April 10, 2009: AHRI Announces New Unified Certification Mark
ARLINGTON, Va. - The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) announced that it will begin using a new unified mark to identify heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and commercial refrigeration products that have achieved third-party certification of their performance ratings. The new mark will replace the ARI Performance Certified, GAMA Efficiency Rating Certified, and I=B=R marks, but these changes will be made according to an implementation schedule that provides enough time to bring all certification programs into compliance with internationally recognized accreditations.
Since the association’s merger in January 2008, discussions among its 42 product sections have focused on the value of moving toward unifying the association’s three certification marks. After months of discussion, AHRI’s executive committee recently approved use of a new phrase, AHRI Certified™, and a new unified mark.
“Unifying the industry’s product certification programs with one mark representing third-party verification of HVACR equipment and component performance ratings, will allow us to leverage our marketing dollars to enhance marketplace recognition of the new mark and its value,” said AHRI President Stephen Yurek.
While the new mark and brand usage guidelines will be available to manufacturers participating in AHRI’s certification programs in mid-April, not all participants will be able to apply the new mark immediately. I=B=R and GAMA Efficiency Rating Certified program participants will have to wait until their programs enter the scope of AHRI’s accreditation by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC). Every year, the SCC audits several AHRI programs to ensure that they comply with International Organization for Standardization Guide 65 (ISO-65), which is the internationally accepted quality standard for organizations managing certification programs. Earning SCC accreditation allows certified equipment bearing the new AHRI Certified mark to be imported to Canada.
“This audit is important because it recognizes changes have been made to the certification programs to bring them into compliance with ISO-65,” said Yurek. “The former ARI Performance Certified programs already meet ISO-65 guidelines and are SCC Accredited.”
For this reason, ARI Performance Certified program participants can begin applying the new logo immediately, although they have until Jan. 1, 2011 to transition to the new mark.
“An 18-month transition period was allocated to prevent burdening manufacturers with additional costs related to replacing the old mark on products, packaging, and marketing collateral,” said Yurek. “Manufacturers generally update their marketing collateral and name plates about every six to 12 months and so this schedule takes into account that normal revision process.”
Key dates related to implementation of the new mark are:
April 20, 2009
New certification mark and brand usage manual available for use by the former ARI Performance Certified program participants.
November 2009 to December 2009
Standards Council of Canada audits AHRI annually to confirm its compliance with ISO-65. In 2009, SCC also will be considering whether to extend the scope of AHRI’s SCC accreditation to include the furnace and boiler certification programs. Upon successful completion of this audit, equipment certified under these programs can bear the AHRI Certified mark; however, the certification marks for these programs must still be registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. The average registration process can take 18 to 24 months from filing to registration, assuming no significant obstacles are encountered during the process.
Jan. 1, 2010 to Jan. 1, 2012
Transition period for harmonizing the governing documents for former I=B=R and GAMA certification programs to meet AHRI’s ISO-65 quality system requirements.
Jan. 1, 2011
Former ARI Performance Certified program participants must apply the new mark by this date.
Jan. 1, 2012
Former I=B=R and GAMA Efficiency Rating Certified program participants must apply the new mark by this date.
Other Related Changes
Consistent with the new certification mark, AHRI also will be modifying the name of the programs’ certificates to the “AHRI Certificate of Product Ratings” and the certified product identifier number to the “AHRI Certified Reference Number.” For products listed in gamapower.org that identification number was called the “GAMA Model ID” and for those products listed in the ARI directory, it was called the “ARI Reference Number.”
In addition, the name of ARI’s standards changed earlier this year to AHRI standards. Standards will reflect the new name as they are revised or updated over the next three years.
Publication date: 04/06/2009
Since the association’s merger in January 2008, discussions among its 42 product sections have focused on the value of moving toward unifying the association’s three certification marks. After months of discussion, AHRI’s executive committee recently approved use of a new phrase, AHRI Certified™, and a new unified mark.
“Unifying the industry’s product certification programs with one mark representing third-party verification of HVACR equipment and component performance ratings, will allow us to leverage our marketing dollars to enhance marketplace recognition of the new mark and its value,” said AHRI President Stephen Yurek.
While the new mark and brand usage guidelines will be available to manufacturers participating in AHRI’s certification programs in mid-April, not all participants will be able to apply the new mark immediately. I=B=R and GAMA Efficiency Rating Certified program participants will have to wait until their programs enter the scope of AHRI’s accreditation by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC). Every year, the SCC audits several AHRI programs to ensure that they comply with International Organization for Standardization Guide 65 (ISO-65), which is the internationally accepted quality standard for organizations managing certification programs. Earning SCC accreditation allows certified equipment bearing the new AHRI Certified mark to be imported to Canada.
“This audit is important because it recognizes changes have been made to the certification programs to bring them into compliance with ISO-65,” said Yurek. “The former ARI Performance Certified programs already meet ISO-65 guidelines and are SCC Accredited.”
For this reason, ARI Performance Certified program participants can begin applying the new logo immediately, although they have until Jan. 1, 2011 to transition to the new mark.
“An 18-month transition period was allocated to prevent burdening manufacturers with additional costs related to replacing the old mark on products, packaging, and marketing collateral,” said Yurek. “Manufacturers generally update their marketing collateral and name plates about every six to 12 months and so this schedule takes into account that normal revision process.”
Key dates related to implementation of the new mark are:
April 20, 2009
New certification mark and brand usage manual available for use by the former ARI Performance Certified program participants.
November 2009 to December 2009
Standards Council of Canada audits AHRI annually to confirm its compliance with ISO-65. In 2009, SCC also will be considering whether to extend the scope of AHRI’s SCC accreditation to include the furnace and boiler certification programs. Upon successful completion of this audit, equipment certified under these programs can bear the AHRI Certified mark; however, the certification marks for these programs must still be registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. The average registration process can take 18 to 24 months from filing to registration, assuming no significant obstacles are encountered during the process.
Jan. 1, 2010 to Jan. 1, 2012
Transition period for harmonizing the governing documents for former I=B=R and GAMA certification programs to meet AHRI’s ISO-65 quality system requirements.
Jan. 1, 2011
Former ARI Performance Certified program participants must apply the new mark by this date.
Jan. 1, 2012
Former I=B=R and GAMA Efficiency Rating Certified program participants must apply the new mark by this date.
Other Related Changes
Consistent with the new certification mark, AHRI also will be modifying the name of the programs’ certificates to the “AHRI Certificate of Product Ratings” and the certified product identifier number to the “AHRI Certified Reference Number.” For products listed in gamapower.org that identification number was called the “GAMA Model ID” and for those products listed in the ARI directory, it was called the “ARI Reference Number.”
In addition, the name of ARI’s standards changed earlier this year to AHRI standards. Standards will reflect the new name as they are revised or updated over the next three years.
Publication date: 04/06/2009
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