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John Kent, the IGCC-IGMA certification administrator, gives IGMA Winter Conference attendees an update on certification program activities. The conference is taking place at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells in Indian Wells, Calif.
The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA) kicked off its 2016 winter conference today with a focus on certification activities. The conference is being held at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells in Indian Wells, Calif., this week.
Tuesday morning, the group reviewed the scope of the certification committee, which recently parted from the education committee. It was approved, and John Kent went on to give an update on activities in certification.
He said he’s seen a lot of growth with safety glazing. The Safety Glazing Certification Council (SGCC) program is up to 337 plants and has logged more than 2,100 products. He added, “We’ve got some really good trends and performances” recorded.
SGCC is seeking ANSI accreditation and has an audit scheduled for June, which it hopes to be approved later in the year.
He noted that the Canadian General Standards Board has its new safety glazing draft, which mirrors ANSI z97.1, out for public comment. “For the first time, the Canadian standard will mirror the American standard, which mirrors ANSI z97,” he said, adding that it would be a victory to have the North American industry on the same page.
The Insulating Glass Certification Council (IGCC) is exploring a laboratory committee, material fingerprint and specification, and forming a group on point-supported systems.
Kent also gave an update on the status of provisional certification, which would run in parallel with the 2190 test but would take approximately four weeks as opposed to the six-month period of 2190. The group completed a correlation study last year and is moving into a pilot program this year.
Finally, he talked about the North American Contractor Certification (NACC) program for architectural glass and metal contractors, which certifies glazing contractors. He said it has moved a little slower than he expected, though seven companies are now certified with 18 more applicants pending. “We hope to be at 20 to 30 companies by the end of the year.”
He said while contractors are sound in safety practices, a big focus has been put on quality standards.
Guardian’s Dave Cooper discussed the TM-4500 Quality Manual and TM-4500 Task Group, which aims to update and revise the IGMA quality procedures for manufacturing insulating glass units.
A Certification Committee ballot and Technical Policy Committee ballot were complete. The next steps are to resolve any comments and forward to the IGMA board of directors and legal counsel for ballot and approval.
Second tier procedures and forms documents have been drafted and will be circulated to the task group for review. They will then go to ballot to the certification and technical policy committees, as well as the board of directors and legal counsel.
IGMA has brought on RPM Consulting to help the TM-4500 Task Group. Ron Michalzuk, president of RPM Consulting, introduced himself to attendees and gave a presentation. He will consult on the development of a quality management system to ISO 9001:2008.
The education committee met in the afternoon, and Wednesday morning, the IGMA Technical Services Committee and GANA Insulating Division will hold a joint meeting.
Stay tuned to USGNN.com™ all week for continued coverage of the event.
