Independent verification and certification services

We specialise in the 'verification of conformity', whereby the extent to which a product, process or service fulfils specified requirements is systematically examined. These requirements can be part of a national or international standard, or they can be a specification or code of practice that has been widely adopted by an industry sector as a de facto standard.

We can also act as the facilitator for the industry scheme, bringing parties together, obtaining agreement on technical requirements, acting as manager of the scheme or verifying compliance.

Our certification services

Our services include:

• verifying submitted evidence of conformity
• where appropriate, issuing a certificate of conformity with a definite expiry date.

Our service is independent of any testing bodies, but recognises certain testing bodies as complying with specified criteria and having equipment, skills, expertise and quality assurance systems to undertake conformity evaluation assessments.

We carry out ongoing surveillance testing to confirm continuing compliance to requirements during the life of the certification.

Our verification schemes

We currently operate the following schemes:

• Australian Paint Approval Scheme (APAS) — a certification scheme to ensure paints and related coating products perform to defined standards.
• Painting Contractor Certification Program (PCCP) — an accreditation scheme for painting contractors that ensures they operate at defined standards for surface preparation and paint application. PCCP also accredits contractors who have the skills, knowledge and resources to safely and effectively remove hazardous coatings such as those containing heavy metals, or other potentially dangerous substances
• ActivFire — a listing scheme for active fire detection and suppression equipment such as smoke and heat detectors, and sprinkler heads.

Each scheme is administered by a technical panel comprised of representatives of manufacturers, end users and verification services. The technical panel meets regularly to resolve any verification submission issues and to set policy and direction for the scheme.