Universal Conformity Assessment

Approved May 2000, Revised November 2011

Accredited certification agencies for plumbing products are accredited through either Standards Council of Canada (SCC) or American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which use International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guides for accreditation of certification agencies. Under this accreditation, certification agencies are permitted to accept test data from laboratories accredited under ISO Guide 25 to specific standards.

Plumbing manufacturers urge that test data generated by testing laboratories accredited under ISO Guide 25 by organizations such as SCC, National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program of the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NVLAP), American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), National Evaluation Service (NES) and International Conference of Building Officials - Evaluation Services (ICBO-ES), should be accepted by certification agencies, accredited through SCC and ANSI, without further review.

In addition, plumbing products and materials already listed/certified by an accredited certification agency for specific referenced standards, using test data generated by an accredited testing laboratory, should have that listing/certification accepted by other certification agencies, without further review or auditing.

One of Plumbing Manufacturers International’s (PMI) goals is for plumbing products to be tested and certified once, and recognized worldwide.

It is imperative that test data generated by nationally and internationally accredited testing laboratories be recognized and accepted by certification agencies in order to reach this goal. Similarly, the listings and certifications of accredited certification agencies must also be recognized and accepted universally by the appropriate certifying agencies in each jurisdiction.

Accredited certification agencies providing such a service will be the preferred provider for plumbing manufacturers.