Canadian Standards Association

Established in 1919, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is a not-for-profit association composed of representatives from government, industry, and consumer groups. Among the fifty seven different areas of specialization are climate change, business management and safety and performance standards, including those for electrical and electronic equipment, industrial equipment, boilers and pressure vessels, compressed gas handling appliances, environmental protection, and construction materials. CSA also provides advisory services, training materials and print and electronic published standard documents.

Laws and regulations in most municipalities, states, and provinces in North America require certain products to be tested to a specific standard or group of standards by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). Currently forty percent of all the standards issued by CSA are referenced in Canadian legislation. CSA's sister company CSA International is an NRTL which manufacturers can choose, usually because the law of the jurisdiction requires it, or the customer specifies it. Due to the legal requirements and the cost of standards testing, counterfeit marks are not uncommon.^[1]

CSA developed the CAN/CSA Z299 series of quality assurance standards, which are still in use today. They are an alternative to the ISO 9000 series of quality standards.

CSA is a division of CSA Group which also includes CSA International, a global certification and testing organization, and OnSpeX, a provider of consumer product evaluation services.

History

Canadian Standards Association was established in 1919 as the Canadian Engineering Standards Association (CESA). CESA was renamed the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) in 1944.

In 1984, CSA established QMI, the Quality Management Institute for registration of ISO9000 and other standards.

In 1999, CSA International was established to provide of international product testing and certification services while CSA shifted its primary focus to standards development and training. In 2001, these three divisions were joined under the name CSA Group.

In 2004, OnSpeX was launched as the fourth division of CSA Group.

In 2008, QMI was sold to SAI-Global for $40 million.

In 2009, CSA purchased SIRA. ^[2]

OnSpeX

OnSpeX is a division of CSA Group. OnSpeX is a provider of global product performance evaluation services for the consumer product and retail markets with expertise in product design consulting, product specifications, product evaluation, inspection and data analytics.

OnSpeX provides various evaluation, inspection and advisory services designed to help organizations accelerate supply chains, increase product sales, build customer satisfaction and lower product return rates.

See also

• Sira European and UK equivalent for certification of equipment used in hazardous areas
• Baseefa - British equivalent for certification of equipment for explosive atmospheres
• ETL SEMKO
• NEMKO
• CE mark
• Technischer Überwachungsverein - German equivalent
• Technical Standards and Safety Authority - TSSA
• Underwriters Laboratories - United States equivalent
• American National Standards Institute
• Electrical equipment in hazardous areas

References

1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20071227075016/http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/home/fakes/labels.html CBC News web site retrieved 2007 Nov 12
2. ^ http://gethazloc.com/newsandevents/SIRA_News_Release_July_3_2009.pdf

External links

• Canadian Standards Association website