"We need to carry the momentum forward by continuing the dialogue with certification agencies," says Barbara C. Higgens, executive director, PMI, "both to refine the steps already underway to eliminate duplicative certification and testing, and to continue to develop additional measures as necessary to ensure our goal."

Canadian manufacturers of the CIPH Plumbing Industry Advisory Council recently met with certifying organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada to express concern about the high costs of certification duplication. CIPH plans another meeting this month. And at PMI's Fall Meeting, representatives from Underwriters Laboratories Inc.; NSF International; CSA International; Truesdail Laboratories Inc.; and IAPMO Research & Testing addressed manufacturer concerns about duplicative activities.

Earlier last year, PMI and CIPH issued a joint statement urging that all test data generated by testing laboratories accredited under ISO Guide 25 be accredited by certification agencies, accredited through the Standards Council of America and the American National Standards Institute without further review.

The two groups also urged that plumbing products and material already listed/certified by an accredited certification agency, using test data generated by an accredited testing laboratory, should have that listing/certification accepted by other agencies without further review. The statement concludes that certification agencies meeting those criteria would be the "preferred provider" for plumbing manufacturers in the United State and Canada.