ARLINGTON, Va. - According to the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), the independent and objective verification of an HVAC system installation by a qualified third party adds credibility to the professionalism of the installing contractor.

Rising energy costs, concerns about the environment, and the desire for an objective evaluation have led to requests for quality installation verification (QIV) efforts; the prime example is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) EnergyStar™ HVAC Quality Installation program. EnergyStar works with utilities to verify that an HVAC system has been installed according to the nationally recognized, industry-adopted standard for HVAC system installations, the ACCA Quality Installation Standard.

ACCA has developed proposed verification protocols to provide an approach to effectively evaluate HVAC system installations while optimizing resources in terms of manpower and expenses. The protocols establish requirements for the minimum sampling rates, evaluation procedures, and documentation.

Also defined are the primary roles and responsibilities for the main participants - contractors, verifiers, and administrators. ACCA anticipates that potential administrators of verification efforts might include OEMs, association chapters, municipalities, utilities, or groups of HVAC contractors.

The association is seeking comments on the proposed protocols from interested parties. The review version of the verification protocols can be downloaded free. Comments must be submitted, using the ACCA Response Form also available online, by Sept. 29.

For more information, visit www.acca.org/quality.

Publication date: 09/08/2008