Test Laboratory Heating and Chimney Systems

Test laboratory according to the building regulations of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg

The test laboratory is officially accredited for combustion plants according to the building regulations of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The test laboratory carries out tests of controlled building products according to building regulation list A1 and uncontrolled building products according to building regulation list A2 on customer order in the field of combustion plants for documented evidence of conformity. Moreover, the test laboratory is authorized to issue general building supervisory test certificates according to the requirements of the building regulation lists A1 and A2 for the proof of usability.

The accreditation refers to the testing and issue of general building supervisory test certificates for   

• oil stoves with vaporizing burners
• oil heating elements with vaporizing burners
• oil stoves with vaporizing burners
• oil-storage water heaters with vaporizing burner
• domestic slow combustion ranges for solid fuels
• heating stoves for solid fuels
• coal-fired heaters with storage cylinder
• chimney stoves for solid fuels
• domestic slow combustion heating element for solid fuels
• open chimneys and chimney inset appliances
• domestic slow combustion ranges
• wood-fired ovens
• flue spigots for chimney systems, pipes, metallic flue gas pipe elbows
  

Test according to the Construction Products Regulation

For a few years, the test laboratory for heating and chimney systems has maintained an intensive co-operation with fireplace manufacturers in Europe. As the European Commission already decided on the method of documented evidence of conformity to be applied for the product families, the test laboratory was officially accredited and notified according to the building products law. 
 
The present accreditation as official test laboratory refers to building products such as
room heating systems, able to be fired by solid and fluid fuels, to be used in buildings without requirements concerning the fire behaviour.

The accreditation as quality control and certification laboratory will be extended on building products such as

• prefabricated chimneys (elements in the height between floors), casing tubes for flue gas pipes (elements or blocks), multi-layer chimneys (elements or blocks), single-layer chimney blocks, kits for chimneys with and without composite wall elements as well as
• room heating systems firing solid and fluid fuels for applications subject to the regulations on fire behaviour.

After harmonizing the respective standards, the test laboratory will be authorized as test, quality control and certification institution throughout Europe.

Test according to DIN CERTCO

On August 16, 1999, the test laboratory “heating/chimney systems” of the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics (IBP) was accredited by the DIUN CERTCO Gesellschaft für Konformitätsbewertung mbH, a company engaged in assessing conformity, to test prefabricated heating systems for solid fuels comprising the certification program for heating systems with environmentally compatible combustion. This is a condition to receive the quality mark “DIN plus” for heating systems.  
The accreditation refers to tests of

• domestic slow combustion heating elements for solid fuels,
  
• chimney furnaces for solid fuels and
  
• heating systems for solid fuels to be operated by an open firebox (chimney inset appliances)

Flexible accreditation by the DAkkS, German Accreditation System of Testing

On May 31, 1999, the test laboratory "heating/chimney systems" of the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics IBP, which was already previously acknowledged in the field of building supervision, was granted a flexible accreditation as the first test laboratory in the field of heating and cimney systems. This accreditation certifies that the test laboratory is authorized due to a high technical and scientific competence and besides the test methods, listed in the certificate, without any further approval of the DAkkS,

• to select standardized or equivalent test methods and 
• to modify, develop or redevelop test methods.
  

Moreover, the IBP test laboratory is accredited to carry out:

• testing and determination of characteristic values of chimney systems and building components concerning the thermal, moisture and flow behaviour, corrosion resistance, thermal load capacity, gas proofness, construction and function
  
• determination of energy saving, fire-resistant and environment-related characteristic values testing the functionality of one or more heating systems for solid and liquid (vaporizing burners) fuels.