1. Certifications
108 February 2012February 2012
Importance
of Safety
Standards,
Compliances
and
Certification
in growth of
the HVAC&R
Industry in
India
“The USD 16.5 Million
infrastructure industries grew
by 5.2 per cent in June 2011
as compared to the growth of
4.4 per cent in June 2010. On
the back of such facts, India’s
GDP is projected to continue
to grow at a brisk pace of 8.8
percent in 2011-12”.
The number of millionaire
households in India will grow
from 2,86,000 to 6,94,000
between 2011-2020, at a
growth rate of 143 per cent,
as per a study by the Deloitte
Center for Financial Services.
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2. February 2012February 2012 109
Certifications
A
mong emerging markets,
India is likely to have the
highest per capita wealth
among millionaires with US$
4.25 million - placing it ahead of the
US. In comparison to other BRIC
(Brazil, Russia, India and China)
nations, India is likely to experience
the largest growth at 405 per cent in
total wealth held by the millionaires
The Government has approved
fund raising worth Rs 60,950 crore
(US$ 13.24 billion) by companies
through external commercial
borrowings (ECB) or foreign currency
convertible bonds (FCCB) for
infrastructure projects.” – India
Brand Equity Foundation
Yes these are rosy-picture-
painting figures which we would love
to see happening all the time as they
are good for our economy and
hence for the growth of our
businesses. We often feel that a
good economic growth is what is
needed for our business to grow.
Let us understand this better by
seeing how we would normally
define “good economic growth”
An economy consists of the
economic system of a country or
other area; the labor, capital and
land resources; and the
manufacturing, trade, distribution,
and consumption of goods and
services of that area. In simpler
terms it can be described as a
limited space where goods and
services are exchanged according to
demand and supply between
participants by barter or a medium
of exchange with a credit or debit
value accepted within the network.
Hence Economic Growth can be
defined as the increasing capacity of
the economy to satisfy the demand
(by supplying) of goods and services
of the members of society.
Hence, when the number of such
transactions increase and grow, we
say there is a good economic growth.
“Demand” and “Supply” are critical
parameters whose numbers would
lead us to answer if there is growth
or not. Now, even if there is good
economic growth how do you
ascertain whether the “supply” is
fulfilling the “demand” in a holistic
way which is beneficial for the
complete economy? Is it always
recurring commercial transactions or
is there a method?
In order to ensure desirable
characteristics of products and
services such as quality,
environmental friendliness, safety,
reliability, efficiency and
interchangeability at an economical
cost we need some commonly
followed rules – “Standards”.
International Organization for
Standardization (or the ISO) defines
various functions of standards, like
they make the development,
manufacturing and supply of
products and services more efficient,
safer and cleaner. They provide
governments with a technical base
for health, safety and environmental
legislation, & conformity assessment.
For developing countries,
International Standards that
represent an international consensus
on “the state of the art” are an
important source of technological
know-how.Bydefiningcharacteristics
that products and services will be
expected to meet on export markets,
International Standards give
developing countries a basis for
making the right decisions when
investing their scarce resources.
Importance of Standards in
India
The study of Indian history
reveals that the extent of systems
and standards was very high and
detailed. There are innumerable
evidences of use of systems and
science right from the beginning.
The Indus Valley Civilization,
which spread and flourished in the
northwestern part of the Indian
subcontinent from BC 3300 to 1300
BCE, was the first major civilization
in India. It was a sophisticated and
technologically advanced urban
culture developed in the Mature
Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900
BCE (as per Romila Thapar, A History
of India (Penguin Books: New York,
1966)). The Indus Valley Civilization
which thrived during the Bronze Age
suggests the knowledge of urban
planning and efficient municipal
governments. The urban plan
included the world's first known
urban sanitation systems.
All of this was based of numerous
systems right from use of standard
weights or the standardized writing
tools. The history of India is filled
with examples of advance use of
systems, processes and standard
which have lead to growth, weather
it is architecture or Science.
Today in India, we seem to have
missed out following certain
standards which are critical for
safety of our lives and our
environment. The lack of standards
or the lack of compliances to
standards is clearly visible in the
large scale of accidents on roads, in
hospitals, in commercial complexes,
infrastructure establishments and
even at small scale at homes. When
carefully studied we notice that lack
of these compliances leads to
accidents, electric shocks, burns,
loss of human lives and often
permanent damage to our
environment. The basic interaction
of products with human life &
environment should factor in health
& safety of citizens and protection of
our surrounding. Adherence to
safety standards helps ensure
commercial and household products
do not cause damage to health &
safety of human lives & help maintain
a cleaner and self-perpetuating
environment.
Standards for safety of
household HVAC& R systems
How many of us have ever
noticed or experienced the following
at our homes:
• Mild to high electric shock from
the body of a refrigerator
• Smell of burning of plastic or
rubber near our refrigerator or
air conditioners
• Sparking at the plug or socket
• Burning / melting of the plug of
refrigerator or air conditioners or
heaters
• Skin burns due to overheating of
water in the geysers
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3. 110 February 2012February 2012
Certifications
• Pipe burst or leakages from water
heaters/ geysers
There are plenty of international
standards like IEC 60335 which is for
Safety of electrical household
appliances. Below is a brief list of
standards for various HVAC&R
systems for household.
Let us take an example of IEC
IEC 60335 Part 2-34 (particular
requirements for motor-
compressors) and go through some
of the key tests/ criteria’s that the
standard details.
• Protection against access to live
parts
• Power input and current
• Heating
• Leakage current
• Transient overvoltages
• Moisture resistance
• Overload protection
• Endurance
• Abnormal operation
• Stability and mechanical hazards
• Mechanical strength
• Construction
• Internal wiring
• Supply connection and external
flexible cords
• Terminals for external conductors
• Provision for earthing
• Screws and connections
• Clearances, creepage distances
and solid insulation
• Resistance to heat and fire
• Resistance to rusting
• Radiation, toxicity and similar
hazards.
Standards for safety of
Commercial HVAC& R
systems
This category is equally critical to
the household category as it deals
with the safety of the public who has
not been involved in the decision of
buying HVAC-R equipment in most
of the cases. It is the responsibility
of the consultants, architects, MEP
contractors and even the funding
agencies involved in projects of
Airports, Hospitals, Malls, Hotels,
Restaurants, Offices, Cinema halls,
Commercial Complexes
and even telecom and
data center applications
to ensure the safety of
the people who use
equipment that is
purchased and the
environment where it is
operated.
It is not uncommon for us to
read news, updates as follows and
experience undesirable situations
• Fires in hospitals & related deaths
due to improper ventilation
• Burn cases in hotels due to
improper water heating systems
• Suffocation in halls and
multiplexes
• Food poisoning due to inadequate
refrigeration
• Life safety hazard of engineers
and fitters at construction sites
during fitment of systems and
equipment.
Let us take an example of UL
1995 and go through some of the
key tests/ criteria’s that the standard
details
• Temperature operation tests
• Cooling operation test
• Heating operation test
• Abnormal temperature and
pressure tests
• Backup protection tests
• Fan delay test
• Control system failure test
• Fan motor failure test
• Motors for use with wave
chopping solid-state speed
controls
• Condenser water failure test
• Dielectric voltage-withstand test
• Condensate drain blockage test
• Loading test
• Limited short-circuit test
• Transformer - burnout test &
overload test
• Rain test
• Accelerated aging tests
• Impact, Strength & Fatigue test
analysis
• Rupture member, Fusible plug &
Regulating relief valve endurance
test
• Leakage current test - cord-
connected products
• Ultraviolet light exposure test
IEC 60335 - 1 Household and similar electrical
appliances. Safety. General requirements
UL 474 - Dehumidifiers
IEC 60335 - 2 - 21 storage water heaters UL 484 - Room air conditioner
IEC 60335 - 2 - 24 refrigerating appliances ice-
cream appliances and ice-makers
UL 499 - Electric heating appliances
IEC 60335 - 2 - 30 room heater UL 136 - Household electric storage tank water
heaters
IEC 60335 - 2 - 34 motor-compressors UL 507 - Fans
IEC 60335 - 2 - 35 instantaneous water heaters UL 1278 - Movable and wall or ceiling-hung
electric room heaters
IEC 60335 - 2 - 40 electrical heat pumps air-
conditioners and dehumidifiers
UL 2021 - Fixed and location-dedicated electric
room heaters
IEC 60335 - 2 - 88 humidifiers intended for use
with heating ventilation or air-conditioning system
UL 250 - Household refrigerators and freezers
IEC 60335 - 2 - 98 humidifier UL 399 - Drinking water coolers
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Certifications
• Water exposure and immersion
test
These standards are result of
continuous improvements by
research over many years. The
committees who work on these
standards have representatives from
manufacturers, certification bodies,
lawyers, academicians. These
committees regularly study and
review new technologies,
manufacturing techniques along
with causes of major accidents to
arrive a possible changes and
amendments in these standards.
Most of these standards are living
standards, which means they are
open to feedback and inputs from all
users. They have clear defined cycles
(three years for IEC standards) when
these are reviewed for possible
amendments/ revisions or even
replacements.
The need for compliances and
Certification Marks
I am sure all of you have seen a
large number of test reports. They
define the test sample, what we call
as the EUT (Equipment Under Test),
the test conditions and the test
results. All the test laboratories
have to follow standards like an
ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (Which
specifies General requirements for
the competence of testing and
calibration laboratories)
So there is a system for
repeatability of test results, but
given that the sample is same.
Now question arises that what if
you as a manufacturer were asked
to send / make a sample which is to
be tested? What would you make?
Well the answer on how the sample
product would be is very obvious.
The purpose of a test report is to
prove the compliance of the sample
to a standard. What about
repeatabilityusingthemanufacturing
process of that sample’?
This is where certification
systems and third party certification
marks like an ETL/ UL or S Mark, GS
Mark, BEAB mark, VDE, etc help.
These marks have an in-built system
of un-announced factory audits and
directory listing which ensures the
repeatability of compliances to
standards. The often misunderstood
CE mark (abbreviation of French:
Conformité Européenne, meaning
"European Conformity") is only a
mandatory conformity mark for
products placed on the market in
the European Economic Area (EEA).
Be cautioned that with the use of a
CE marking on a product the
“manufacturer” is supposed to
ensure that the product conforms to
the essential requirements of the
applicable EC directives. But there is
no audit or inspection from any
external agency. The responsibility
is only of the manufacturer and
hence a CE mark for most of the
product categories is equivalent to a
test report only.
Conclusion
In order for an economy to grow
successfully it is important to
consider a holistic growth factoring
in the perpetuation of integral parts
of the economy which is the people
and the environment. It is not
uncommon that the pressures of
growth lead to oversight of
important & critical factors like the
safety of the same system of people
and environment for which the
growth is being targeted. Hence a
cost which may seem to decrease
the growth or even profitability of
an organization is actually necessary
for the perpetuation of the
system itself.
Below are some of the key standards applicable to commercial HVAC&R systems safety
UL 555 - Fire dampers UL 427 - Refrigerating units
UL 705 - Power ventilators UL 471 - Commercial refrigerators, freezers, and
beverage coolers
UL 710 - Exhaust hoods for commercial
cooking equipment
UL 541 - Refrigerated vending machines
UL 1995 - Heating and cooling equipment UL 563 - Ice makers
UL 1996 - Duct heaters UL 621 - Ice cream makers
UL 2106 - Field erected boiler assemblies IEC 60335 - 2 - 15 appliances for heating liquids
IEC IEC 60335-2-40 - Heat pumps, air
conditioners and dehumidifier
IEC 60335 - 2 - 24 refrigerating appliances ice-
cream appliances and ice-makers
IEC IEC 60335-2-88 - Humidifiers for heating,
ventilation or air con systems
IEC 60335 - 2 - 51 stationary circulation pumps
for heating and service water installations
UL 207 - Refrigerant containing components/
accessories non-electric
IEC 60335 - 2 - 53 sauna heating appliances
UL 412 - Refrigeration unit coolers IEC 60335 - 2 - 89 commercial refrigerating
appliances with an incorporated or remote
refrigerant condensing unit or compressor
UL 416 - Refrigerated medical equipment IEC 60335 - 2 - 98 humidifiers
Abhishek Chhabra is associated with Intertek India Private Ltd that is
a global leader in safety and performance testing of HVAC systems.
He has vast experience in driving growth in various market segments.
In the past he has closely been associated with the semiconductor/
electronic components distribution industry. Intertek India commands
a leadership position in fields of Testing, Inspections & Certifications
not only in electrical products but also petrochemical, textile, minerals
& food. At Intertek India, he is responsible for developing safety
testing services for growth of Indian Industry.
❁
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