AGA listened to its customers and subsequently extended its operations, now offering a “one-stop” shop for customers requiring product certification across any one, or more, of the gas, electrical and plumbing sectors.

Of course, organisations such as AGA that wish to offer these types of product certification schemes (i.e. conformity assessment bodies) have to be formally recognised by the relevant regulatory authorities, which are ultimately and individually responsible for public safety within their respective jurisdictions. Not surprisingly, these technical regulators need to be satisfied that each conformity assessment body is, amongst other things, reputable, technically competent and independently audited. To assist in this regard, regulators require that a conformity assessment body be formally accredited to the international benchmark standard.

The Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) is the government-appointed accreditation body for Australia and New Zealand responsible for providing accreditation of conformity assessment bodies in the fields of certification and inspection. Accreditation by JAS-ANZ demonstrates the competence and independence of these bodies and AGA’s details can be verified by accessing the JAS-ANZ website (www.jas-anz.com.au).

To help combat the sale and installation of untested or non-complying gas products, government regulators have a legal framework of public safety-related rules, regulations and Acts in place – and there are significant penalties for breaches. Importantly, retailers of gas appliances need to be aware of point of sale legislation and ensure the product they offer for sale is appropriately certified.

AGA-certified gas products are automatically deemed to comply and the most common way to confirm the status of an appliance is to look for the AGA Certificate reference number on the appliance data plate and check that it carries the correct AGA Maker’s Warranty Badge.

However, the AGA focus on its conformity assessment business does not end with the issue of a formal certificate. In monitoring industry concerns about issues related to its certification activities, AGA recognises that it has a role to play in facilitating the flow of information between stakeholders. A recent example of this relates to the gas appliance safety regulations that apply within Australia and New Zealand, specifically how the two safety regimes coexist under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement (TTMRA).

The TTMRA is a joint national government initiative designed to facilitate free trade between both countries. It has been recognised however that there are some products that do not readily fit within this framework and the practice has been for the two parties to either grant a permanent exemption to the TTMRA or allow a temporary exemption, which is then subject to an appropriate periodic review. For reasons including differences between gas quality, composition and pressure, this latter approach has been applied to gas appliances for many years. More recently, however, there have been reports indicating that both national governments have expressed a desire to find a more permanent (and common) solution.

It is AGA’s view that a change to the current exemption process is likely to have significant implications for the local industry and, to help generate debate and inform stakeholders, it recently organised a Gas Industry Forum. Senior representatives from the Australian and New Zealand regulatory regimes, together with an expert from the European certification sector, delivered informative presentations to the forum delegates and it was widely recognised as a most useful initiative. AGA continues to monitor this important issue and inform its customers as an outcome is progressed. Copies of the forum presentations and speaker notes can be downloaded for free from the AGA website (www.aga.asn.au).

An interesting side-note to the forum was the signing between AGA and Advantica (the leading UK certification and testing body) of a formal Conformity Assessor Agreement, which has the capacity to assist customers from both countries in minimising costs and time in achieving certification of products destined for local and/or European markets. Anyone wanting to learn more about this arrangement should contact the AGA office at office@aga.asn.au or telephone (03) 9580 4500.

Yet another recent example of AGA providing “non-core” certification-related services to industry was the development of a local training program to clarify the EN298 certification approach to Programmable Electronic Systems (PES) used in advanced burner control technology. This is a highly specialised field, with few leading authorities on the subject.

To develop an internal capability in this area, AGA had sent some of its technical personnel to Europe to complete an appropriate training course. This was a worthwhile but expensive exercise and AGA recognised that this was not a viable option for many local customers.

To help overcome the travel and cost factor associated with increasing local expertise in this important area of appliance technology, AGA commissioned its European expert to hold two training courses at its Melbourne office. Invitations were extended to industry and both courses were filled within days.

As for the Gas Industry Forum, the feedback from course participants was extremely positive and serves to encourage AGA to consider and develop other industry programs as opportunities arise.

The AGA website is a useful place to bookmark and visit regularly as it not only contains essential information and documentation relating to certification activities but can also provide opportunities to obtain information on a wide variety of emerging industry issues.