(a) Purpose. Section 14(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2063(a), requires every manufacturer (including importers) and private labeler of a product which is subject to a consumer product safety standard to issue a certificate that the product conforms to the applicable standard, and to base that certificate either on a test of each product or on a “reasonable testing program.” The purpose of this subpart is to establish requirements that manufacturers and importers of automatic residential garage door operators subject to the Safety Standard for Automatic Residential Garage Door Operators (16 CFR part 1211, subpart A), shall issue certificates of compliance in the form specified.

(b) Scope and application. The provisions of this subpart apply to all residential garage door operators which are subject to the requirements of the Safety Standard for Automatic Residential Garage Door Operators that take effect on January 1, 1993 or later.

Under the Consumer Product Safety Act, automatic residential garage door operators must certify that they comply with requirements of subpart A of this part. This certification requirement is currently in effect. The specific labeling requirement of the certification rule in this subpart will become effective for any automatic residential garage door operator manufactured on or after January 21, 1993.

The following definitions shall apply to this subpart:

(a) Private labeler means an owner of a brand or trademark which is used on an operator subject to the standard and which is not the brand or trademark of the manufacturer of the operator, provided the owner of the brand or trademark caused or authorized the operator to be so labeled and the brand or trademark of the manufacturer of such operator does not appear on the label.

(b) Production lot means a quantity of garage door operators from which certain operators are selected for testing prior to certifying the lot. All garage door operators in a lot must be essentially identical in those design, construction, and material features which relate to the ability of an operator to comply with the standard.

(c) Reasonable testing program means any test or series of tests which are identical or equivalent to, or more stringent than, the tests defined in the standard and which are performed on one or more garage door operators of the production lot for the purpose of determining whether there is reasonable assurance that the operators in that lot comply with the requirements of the standard.

(a) General. Manufacturers and importers shall either test each individual garage door operator (or have it tested) or shall rely upon a reasonable testing program to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the standard.

(b) Reasonable testing program. This paragraph provides guidance for establishing a reasonable testing program.

(1) A reasonable testing program for automatic residential garage door operators is one that provides reasonable assurance that the operators comply with the standard. Manufacturers and importers may define their own testing programs. Such reasonable testing programs may, at the option of manufacturers and importers, be conducted by an independent third party qualified to perform such testing programs.

(2) To conduct a reasonable testing program, the garage door operators should be divided into production lots. Sample operators from each production lot should be tested in accordance with the reasonable testing program so that there is a reasonable assurance that if the operators selected for testing meet the standard, all operators in the lot will meet the standard. Where there is a change in parts, suppliers of parts, or production methods that could affect the ability of the operator to comply with the requirements of the standard, the manufacturer should establish a new production lot for testing.

(3) The Commission will test for compliance with the standard by using the test procedures contained in the standard. However, a manufacturer's reasonable testing program may include either tests prescribed in the standard or any other reasonable test procedures.

(4) If the reasonable testing program shows that an operator does not comply with one or more requirements of the standard, no operator in the production lot can be certified as complying until all non-complying operators in the lot have been identified and destroyed or altered by repair, redesign, or use of a different material or components to the extent necessary to make them conform to the standard. The sale or offering for sale of garage door operators that do not comply with the standard is a prohibited act and a violation of section 19(a) of the CPSA (15 U.S.C. 2068(a)), regardless of whether the operator has been validly certified.

(a) Form of permanent label of certification. Manufacturers (including importers) shall issue certificates of compliance for automatic residential garage door operators manufactured after the effective date of the standard in the form of a permanent label which can reasonable be expected to remain on the operator during the entire period the operator is capable of being used. Such labeling shall be deemed to be a “certificate” of compliance as that term is used in section 14 of the CPSA, 15 U.S.C. 2063.

(b) Exception for UL listed operators. The certification labeling requirement of paragraph (a) of this section shall be satisfied by display of the Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) logo or listing mark, and compliance with the date marking requirements of UL Standard for Safety 325, on both the operator system and its container. Operators displaying the UL logo or listing mark and complying with the UL standard are exempt from the requirements of paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section.

(c) Contents of certification label. The certification labels required by this section shall clearly and legibly contain the following information:

(1) The statement “Meets CPSC ____ (insert 1993 or later date of applicable standard) garage door operator entrapment protection requirements.”

(2) An identification of the production lot.

(d) Placement of the label. The label required by this section must be affixed to the operator. If the label is not immediately visible to the ultimate purchaser of the garage door operator prior to purchase because of packaging or other marketing practices, a second label that states: “Meets CPSC ____ (insert 1993 or later date of applicable standard) garage door operator entrapment protection requirements,” along with the month or week and year of manufacture must appear on the container or, if the container is not visible, on the promotional material used with the sale of the operator.

(a) General. The importer of any automatic residential garage door operator subject to the standard in subpart A of this part must issue the certificate of compliance required by section 14(a) of the CPSA and § 1211.24 of this subpart. If testing of each operator, or a reasonable testing program, meeting the requirements of this subpart has been performed by or for the foreign manufacturer of the product, the importer may rely in good faith on such tests to support the certificate of compliance provided the importer is a resident of the United States or has a resident agent in the United States and the records of such tests required by § 1211.31 of subpart C of this part are maintained in the United States.

(b) Responsibility of importer. If the importer relies on tests by the foreign manufacturer to support the certificate of compliance, the importer bears the responsibility for examining the records supplied by the manufacturer to determine that the records of such tests appear to comply with § 1211.31 of subpart C of this part.