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Bounding refers to a legal requirement for goods and services. It means adhering to the requirements of installing and/or using safety-related products and items in conformance with an active certification listing that has been issued by an organisation that is nationally accredited both for testing AND product certification.
The role of testing versus product certification
Testing by organisations or laboratories who hold no accreditation for testing purposes are not subject to mandatory governmental audits of compliance with applicable requirements. Even an organisation that is nationally accredited for testing purposes does not issue test reports that provide assurance that commercial products tested by it are the same as what is being sold or used by the public. For instance, one may choose to have one's water tested to see if it is safe to drink. Testing water with the purpose of selling it commercially to the public is another matter entirely, as the results have wider implications for the public at large. Safety related products generally have to undergo product certification to enable their use by the public.
While testing alone is perhaps interesting, product certification involves a whole regime whereby before anything is tested, a test standard must exist that has been authored by an organisation that has been accredited by a national accreditation body. For instance, in the case of a firestop, ULC-S115 is the test method that must be used by any laboratory whose tests are to have any legitimacy in Canada. In this case, ULC stands for Underwriters' Laboratories of CanadaULC is nationally accredited in Canada to write standards, test products and to certify products. If an organisation tests a firestop in or for use in Canada, in accordance with the right standard, ULC-S115, but is not accredited by the SCC [http://www.scc.ca/, the test results are of no consequence in Canada and cannot be deemed to result in any approvals of field installations on Canadian construction sites. If, on the other hand, the test laboratory is also accredited for product certification, then before the test takes place, a follow-up or certification agreement is anticipated between the certifier and the submitter of the test who desires a rating or a listing. The certifier/tester then dispatches an inspector who witnesses the manufacture of the product or products to be tested. He or she also checks the manufacturing procedures against the process standard that is in place and by then on file with the certifying organisation. The process standard includes all information necessary to manufacture the product or products, including equipment descriptions, tolerances, chemical formulas and purchasing specifications for ingredients or components. The manufactured goods are sealed by the inspector and then shipped to the laboratory. When the seal is broken in the laboratory, the contents are used to build the test specimen. The fabrication of the test specimen is closely scrutinised to ensure that no cheating takes place, which is not entirely uncommon. Cheating in fire protection test assembly construction may include but not be limited to substitution of materials and components by the manufacturer, adding of additional safety measures to make sure that the assembly passes the test. As an analogy, perhaps a 10 Dollar product is substituted for the 5 Dollar product, just for the test, unbeknownst to the laboratory. If the item is consumed or obscured in the test, a post-mortem investigation may or may not reveal an unannounced change in the test assembly by the manufacturer. Presuming the test passes, the product certification laboratory then issues a confidential test report. The manufacturer is not obliged to share this test report with anyone. The items in the test that passed are given a certification listing, which describes the product(s) that were tested, the application, and maximum and minimum tolerances for all components. In the case of a firestop, for instance, this includes the wall or floor type and thickness, size of the opening, any penetrating items, their tolerances and spacing, the thickness or thicknesses of the firestop materials, any insulation being used, etc. Typically, there is also a drawing. Certification listings are short versions and interpretations of the test results. For instance, if the largest power cable that can penetrate a cable penetration firestop is a 250MCM cable, then a 500MCM cable is inadmissible and would be a code violation. If the largest hole that can be firestopped using a certain certification listing, is 1 ft², then a 1.1 ft² opening is not allowed and will be both a building code and a fire code violation. Bounding simply means that safety related products must be used within the tolerances of certification listings. Just because a product has a certain certification listing, that does not mean that one can extrapolate from there. When a certification listing is used, this serves as legal evidence not only that the test has been properly conducted and that the tested systems passed, but also that a follow-up agreement is in effect between the manufacturer or submitter and the certifier. This means that in addition to the original inspection where the test materials were produced, the certifier is authorised and obliged to make unannounced inspections of the manufacturing facility to ensure that what is being manufactured and sold is still the same as what was originally tested. In the event that irregularities are discovered here on the part of the manufacturer, such as substitutions of cheaper ingredients or components, the listing can be de-activated and the manufacturer can be made to remove all logos of the certifier from product literature, promotional materials, packaging, etc. In such a case, logos would have to be removed from stock on hand as well as from stocks of products already in distribution or on construction sites. There have been cases of de-listings. Sometimes it may be deliberate irregularities leading to this, or, an ingredient or component of a tested system may no longer be available in acceptable quality. Part of bounding, therefore, is to ensure that the listing being used for a field installation, is indeed active with the certifier.
Bounding in structural fire protection
Bounding is the exclusive means by which structural Fire protection systems and other safety-related products can be evaluated for code compliance inside and outside of buildings.
All safety related products are typically required by law to be subjected to testing and product certification by an organisation that is nationally accredited for testing and product certification.
Evidence of bounding forms the cornerstone of both building code and fire code compliance. In the event of an accident and claims to an insurance company, insurance adjusters will seek evidence that bounding has generally been occurred. Any evidence to the contrary will be used to make the responsible party appear negligent and culpable. An example would be where a fire investigator may discover that a 30W fuse was used in a 20W electrical circuit. The use of the wrong fuse can lead to an overload and then a fire. The party who installed the wrong fuse is then deemed responsible for the resulting damage and casualties. The fuse in this case, was not bounded. Its certification listing did not allow its use in the wrong circuit.
Accredited testing and certification organisations
- United States
- Testing and Certification: Underwriters Laboratories *
See also
- Certification mark
- Passive fire protection
- Active fire protection
- Hurricane preparedness
- Intumescent
- Firestop pillow
- Fire door
- Fire extinguisher
External Links
"Bounding"