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PLUMBING CONNECTION
SPRING 2015 91
Certified materials and products are identifiable by the
WaterMark trademark, which must be displayed on the
product or material upon the granting of a WaterMark
Certificate of Conformity.
In order to achieve WaterMark Certification, the subject
material or product must:
∫ be tested by a recognised testing laboratory;
∫ comply with an approved specification (either a relevant
existing standard or an approved WaterMark Technical
Specification);
∫ be manufactured in accordance with an approved Quality
Assurance Program (WaterMark Level 1); and
∫ carry a warranty.
HOWMANUFACTURERS SEEKWATERMARK APPROVAL
A manufacturer introducing a new product to market
must contact one of the 11 JAS-ANZ accredited WaterMark
Conformity Assessment Bodies (WMCAB) (CAB) around the
country, who then determine whether or not the product
requires certification.
Interestingly, different CAB’s appear to have varying
viewpoints about which products may need a WaterMark
certification – especially if they don’t fully comprehend and
correctly interpret the Standards.
On the face of it, it appears fairly rudimentary, but it isn’t
always as straight forward as the manufacturer – or the CAB
for that matter – would like.
CASE STUDY: ABEY OFFSET PAN CONNECTOR
To give readers an example in point, we contacted Abey,
a respected family business that has been supplying to
the plumbing industry for over 50 years. Abey owner Geoff
Anderson reckons he’s seen it all and these days he’s more
frustrated than ever with attempting to bring time-saving
globally recognised product onto the local market.
“We are committed to doing the right thing by plumbers
but so often in this country we give people free kicks who
don’t deserve it. It’s so frustrating for suppliers to see shady
imports being sold and little action taken against anyone,
yet on the other hand we are hampered by our own stifling
regulatory processes. It’s also frustrating to see similar
products to ours being granted WaterMark certification
when they clearly doesn’t comply,” Geoff says.
“Our CAB guides us through these processes and we
strongly support their belief that something is either
approved or not – there are no half way measures.”
Abey Australia has been trying to achieve WaterMark
certification for a pan connector for a number of years now.
When you consider it, a pan connector is quite a simple
product. Its main role is to help solve the nightmare of
misaligned pipes, catering for difference between centres.
With that being considered, you would think the process
of gaining WaterMark approval would be an easy one.
Unfortunately for Abey, the opposite has occurred.
Abey applied for WaterMark certification of an off-set
pan connector back in 2013 and the process is still ongoing
through no fault of Abey or its CAB.
Abey agreed with its CAB’s opinion that its off-set pan
connectors required WaterMark level 2 certification in
accordance with the
WaterMark Certification Scheme
Schedule of Specifications
. They also identified that
AS2887:1993 Plastic Waste Fittings
was the Standard by
which these products had to adhere. Unfortunately, this
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