How Indoor Air Comfort certification works

Summary

• After an initial characterisation test and first certification, an external surveillance system will identify any changes in the promised product properties, allowing the manufacturer to take corrective action.
• Only VOC related amendments of an existing quality assurance system in production will allow sufficiently constant product emissions properties.
• Continuous certification will require external on-site auditing of the quality documentation and manufacturing site, along with re-testing in regular intervals.
• An easily visible certification mark allows the user to assume the correctness of the manufacturer's statements without further investigations.

Organization of IAC certification

1. Test of sample in test chamber (Testing schedule may differ by product group);
2. Reporting of test results (Specifications may differ by product group);
3. Contract between manufacturer and certification body, including agreements on actions for maintaining low VOC emissions from labelled products, e.g. on details of production, exclusion of certain raw materials, factory production control, quality documentation;
4. Initial audit of relevant manufacturing site(s); Audit report including the relevant documentation;
5. IAC Certification process, including evaluation of test and audit reports, granting or denying of certificate according to the criteria;
6. Periodic external audits by Eurofins incl. survey of emission relevant elements of quality documentation;
7. Periodic re-testing for ensuring reliability of claims on low emissions;
8. Continuous monitoring and improvement of specifications, testing and auditing methodology.

Other certification programs

• Certificates may be important for showing compliance of a product with purchase specifications, or with sustainable or "green" building project and certifications. A certified product can apply for whatever other label on basis of the test report as regards emissions into indoor air. Please click here for a list of labels for which Eurofins test reports are accepted.
• Eurofins is approved certification body ("ÜZ-Stelle") for the German Ü mark for floorings. Eurofins may offer both - ÜZ certification for Ü mark, and IAC certification. Audits then can be performed in parallel for both purposes for saving time and costs.
• The same applies to the US Indoor Advantage certification operated by Scientific Certification Systems SCS. Eurofins Indoor Air Comfort IAC product certifications is working in partnership with this programme, and again audits can be combined between the both.
• Indoor Air Comfort covers only European specifications, it does not cover the USA, and it does not cover LEED specifications if these rely on US based specifications only. For that purpose, we recommend the Indoor Advantage program, operated by Scientific Certification Systems SCS in Emeryville, California.

More information

• Back to Indoor Air Comfort main page
• Why use IAC certified products
• Why manufacture IAC certified products
• How IAC works
• Product Groups
• List of certified products
• A video on VOC testing
• Links, documents and information
• Request of contact form

Contact to Indoor Air Comfort certification

Contact to VOC Testing Laboratories

Please see here contact information of Eurofins VOC testing laboratories in Europe, USA and China:
www.eurofins.com/voc-contacts.

Order forms and testing request forms are available for free download here.