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• Product Safety & Performance Evaluations
• The Benefits of Third-Part Design Evaluation
• The Design Evaluation Process
• CSA Group’s Design Evaluation Service
• Standards We Cover

Our design evaluation service for gas-fired products is an independent, third-party evaluation to support efficient and effective product design and development. Conducted at the initial prototype stage, the service identifies deficiencies or other issues that could prevent the product from meeting applicable safety standards and performance requirements. 

The service also includes specialized evaluations to confirm your requirements that the product will perform as intended and meet the expectations of downstream customers, including distributors, retailers, and end users.

This service is confidential and performed by CSA Group’s Testing Services team before you pursue formal testing and certification. A design evaluation is not part of the formal safety testing and certification process, which is conducted independently by a qualified testing laboratory later in the product development process.

Our design evaluation service consists of two main evaluations — product safety and product performance evaluations.

Product Safety Evaluation

A product safety evaluation can provide advanced verification that your product will meet the applicable safety requirements during formal certification. This preliminary evaluation can spare you the potential for costly rework and retesting by identifying applicable safety issues early in the product development process.

Product Performance Evaluation

A performance evaluation includes specialized testing such as actual use and feature verification to confirm the product’s competitive placement, attainment of industry or retailer benchmarks, as well as meeting consumer expectations.  Identifying performance issues earlier in your product cycle can save you significant costs, prevent launch delays, minimize product returns, and save damage to your brand’s reputation.

The Benefits of Third-Party Design Evaluation

Design challenges can be complex, especially when referencing product requirements, performing physical testing, and incorporating new features.  Your design team may benefit from our experts’ experience.

Working with CSA Group Testing Services as a third-party to perform design evaluations offers the following advantages:

• Independent Review: Obtain an experienced, independent review that helps you validate product design and confidently proceed to the next stages of product launch.
• Problem Prevention: Helps identify potential safety and performance issues early, avoiding costly returns, rework, retooling, and risks to brand reputation

Insights gained from third-party design evaluation can be particularly valuable when you are designing an all-new product or adding innovative technology during a product redesign.

Specifically, product designers often face technical challenges when developing gas-fired products. Here are some areas where designers frequently require support:

• Propane to Natural Gas Conversion: Designers must account for the physical differences between propane and natural gas. Natural gas is lighter than propane, making it harder to keep lit. Proper fuel conversion kits must address these differences to validate safety and performance.
• Component Adjustments: Conversion often requires different fittings, hose configurations, and other components. Ensuring airflow is not excessive is crucial to prevent flames from being easily extinguished.
• Product Schematics and Manuals: Keeping all documentation up to date throughout the development process is essential. Overlooking schematics, markings, and manuals can lead to delays in safety testing and certification.

The Design Evaluation Process

1. Initial Review: Review of applicable safety requirements, product construction, and performance benchmarks, as well as assessment of product assembly and operation.
2. Product Safety and Performance Testing: Conduct product safety and performance testing to your requirements to determine compliance with regulatory industry, market, and proprietary specifications.
3. Documentation Assessment: Evaluation of design schematics, markings, manuals, and other documentation for accuracy and completeness.
4. Gap Analysis: Identification and documentation of any applicable safety and performance shortfalls. 
5. Formal Report: A formal report detailing the evaluation results, with observations for corrective actions to address potential non-compliance issues. 
6. Re-evaluation: After you update the product’s design, CSA Group Testing Services will re-evaluate the revised design to confirm compliance with applicable requirements. 

Our design evaluation experts also consider if your product’s safety and performance could be affected by your potential future product changes.

For example, anticipation of possible component supply issues could lead to recommended design modifications that will enable you to substitute for a broader range of alternative parts, should the need arise.

CSA Group’s Design Evaluation Service

Our design evaluation service is intended to support any brand owner responsible for product design or overseeing design activities. This includes product manufacturers, their suppliers, and retailers with private label products. 

Additionally, CSA Group can conduct joint evaluations for manufacturers involved in co-development projects with retailers or other partners. The service covers a wide range of gas-fired products, including commercial and consumer appliances, cooking appliances, HVAC appliances, and hearth, patio, and barbecue products, validating they meet applicable safety standards and performance requirements.

Standards We Cover

Design evaluation is part of a broad portfolio of product testing services offered by CSA Group to help product manufacturers, retailers, importers and other brand owners streamline their product development cycles to get products to market more efficiently and effectively. Included are factory audits, pre-purchase testing, shipment inspections, and post-purchase evaluations. 

Offered independently from CSA Group Testing Services, these third-party product evaluations provide information to support informed business decisions, optimize supply chains, maintain end-to-end quality oversight, and drive competitive advantage