Continued Growth in 2014

With more certificates and more companies onboard, the continued growth of ACERMI adds even greater credibility to the certificates it awards. The Association pour la CERrtification des Matériaux Isolants regularly upgrades its own services and performance.

The higher levels of activity experienced by ACERMI in 2014 is clear from the increase seen in the number of certificates and companies. Across the full range of insulation products, the increase was particularly significant in bio-sourced products, especially those based on wood wool, while traditional mineral wool- and polystyrene-based products remained largely stable. Nevertheless, mineral wool remains dominant in terms of the number of current certificates, accounting for 36% of the total, followed by expanded polystyrene at 26%, polyurethane at 13%, bio-sourced insulations at 12%, and extruded polystyrene at 9%. The volume of certification activity at ACERMI is therefore a useful reflection of how construction industry manufacturing, research and products are developing.

There are many reasons for this growth in demand. The springboard standard that enables the promotion of innovative products by guaranteeing their thermal resistance value has already led to the award of five certificates. Testing programs for external insulation products for use under siding, bulk wood fiber products and lightweight concrete products have all been validated. Following the introduction of the European Construction Products Regulation, which came into force on July 1, 2013, the scope of ACERMI has also changed to reflect a revision of its general rules and the introduction of working condition criteria for the ACERMI EC mark.

ACERMI has responded to growing demand by adapting its facilities and resources to reduce the time it takes to process testing and audit applications. The first effects of those changes can be seen in the fact that the average lead time for processing requests and issuing audit reports fell from two months to six weeks between 2013 and 2014. An impressive 30% reduction! The next goal is to limit the time taken between conducting the audit and issuing the test report to just four months from the current four and a half months.

683 valid certificates

The 2014 annual report quantifies the increasing ACERMI certification activity as a sign of the increasing interest amongst manufacturers to obtain a quality Mark for their products. This motivation amongst manufacturers is also driven by the desire to test the performance of their products and promote market recognition of products tested and certified in this way. As a result, there were 39 more valid certificates at the end of 2014 than at the end of 2013 : that total of 683 certificates for 2014 represented 100 certificate-holding companies, including distributors, 41 of them outside France (non-French companies are increasing as a proportion of the total), and 141 production plants, of which 64 are outside France. The number of valid certificates has almost doubled since 2007, despite challenging market conditions and the slowdown in construction industry activity. The conclusion is clear: in times of crisis, quality certificates are undeniably an advantage.