Bengaluru: IAPMO Research & Testing (R&T) and Intertek today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a groundbreaking partnership to jointly provide product testing and certification services to plumbing and mechanical product manufacturers throughout the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.

Via this partnership, these two well respected, internationally recognized and accredited organizations will offer complementary conformity assessment services for plumbing and mechanical products for use in the following countries: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.The MoU was signed on World Plumbing Day by GP Russ Chaney, CEO of The IAPMO Group and Frank Pan, President of Intertek Commercial & Electrical Asia Pacific, and co-signed by Jin Luo, Senior Director of Asia Pacific Operations of IAPMO R&T and Richard Adams, Vice President of Global Engineering & Certification for Intertek Commercial & Electrical. Chief witness of the signing was Sudhakaran Nair, President of the Indian Plumbing Association and Executive Board member of World Plumbing Council. Under the terms of the MoU, the agreement will continue through Jan. 1, 2016.

“Both of our organizations possess decades of history in the testing and certification of plumbing and mechanical products,” Chaney said. “Such fast emerging markets require reputable and experienced organizations to provide these services to ensure compliance with national and international standards on behalf of the industry and the general public.”

IAPMO R&T and Intertek together maintain worldwide accreditations to ISO Guide 65 and ISO17025. Both organizations operate offices within India and the Middle East region and thus are ideally situated to support and promote these services locally. Follow up inspections are provided to ensure ongoing compliance.

Over the years, IAPMO R&T and Intertek have nurtured a mutually respectful relationship and have at times collaborated to offer complementary services to each other’s clients.

“This partnership represents a tremendous synergy between two prominent organizations. It will provide the plumbing industry with services to ensure manufacturers produce high quality

products that meet all necessary standards,” said Frank Pan, President, Intertek Commercial & Electrical Asia Pacific, “it will also help our clients gain easy access to local and international markets”.