. As a result, building consent authorities can make better decisions about consent applications, and designers and builders can identify products that have been tested and are proven to perform if installed competently and appropriately.
The Act allows the Chief Executive of the Department to appoint a Product Certification Accreditation Body (PCAB). This body in turn will accredit suitable organisations as product certification bodies (PCBs) that will be responsible for evaluating and certifying building products and methods.
Relationship with ABCB
The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has similar responsibilities to the Department, in particular as it relates to the management of a building product certification scheme.
Similar developments in the Australian building sector provided a perfect opportunity for ‘harmonisation’ of Trans-Tasman building industry activities within a changing international trade and compliance environment increasingly reliant on International Quality Standards to promote an environment of greater consumer confidence in products and services available in the global marketplace.
In July 2005 the Department and the ABCB signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish and administer an aligned building product certification scheme recognising compliance with the New Zealand Building Code and/or the Building Code of Australia in our respective jurisdictions.
International Environment
Over recent years, international conformity assessment structures to determine whether or not a product or system conforms to a standard and/or complies with a regulation have evolved. This trend has emerged to the extent that most World Trade Organisation member countries have initiated the development of internationally credible assessment structures to facilitate trade. This development has been reflected between Australian and New Zealand, through the establishment of the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ).
About JAS-ANZ
JAS-ANZ is a not-for-profit, fee for service organisation formed as the peak accreditation body for Australia and New Zealand, under a treaty between the two Governments on 30 October 1991. JAS-ANZ accredits 57 certification bodies in two countries that operate 150 different programmes in providing management, product and environmental management systems.
The Department intends to negotiate with JAS-ANZ to be the Product Certification Accreditation Body delivering the scheme on behalf of the Department in New Zealand. It already undertakes that role for the ABCB in Australia. The product certification bodies selected to issue actual product certificates in the marketplace on behalf of the Department and ABCB respectively will be accredited and audited by JAS-ANZ. Unlike New Zealand, the Australian scheme is not established by legislation, so the ABCB entered into a formal agreement with JAS-ANZ with relative ease.
Outline of the CodeMark Scheme
Within the scheme there are four key groups of participants each with different and specialist roles relevant to their expertise – the Department of Building and Housing, in its role as the regulatory agency, the accreditation body (JAS-ANZ), product certification bodies and the holders of product certificates. Each of these groups has particular responsibilities in regards to actions and processes within the scheme. It is one of the scheme’s principles that accountability and liability fall where responsibility lies, and that responsibility lies where the expertise is held. Responsibilities and accountabilities are managed through regulations, memoranda of understanding and contractual agreements. The scheme is to be structured in such a way that bodies with the required skills and expertise undertaken, and carry liability for, the roles for which they are qualified.
New Zealand has assigned its CodeMark trademark for use as the ‘quality’ brand to appear on the product certificates issued to denote compliance under the aligned scheme. Accordingly, the CodeMark brand has been assigned to the ABCB and is registered in Australia. The Department and the ABCB will ensure the two countries operate their schemes in a consistent and aligned manner.
Product Certification Register
Under the Act, the Department is required to establish a public register of the names and contact details of accredited product certification bodies. The design and operation of this register will be confirmed in the near future.
Certificate Holders
Building product certification provides a way in which certificate holders can give independent confirmation that their products comply with the Building Code. Product certificate holders could be product owners, a manufacturer, an importer or a supplier of a product. Those who hold a product certificate have a responsibility to ensure the certified product continues to be manufactured to the same standards, levels and quality as those against which it was assessed and certified. The certificate holder must notify the product certifier of any proposed modification to the product or the manufacturing process and support the product certification through the provision of all necessary product documentation.
Benefits of the scheme
Product certification offers assurance to people in the building industry. It provides independent and clear guidance on how to use a building product or method to ensure its use complies with the requirements of the Building Code. The scheme puts particular emphasis on how a product is to be installed within building work so that the product is Code compliant - in practice as well as theory. This emphasis gives confidence to builders and other users that a product is appropriate for its use and is used appropriately.
Progress to date
The ABCB has completed the domestic infrastructure for the scheme in Australia and has launched the scheme onto its market. JAS-ANZ is currently assessing product certification bodies to operate in Australia. There are already two product certification bodies, accredited and operating in the Australian market. Although New Zealand’s implementation has been a little behind the ABCB, mainly due to the need to consult with the industry and the prevailing statutory requirements shaping the New Zealand scheme, we have made significant progress in recent months.
In July 2005, the Department issued a consultation document on possible scheme rules which described how the scheme might operate and the roles of the Product Certification Accreditation Body and the Product Certification Bodies. It also proposed standards and criteria for the scheme. The consultation identified several issues which necessitated further work to be undertaken by the Department in the intervening period.
Where to from here?
In November 2006, officials from the Department met with ABCB and JAS-ANZ in New Zealand to agree and ratify the tri-party contractual framework, which will underpin the operation of the Trans-Tasman scheme. Also on the agenda was how to harmonise the CodeMark scheme rules - international and domestic terminology must be specific to the needs to the respective national markets, and legal jurisdictions must be clearly reflected in the operational framework and have practical application in both the Australian and New Zealand setting.
Conversations with Stakeholders
Over the next few months, the Department will be talking to industry and local government stakeholders to keep the market up to date with the implementation of Product Certification and other linked sector initiatives to transform the sector, such as building consent accreditation, the licensing of building practitioners and the Building Code review.
Deadline of 30 June 2007
The Department is committed to a ‘go-live’ date of 30 June 2007 for the formal introduction of Product Certification in New Zealand.