Nov 19, 2009
A New Testing Program for Product and Personnel Conformance Is Initiated
The ASTM board of directors at its Oct. 27-28, 2009, meeting authorized ASTM’s management to develop the capability to offer certification services. Titled the ASTM International Certification Programs, the new initiative is sponsored by ASTM International and offers the opportunity for certification of products (materials, products, services and systems) as well as personnel.
The recent action by the ASTM board is a response to inquiries, particularly in the areas of new standards development activities, for ASTM to provide certification to meet expressed needs for independent, third party demonstrations of compliance to standards. Similar requests have come to ASTM from those facing regulatory pressures to demonstrate standards compliance.
Potential product benefits of the ASTM Product Certification Program to manufacturers and consumers include: increased confidence; reliable product comparisons; equitable testing and rating; potential liability reduction; and facilitating regulatory compliance.
Requests for an ASTM program may come from ASTM technical committees or directly from industry, purchasers, or government bodies. A product certified through ASTM’s program would be tested, at the direction of ASTM International, by a third-party laboratory to determine the product’s ability to conform to one or more ASTM standards. All program initiatives will be based on the level of interest of the relevant ASTM technical committee as well as the support of industry.
ASTM Staff Contact: Ken Pearson, Phone: 610-832-9672; kpearson@astm.org
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org
Release #8413/Nov2009
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