Product Approval POC

Minutes
December 10, 2007

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Doubletree Hotel

5780 Major Boulevard, 32819

407-351-1000

Product Approval POC Attendees: Ed Carson - Chair, Herminio Gonzalez, Matthew Carlton, Nan Dean, Paul Kidwell and Do Kim.  Staff present were Mo Madani and Joe Bigelow.

There was a quorum present.

1.  The minutes for the Oct 2, POC meeting were approved as presented.  The agenda was approved as submitted.

2. Manufactured Building Issues:  Michael Ashworth, Program Manager for the Manufactured Buildings Program, presented the report on manufactured building projects.
A.  Michael Ashworth informed the Committee that there were no new budget issues since the October meeting.
B.  Michael Ashworth presented the proposed changes to Chapter 553, Part I FS for recommendation to the Commission.  Committee Action – The committee had no comments on the proposed changes and recommended that the changes be forwarded to the Commission for consideration.
C
. Michael Ashworth updated the Committee that Staff is working on updating information regarding Rule 9B-1 currently on the website to mirror the proposed legislative changes.
D.  Michael Ashworth updated the Committee on the State of Maryland piggybacking on the Manufactured Buildings Program on the BCIS stating that there is no new information on the subject at this time. 

  Product Approval Program Staff Report.

A. Product Approval and Entities Statistics Report.  Staff presented the current entities and product statistics from inception of the program to the December meeting date.

B.  Discussion of Certification agency Certificate expirations.  Staff provided the Committee with an update on this issue stating that many manufacturers and entities using the certification compliance method are revising their applications to bring them into good standing which includes the requirements of having a quality assurance program in place.    Staff expressed concern regarding the proper method of archiving obsolete applications.  In fact removal of sub-products would cause a loss of history.  Archiving individual products would cause the system to be deficient and inaccurate without a history. 

C.  Staff presented the products in-development screenshots to the Committee.  Staff discussed the various options that are being worked into the BCIS to include the new Rule 9B-72 language and options.  These options include Technical validation and Administrative validation.  The timeline for implementation on the Rule change and the BCIS Changeover is February 2008.  Staff will inform all Product Approval registered entities and manufacturers on this through a mass email.  Also the Jim Richmond Legal council, informed the Committee that the Rule has not been filed to date and an additional hearing at the January meeting is necessary to proceed with the adoption of the Rule. 

Committee Action – Recommend to the Commission that a hearing be heard at the January Commission meeting to allow for the adoption of the revisions to Rule 9B-72.

D. Discussion of Conditional Approvals and Public Comments schedule - The Committee was presented with two options from DCA Staff.  Both options were discussed.  Option 2 was recommended by Staff as the best solution for what the program needs at this time.  It was stated by staff and the Administrator that the current system is not working as smoothly as intended.  The Committee voted in support of the Staff recommendation to proceed with the implementation of Option 2 (see below). The Committee voted to implement the solution so that Staff can have it working and in place by the March meeting. 

Option 2
Completion deadline - Three weeks prior to meeting.    Applications must be submitted, validated, and reviewed by the Administrator and given a recommendation for approval by this deadline.  Under this system no specific validation deadline is set.  This system will allow for greater application discussion time.  If applicant responds with correct changes prior to the Completion deadline, the application will go through and be recommended for approval.  If applicant does not respond and any deficiencies not rectified the application will be incomplete and not considered at the meeting. 

Public comment report posted of all applications recommended for approval – Three weeks from meeting date, 7 days after Completion Deadline.  Note - Applications that were recommended for approval by the Administrator may be subject to change of the recommendation after public comment review.  All public comments and concerns must be in written format, preferably via email to the Administrator.  All public comment documentation (i.e. Code sections, compliance reports, standards, etc.) must be delivered before the comment deadline to be considered.

 

Public comment deadline -NOON– 1 (8 full days) week after initial report is posted, 7 days prior to meeting.  No further public comment will be accepted. 

 

Final Report Posted – 1 week prior to meeting Administrator posts final recommendations for approval

 

E. The requirements for conditional criteria were previously discussed with the public comment schedule.  No discussion was needed on this topic.

4.  Discussion of Declaratory Statement: The committee discussed and provided recommendation on the following request for the following Declaratory Statement:

DCA07-DEC-194 by Gary Swartz, E-Z Taping System, Inc.

To the question, To the Question does their product, E-Z Fire Tape fall under the scope of Rule 9B-72

 

Answer:    No, Based on Rule 9B-72.010 Definitions, this product falls outside the scope of Rule 9B-72.

5. TB&A Report

A. Review product approval and entity applications.
The committee reviewed and provided recommendation on product applications provided by TB&A.  See attached report.

B.  TB&A provided a report with recommendations on nine entities for consideration as follows:

1.  CER 1773, National Accreditation & Management Institute

- (Product Certification Agency) - Approved

2. CER 3718, CSA International - (Product Certification Agency)- Approved

3. CER 3916, Quality Auditing Institute Ltd. - (Product Certification Agency)- Approved

4.  TST 2411, ETC Laboratories– (Product Testing Laboratory) – Approved

5. TST 4671, Atlantic & Caribbean Roof Consulting, LLC- (Product Testing Laboratory)- Approved

6. TST 6049, Trinity ERD - South Carolina, (Product Testing Laboratory) - Approved

7. TST 1691, Hurricane Engineering and Testing, Inc. (Product Testing Laboratory) - Approved

8. VAL 7023, Fenestration Testing Lab, (Product Validation Entity) – Approved

9. CER 1663, PSI/Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory Product Certification Agency - Approved

8. Adjourned at 5:10 P.M.

________________________________________________________________________

---Action needed by the Commission:

Commission Actions—Product Approval POC:

 

1.  Manufactured Building -  The Committee voted to forward changes proposed to Chapter 553 by the Program Manager for consideration by the Commission.

2. Rule 9B-72 – As advised by the Commission’s legal counsel, the Committee voted to request that the Commission hold a hearing at the January Commission meeting to allow for the adoption of the revisions to Rule 9B-72.

3.  Application Review Procedure By the Administrator - The Committee voted in support of the Staff recommendation to proceed with the implementation of a new application review procedure.  The new procedure will establish one deadline for submitting applications and provides for an opportunity for written public comment in advance of the meeting which can be reviewed by the manufacturer and the interest groups. Under the new procedure only complete applications will be considered (No conditionals) The Committee agreed that Staff should gradually transition to this procedure but have it in place by the March meeting. 

2. TB&A provided a report with recommendations on nine entities for consideration as follows:

1.  CER 1773, National Accreditation & Management Institute

- (Product Certification Agency) - Approved

2. CER 3718, CSA International - (Product Certification Agency)- Approved

3. CER 3916, Quality Auditing Institute Ltd. - (Product Certification Agency)- Approved

4.  TST 2411, ETC Laboratories– (Product Testing Laboratory) – Approved

5. TST 4671, Atlantic & Caribbean Roof Consulting, LLC- (Product Testing Laboratory)- Approved

6. TST 6049, Trinity ERD - South Carolina, (Product Testing Laboratory) - Approved

7. TST 1691, Hurricane Engineering and Testing, Inc. (Product Testing Laboratory) - Approved

8. VAL 7023, Fenestration Testing Lab, (Product Validation Entity) – Approved

9. CER 1663, PSI/Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory Product Certification Agency - Approved