Durham

Water, gas and sewage services are provided to millions of Australians every day. To maintain first class provision of these services, changes to operational management have occurred in recent years and are continuing to change.

Water and government agencies are moving to more competitive contracts for the supply of works that include design, construction and operation of water, gas and sewerage infrastructure.

Suppliers to the above users are now more responsible for the compliance of their products to national standards such as Australian Standard AS 3996:1992. Compliance of their products and management systems have become a competitive part of their marketing agenda. To be an accepted supplier to the water industry in most parts of Australia, a recognized compliance certificate for product and management system certification is required.

This publication will discuss two levels of compliance certification;

• Management Systems certification; and
• Product Certification (Licencing of products that comply with a national or international standard)

A "Quality Endorsed Company" (QEC), has a management system in place demonstrating compliance with the requirements of ISO AS/NZS 9001 or 9002. A "Quality Endorsed Company" certification does not guarantee the conformity of products produced to national or international standards.

Water and government agencies now place greater emphasis on products that demonstrate compliance to national or international standards. There is a need for assurance that these products conform to the nominated standards requirements.

“Certified Product” (Conformance Mark), ensures that products are manufactured under a quality system, independently assessed for conformance to national or international standards. “Certified Product” compliance is demonstrated by the issue of a Benchmark Licence and Schedule.

The licence will give the location details of the manufacturing plant, licence number, expiry date, and relevant standard of the documents. The schedule will detail all the products that are covered by the licensing, products not listed on the licence schedule do not comply with the nominated standard.

To gain a “Certified Product” Benchmark Conformance Mark Licence, the company not only has to manufacture compliant products, it also must have a compliant management system in place meeting the requirements of the Product Compliance Program, a QAS document similar in content to the ISO AS/NZS 9002 management standard.