Confirmation of order
All orders received by us are acknowledged by a confirmation of order, with information on such aspects as when the work is planned to be performed, the name of SP's contact person and an estimate of costs. This cost estimate is prepared on the basis that all tests will be successfully passed, which means that the final cost may be higher if any parts of the tests are failed and so must be repeated.
Pre-test preparations
Before testing can start, the customer must submit all necessary documentation for the item (packaging or container etc.) to be tested, consisting at least of material specifications for all parts, drawings and descriptions of the methods of closure or sealing. All information necessary for handling the product must also be supplied. When the necessary number of items arrives at SP, they are inspected to ensure that the correct products have been supplied, after which one complete set of packaging etc. is put aside as a reference. This reference material will be retained by SP after successful testing.
Testing
Unless otherwise notified in connection with the confirmation of order, testing will be performed as soon as possible. Customers are entitled to participate in the testing: if this is wished, they should contact the technical officer responsible for the work in good time. Testing is carried out in accordance with the UN recommendations for transport of hazardous goods, which are equivalent to the requirements of practically all transport regulations.
Documentation
If the product meets the requirements of the regulations, the test procedure and the product are described in a test report. With such an approved test report as the basis, SP's Certification Department can then issue a certificate for the product, confirming that all products that are fully equal to the actual item of product that was tested are approved for the transport of hazardous goods. If the product is subsequently modified, thus changing the conditions relative to those under or for which it was approved, it can in certain cases be approved in its new form without further testing. In such cases, we issue a revised report with details of the change and its effects. This report, together with the original test report, can therefore form the basis for a certificate of approval.
Quality assurance
When a certificate is issued to a company for the first time, SP requires the company to sign an agreement for surveillance inspection of the company. Under the terms of this agreement, SP is entitled to perform an annual quality inspection of the company's manufacturing and inspection/test procedures, and to inspect and approve the company's quality management system, all at the company's cost. The products for which the company is approved are listed.
If the company has not previously been certified, the first inspection of the company in accordance with these rules is carried out in connection with certification. Certificates are valid for five years.
Liability
The holder of a certificate is responsible for ensuring that only those products that are exactly equivalent to the tested product are marked and sold as type-approved products.
For legal purposes, the customer is the owner of the test results, i.e. it is only the customer, or a third party approved in writing by the customer for the purpose, who may apply the results of such tests.