Solar KEYMARK Certificates and Sub-Licenses for Other Brands, Product Names, and Sellers

Solar KEYMARK certificates and sub-licenses for other brands, product names, and sellers“Page1of4

Solar KEYMARK certificates and sub-licenses for other brands, product names, and sellers

This document contains rules for issuing certificates and sub-licenses within in the Solar
KEYMARK certification for solar thermal products according to EN 12975, EN 12976, EN12977, and the respective European Scheme rules in its current valid versions. The knowledge and following of these rules by the involved parties (manufacturer, testing laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies) ensures a harmonized procedure and a fair competition between the third parties.

Rights and duties of certificate holders

The certificate holder is responsible for the fulfilment of all requirements standards and certification relevant documents mentioned on the certificate. These are especially:

─the product specific European standard(s)

─the European Solar KEYMARK certification scheme including its respective annexes and obligatory documents (e.g. the decision list), decided by SKN (Solar KEYMARK Network) and confirmed by CCB (CEN Certification Board)

─other respective rules and requirements fixed in a contract between certification body and certificate holder which may arise by accreditation requirements

Only the company (legal entity), brands, and products mentioned on the certificateare allowed to use/bear the Solar KEYMARK e.g. for marketing purposes.

According to Part 3 and 4 of the CEN and/or CENELEC Internal Regulations, 300 EUR per product type and 60 EUR per sub-type are charged to the certificate holder for each production facility.

Kind of certificates and sub-licences

Normally, it is the manufacturer of a product who applies for certification and is granted the right to use the Solar KEYMARK after positive assessment of all certification relevant documents.

Furthermore, the customer of the manufacturer (certificate holder) can apply for a certificate on his own to get the right to use the Solar KEYMARK. The main benefitsare that they can place the products on the market under another product name and do not have to pay for testing and inspection once again but only for certification and license fee.

The different possible options are shown on the flow chart shown on the following page.

Solar KEYMARK certificates and sub-licenses for other brands, product names, and sellers“Page1of4

Solar KEYMARK certificates and sub-licenses for other brands, product names, and sellersPage1of4

FAQ concerning sub-licenses for other brands, product names, and sellers

a)Which documents are required for sub-licenses?

–Application form provided by the respective CB who issued the main certificate

–New test report for the applicant and/or written permission to use the original test report and inspection report for the products for which the sub-license is applied

–Declaration of OEM and OBL that the OEM/OBL product is the same as the certified once

–New data sheet issued for the sub-license

–test report/check on new installation manual and type plate for the applied products

–in some cases the CB requires a registration of the trade mark/brand/company

b)Is it possible to issue sub-licenses on the basis of sub-licenses?

No, sub-licenses have always to be issued on the basis of main certificates.

c)What is the validity period/expiry date of the sub-license?

The expiry date of sub-licenses can be either the 5 year validity or the same expiry date as for the main certificate. This is in the responsibility of the CB. In any case, the sub-licenseneeds to be linked to the main certificate (e.g. concerning surveillance procedures like factory inspection and/or physical inspection).

d)What are the requirements for data sheets of sub-license?

─Shall the OBL data sheet be in the same format as the originalone?

If we do not use the new format, this will make life more difficult for JEN to harmonize the European database. Nevertheless, both options are used up to now. It takes a lot of time to transfer all the old data sheets into the new format and this time needs finally to be paid by someone (certificate holder).

─Especially, if the original data sheet in the former format (1page)?

See comment before.

─If the OBL data sheet has to be in new format (it updated), is it necessary also to change the original data sheet into the new format?

See comments before.

Shall we always use the new format for the OEM/OBL data sheets or shall it be the same as for the main certificate?

e)What kind of fees have to be paid by sub-license holders?

─Certification fee according to the schedule of fees of the involved CB

─License fee to CEN and SKN according to Annex E of the scheme rules (every new certificate – also for brands – includes a license fee to SKN and/or CEN)

This ensures a transparent and fair competition between the CB for charging license CEN/SKN fees. Otherwise, the certificate holder may move to another CB because of reduced license fees.

The license fees for brands need to be verified by SKN. Up to now, DINCERTCO always charges a license fee also for sub-licenses with same registration No. (different brand).

f)What are the requirements for surveillance and renewal of sub-licenses?

─Bi-annual Physical Inspection (PI) carried out at the manufacturer

─Yearly Factory Inspection is currently not requested but possible for special reasons.

Should we also include a check of the installation manual of the sub-license during the PI to verify that there were no certification relevant changes?

─As long as the surveillance requirements were assessed positive, the sub-license can be renewed for further 5 years.

g)Is it possible to withdraw the sub-license(OBL) on request of the original manufacturer,e.g. he does not want to cooperate with the OBL anymore?

YES. In this case there is no contract (commercial relationship) anymore between the main certificate holder and the OEM. The KEYMARK certified products on stock can be sold for a certain period with confirmation of the CB (maximum limit should be 2 years).

h)Will the sub-license (OBL) also be withdrawn after withdrawal of the respective main certificate (OEM)?

YES, but only if the product of the main certificate holder is not produced anymore.

NO, if the product is still produced by the manufacturer, the OEM/OBL certificate can remain valid as long as the surveillance requirements are fulfilled.

i)Is it possible to issue sub-licenses with same registration No. as for the main certificate?

NO, for every new certificate (OEM or OBL) a new registration No. is required.

Sören shows again his prepared document for OEM/OBL certificates (see SKN_N0193R0) and explains the different kind of used certificates. Jaime present a slide explaining related to the CEN/SKN fees.