Experts in Product Quality Certification Programs
The Industry Experts
With more than 45 years of service to the building construction industry and consumers, Associated Laboratories, Inc. (ALI) provides nationally recognized quality assurance programs. Currently, more than 500 clients throughout North America participate in our manufacturers certification programs, and that number grows every year. To remain at the leading edge of the certification industry, ALI actively participates with manufacturer’s associations and various other national and regional code-writing bodies.
Our staff members are experienced professionals with the knowledge and expertise needed to write test specifications and test methods. Through ongoing involvement with various code-writing of bodies, ALI is also able to help inform its certification clients of the latest developments in regulations that affect their industries. For example, ALI has long been active with ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), the world’s largest source of consensus standards. ALI’s representation in ASTM includes chairmanship of Committee E-06 on Performance of Building Construction as well as Subcommittee E-06.51 on Windows, Curtain Walls and Doors. In addition, ALI staff members are participating on various other ASTM Committees such as Committee F-12 on Security Systems and Equipment, Committee D-20 on Plastics, Committee C-16 on Thermal Insulation, and Committee C-24 on Building Seals and Sealants.
By continuously reviewing ASTM Committee work, ALI can better provide its clients with the most current information pertaining to test methods and standards in the building construction industry.
ALI has the personnel, the knowledge, the expertise. Our staff members strive to work with those industry groups that are most effective. They will continue to do so in the future. ALI has always maintained a close working relationship with HUD/FHA, as well as state, regional, and local code-setting and code-writing bodies.
ALI personnel will continue to actively participate at meetings of manufacturers trade associations such as FGIA (Fenestration Glazing Industry Alliance), SPI (The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc.), and IGCC (Insulating Glass Certification Council). In addition, ALI will continue its important role as a general interest member in ASTM by actively participating in the various committees that affect the building construction industry.
How the ALI Programs Work
The Associated Laboratories, Inc. (ALI) Sealed Insulating Glass (SIG) Certification Program is a third-party certification program with a labeling component, designed to free the design professional as well as the building official from the time-consuming process of reviewing and evaluating laboratory test reports to determine the validity of a manufacturers’ claim and sub-sequent product performance.
In third-party certification programs, products are certified to applicable standard(s) through testing of specimens, ongoing inspection of production facilities and periodic testing of production samples to ensure that products conform to the standard(s), the certification program requirements and the manufacturer’s specifications.
Under the ALI SIG Certification Program, ALI administers test validation, plant inspection, and compliance evaluation to determine compliance of SIG products for use in fenestration systems with applicable industry standards. SIG Certification is required for the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) and U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR® certification/approval of complete fenestration products in which they are used.
Under this program, the applicable evaluation requirements are those set forth as performance criteria in the current revision level of ASTM E2190, Standard Specification for Insulating Glass Unit Performance and Evaluation. The qualifications specifications listed in ASTM E2190 meet the requirements set forth in NFRC 706, National Fenestration Rating Council Requirements for Participating Insulating Glass Certification Programs.
This evaluation is based on test results obtained per the methodology described in the following as referenced within ASTM E2190:
- ASTM E2188, Standard Test Method for Insulating Glass Unit Performance
- ASTM E2189, Standard Test Method for Testing Resistance to Fogging in Insulating Glass Units
- ASTM E2649, Standard Test Method for Determining Argon Concentration in Sealed Insulating Glass Units Using Spark Emission Spectroscopy
- ASTM E546, Standard Test Method for Frost/Dew Point of Sealed Insulating Glass Units
Any manufacturer of SIG units whose products and activities fall within the scope of the ALI SIG Certification Program, whether part of or independent from a manufacturer of completed fenestration products, whose products meet the designated voluntary specifications and who signs an ALI License Agreement, may participate as a Licensee in the ALI SIG Certification Program without regard to the size of the manufacturer, membership in any association or group, or the number of certifications already issued. The same fee schedule applies to all Licensees. (See the ALI SIG Certification Program Fee Schedule, SFS-1.)
Any products or samples thereof that are deemed to comply with the program’s designated standards may be submitted for testing and certification.
Application
To participate in the ALI SIG Certification Program, a manufacturer makes application (ALI Form #: AMI-1; copy included in the Appendix) pursuant to entering into a License Agreement (ALI Form #: SLA-1) with ALI, and agrees to the certification requirements set forth in this Procedural Guide.
For those activities that affect conformity requirements for certification, the applicant must provide:
- the manufacturer’s legal status as a corporate or business entity,
- complete production facility location and contact information,
- a list of the products for which certification is sought,
- the standards against which the product(s) are to be tested,
- a description of the operations involved in the production of those products and whether such operations are conducted by a separate legal entity including any outsourced processes.
For more information about fees and applying to the ALI SIG Certification Program, please call us at 214-565-0593 or email [email protected].