Md. Code Regs. 09.12.52.13

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 25, December 13, 2024

Section 09.12.52.13 - Approval of Testing Facilities

A. Application and Criteria. A testing facility shall apply to the Department to be designated an approved testing facility. The application shall be verified and shall contain information enabling the Department to determine whether the applicant is specially qualified by reason of facilities, personnel, experience, and demonstrated reliability to investigate, test, and evaluate industrialized building units for compliance with these regulations, and to provide adequate follow-up and quality assurance services at the point of manufacture. This information shall include:

(1) Names of officers and location of offices;

(2) Specification and description of services proposed to be furnished under these regulations;

(3) Description of qualifications of personnel and their responsibilities;

(4) Summary of organization experience;

(5) General description of procedures and facilities to be used in proposed services, including evaluation of the model unit, factory follow-up, quality assurance, labeling of production units, and specific information to be furnished on or with labels;

(6) How defective units resulting from oversight are to be dealt with;

(7) Acceptance of these services by independent accrediting organizations and by other jurisdictions;

(8) Proof of independence and absence of conflict of interest;

(9) Compliance with federal and State requirements concerning equal employment opportunities.

B. Fees. Fees for approval and annual renewal are stated in Regulation .12.

C. Independence and Absence of Conflicts. An approved testing facility may not be affiliated with or influenced or controlled by producers, suppliers, or vendors of products in any manner which might affect its capacity to render reports of findings objectively without bias. An approved testing facility is judged to be free of affiliation, influence and control if it complies with all of the following:

(1) Has no managerial affiliation with producers, suppliers, or vendors and is not engaged in the sale or promotion of any product or material;

(2) The results of its work accrue no financial benefit to the agency via stock ownership, and the like, of any producers, supplier, or vendors of the products involved;

(3) Its directors and other management personnel, in those capacities, receive no stock option, or other financial benefits from any producer, supplier, or vendor of the product involved;

(4) Has sufficient breadth of interest or activity that the loss or award of a specific contract to determine compliance of a producer's, supplier's, or vendor's product with these regulations would not be a determinative factor in its financial well-being;

(5) The employment security status of its personnel is free of influence or control of producers, suppliers, or vendors.

Md. Code Regs. 09.12.52.13

Regulation .13 recodified from 05.02.04.13 effective 46:6 Md. R. 345, eff. 3/25/2019