OPSS To Target IGUs In Product Compliance Crackdown

The OPSS has plans to test gas-filled IGUs on UK production lines to ensure levels are correct. Serious failures will result in prohibition orders.

That means suppliers have proven to have been consistently producing IGUs with the incorrect amount of gas in them, could find themselves forced to stop production altogether until they can get it right. Minor failures could result in improvement notices and re-testing to ensure the supplier has corrected the deficiency.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards is a government body with responsibility to ensure construction product are fit for purpose. It has stronger teeth in a world where it is recognised that non-compliance is a danger to the public.

The regulator has significant enforcement powers. In March this year, OPSS reported that all 28 manufacturers inspected during its heat-soaked thermally toughened glass programme initially failed to provide a compliant Declaration of Performance. It subsequently issued nine Prohibition Notices to six manufacturers and improvement notices to the rest.

See the Fabrication & Glazing Eye article here

Get documentation right

IGU manufacturers are being warned to review not just factory production controls but testing and compliance records as well as the OPSS will not just test units, it will check that quality checks are consistently applied and recorded.

Speaking at the Glazing Summit on 8 October, Richard Poate, an enforcement officer at the OPSS confirmed that his department had already purchased testing equipment and had plans to carry out spot checks on sealed unit manufacturers.

The move could have significant implications for the industry, with the Glass & Glazing Federation warning that gas testing could also bring wider scrutiny of factory production controls, Declarations of Performance and other conformity documentation.

No stone unturned

“The OPSS has confirmed that it will be visiting IGU manufacturers and checking the gas content of units coming off production lines,” said Kevin Jones, Technical Director, GGF.

“For most manufacturers that means argon, which in most cases will fill 90% of the unit volume with a five per cent tolerance either way.

“We support the principle of what OPSS is doing. Manufacturers, their customers and ultimately end-users, need confidence that products deliver their declared performance. The question is how OPSS will respond when a product falls outside those requirements.”

Standards

Under BS EN 1279-3:2018, the relevant gas concentration tolerance allows a maximum five percentage point reduction against the nominal concentration used to calculate the declared U-value. For a nominal 90% concentration, that means 85%.

What will happen?

The GGF is seeking urgent clarification from OPSS on its sampling methodology, what will constitute a failure and the enforcement action manufacturers could face.

Further warning

The GGF is also warning manufacturers to examine their wider compliance procedures. BS EN 1279-5:2018 is the designated product standard for IGUs in Great Britain, while BS EN 1279-6:2018 addresses factory production controls (FPC) and periodic testing.

Jones continued: “Sealed unit manufacturers need to make sure that required gas-content checks are being completed and recorded and that failures trigger documented investigation and corrective action.

“Any disconnect between written FPC procedures and what happens on the factory floor could potentially become an issue during an inspection.”

Wider construction product performance

The scrutiny also comes against a wider regulatory drive for greater transparency and accountability in construction product performance, with thermal efficiency increasingly connected to building health, comfort and condensation risk.

“This is now a confirmed area of OPSS activity, so IGU manufacturers need to prepare,” Jones continued.

“Check what you declare, check what you manufacture and make sure you have the testing, FPCs and records to demonstrate that they are consistent.”

Picture: A typical IGU in production.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-product-safety-and-standards

www.ggf.org.uk