Component Testing Key To Long-Term Whole-Product PerformanceMost building products that are sold and distributed in North America are tested to validate compliance with performance standards, which are often referenced in the building code. Additionally, many of these building products are certi�ed and labeled under programs requiring unannounced inspections of the manufacturer’s plant and quality management system. Regular recerti�cation testing may be required, depending on the compliance path selected by the product manufacturer. However, certi�cation should go beyond basic quality assurance for a complete assembly by recognizing that a building product is often a complex system of components that must interact and perform properly over a long service life. These components include weatherstripping, coatings and �nishes, gaskets, glazing beads, sealants, hardware and screens, �ashing, and fasteners. Their performance standards are often stipulated by industry groups such as AAMA, WDMA, BHMA, and ASTM. Let us take a closer look at the AAMA program.

Component Verification ProgramAAMA's online component veri�cation program, which ultimately results in listing on the Veri�ed Components List (VCL), includes a system to verify that listed components comply with their individual performance standards as referenced in the whole-product standard. For a component to be included in AAMA's VCL, a performance standard for that component must exist and a laboratory test report demonstrating the component's compliance with said performance standard must be on �le. At the conclusion of successful testing, the component is eligible for inclusion in the VCL. To maintain the listing, sample components are randomly, independently selected from production or stock at regular intervals and are submitted for laboratory testing.

Following are some examples of AAMA compliance standards for various components:

-Weatherstripping – AAMA 701/702, Voluntary Speci�cation for Pile Weatherstripping and Replaceable Fenestration Weatherseals.

Feb 2013

-Sealants – AAMA 800, Voluntary Speci�cations and Test Methods for Sealants

-Hardware – AAMA 900 series of standards:AAMA 901, Voluntary Speci�cations for Rotary Operators in Window Applications;AAMA 902, Voluntary Speci�cation for Sash Balances;AAMA 904, Voluntary Speci�cation for Multi-Bar Hinges in Window Applications;AAMA 906, Voluntary Test Method and Speci�cation for Sliding Glass Door Roller Assemblies;AAMA 908, Voluntary Speci�cation for Friction Based Sash Balances; andAAMA 930, Voluntary Speci�cation for the Water Penetration Resistance & Structural Load Performance of Locking / Latching Hardware used in Side-Hinged Door Systems

-Installation of products – including:AAMA 711, Voluntary Speci�cation for Self Adhering Flashing Used for Installation of Exterior Wall Fenestration ProductsAAMA 812, Voluntary Practice for Assessment of Single Component Aerosol Expanding Polyurethane Foams for Sealing Rough Openings of Fenestration Installations

Feb 2013

Certification vs. VerificationVeri�cation programs provide a "shopping list" of components that are approved for whole-product certi�cation programs and add market-posture value for component suppliers. However, in today’s cost-conscious, environmentally-aware, and safety-focused world of regulation, legislation, and litigation, veri�cation programs may not go far enough. Rather, component certi�cation programs may be used to meet the added need of demonstrating a component's conformance when used in a whole-product assembly.

For example, under AAMA's North American Fenestration Standard/Speci�cation (NAFS) certi�cation, window and door manufacturers can be granted a design change approved through a waiver-of-retest when a third-party engineering analysis veri�es equivalent performance. Components of equivalent type/design are then permitted to be changed without third-party analysis, as long as they are listed in the VCL. Additionally, whole-product certi�cation programs may account for substitution through the periodic conformance testing of the complete assembly, which essentially acts as requali�cation and e�ectively sets a new product/component baseline. Between test intervals, minor design changes may be approved via the third-party waiver-of-retest provision, which then allows substitutions using other current VCL components. Even with independent engineering analysis involved in the waiver process, there can be unintended consequences of relying on substitution allowance by a VCL-listed component resulting in performance changes of the overall unit. This is analogous to manufacturing "tolerance stackup" where repeated, allowed variances add up to an out-of-spec product in terms of overall �t and function. Moreover, this nonconformance will not be discovered until the next test associated with the whole product certi�cation.

Some component attributes cannot be accurately evaluated only by inspection at the fenestration unit manufacturer’s plant. Such attributes may include sealant formulations, improper hardware tempering, structural strength, resistance to air and water penetration, and presence of prohibited compounds.

These concerns are especially relevant where technologically -advanced, green-mandated materials are �nding their way into components, potentially impacting the service life of the whole product.

717.764.7700 . tburroughs@archtest.com . www.archtest.com

Todd Burroughs, Senior Project Engineer at Architectural Testing Inc. (ATI), serves as the product performance manager for the AAMA Veri�ed Components List (VCL). He is the �rm’s technical representative for the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) and a member of ASTM International’s D 20 committee on plastics. Burroughs has been an employee of ATI for 18 years, serving in all aspects of the company, from full-scale lab and �eld testing and project management, to speci�cation, standard, and test program development.

About The Author Todd Burroughs Senior Project Engineer

ConclusionVeri�cation programs like AAMA's Veri�ed Components List are, and continue to be, valuable tools. However, with the heightened performance requirements, whole product manufacturers of building products should consider component certi�cation to help assure today’s more demanding buyers, code o�cials, and regulators that they are getting what they expect. The challenge lies in answering the question: what is the right thing to do from the perspective of customers who want assurance of proper validation of expected performance?

Component certi�cation can o�er component manufacturers - and by extension whole-product manufacturers - a leg up on their competition, wherever they are based. Then, everyone can have con�dence that the whole is indeed better than the sum of the parts, rather than only being as strong as its weakest link.

Weatherstripping changes can affect whole-product performance