3.1 Material Certificate
What is a 3.1 Material Certificate?
A 3.1 certificate is issued by an authority which is independent of manufacturing and is validated by the manufacturers authorised inspection representative. It is equivalent to the “old” 3.1.B certificate. This is an inspection certificate according to EN 10204:2004 that declares the ‘metallic products’ are in compliance with the order requirements and supply test results. We do not release any material for production until a satisfactory material certificate is received.
How we ensure traceability from the housing to the certificate
Traceability of materials is to help any investigation into ‘what went wrong’ in the event of a problem. This is why on delivery of materials, we allocate a unique material number from a traceability record and this is cross referenced to a unique job number. The material certificate is checked against the material received and scanned to PDF format for easy sharing with our customers. Material certificate numbers are also recorded in our traceability record.
We are confident that we manage our traceability so well so, that we are able to provide any investigation with the means to be able to trace through production, inspection and test records of items, from end user to source supplier, or vice versa.
We are proud to meet the requirements of ISO 9001 and will continue to be independently certified which will ‘ensure that [our customers] get consistent, good quality products and service.’
What is the difference between a 3.1 and a 3.2 Material Certificate?
A 3.1 Material Certificate is endorsed only by the manufactures own representative who has to be independent from the manufacturing process, as we explained earlier. Whilst a 3.2 Material Certificate has been additionally countersigned by an independent inspection authority or the purchasers authorised inspection representative, who can confirm that the testing and inspection process demanded by the specification have been adhered to correctly.
