WINDOWS Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 13

COMPLIANCE | EDITORIAL • If products need to be incorporated into a sub-assembly, insist that the manufacturer or supplier conducts appropriate performance testing of the sub-assembly to make sure their product still performs to spec in the combined configuration. • Be suspicious of product certification documents that are more than three years old, that contain spelling errors and poor English, that lack official stamps or official seals, that use a variety of fonts, or that use informal or inaccurate language. • If a product is Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) certified, remember that there are seven levels of certification and the higher the level, the more rigorous the requirements are for product manufacturers. • Insist on concise, detailed and plain English installation procedures. • Insist on reliable installers that can demonstrate familiarity with the products you want to use and can show evidence of proper product installation training from the manufacturer or supplier. • Carefully read the product warranty to understand under what circumstance you will and won’t be able to make a claim if anything goes wrong, remembering that if there is no local (Australian) distributor, the warranty is probably not worth the paper it is written on. • Look for experienced and easy-to-contact local technical support from the manufacturer or supplier. While product sales reps might be knowledgeable, if things go wrong on site you need someone with real depth of product application experience to call on during business hours and preferably in real-time. • If you have the time, check out the supplier’s premises either in person or via Google Earth. Get a feel for how financially viable the supplier is in case something goes wrong and you want to make a warranty claim, return or exchange goods or buy accessories. BUT ALL IS NOT LOST. MANUFACTURERS HAVE A KEY ROLE TO PLAY IN ENSURING THAT BUILDING PRODUCTS ARE CODE COMPLIANT. • Don’t let sub- contractors install anything without checking out the materials and products they are using first-hand and preferably spot-check their work to make sure they continue to install what you expect them to be installing. • Finally, if you discover or suspect an instance of non-conforming product or a compliant product used in the wrong application, do something about it and report it to your association or anonymously through the new portal set up by the Australian Building Codes Board 2 . See our latest quality range of affordable Up-Cut saws from EUROPE with EX TR A large cutting capacity. www.lunamachinerynsw.com.au Cutting Capacity • Cuts Up to 140mm High • 200mm @ 90° • 140mm @ 45°     Cutting Capacity • Cuts Up to 200mm High • 330mm @ 90° • 250mm @ 45°     (02) 9676 5114 Cutting Capacity • Cuts Up to 260mm High • 420mm @ 90° • 300mm @ 45°     WINDOWS MAGAZINE 11