Archive (back to news)

August 16th, 2007: 5th Afecor-Seminar - Final Program available
The seminar program is now finalized. Information will be given on
• European Commission Policies on Energy Efficiency and Renewables
• Review on existing Energy Efficiency Regulations for Buildings, Building Certificates, etc.
• The American Heating Market and Legislation Perspectives in the US
• Global Standardization for Global Markets
• New Heating Solutions (Gas Absorption Heat Pumps, mCHP, Fuel Cells, etc.
• Situation Update: Use of Bio-Fuels and Renewables
The complete seminar program can be downloaded here.

March 5th, 2007: 5th Afecor-Seminar to be held on October 25th/26th 2007 in Berlin
Within the next few years the heating industry will be facing a lot of challenges. Regulations are about to be changed, driving new technologies in global markets.
The seminar will address the following topics:
• Global Market Trends
• European Energy & Environmental Policies
• Heating Technologies
• Renewables and Alternative Heating
A seminar announcement flyer with more details can be found here.

February 5th, 2007: Afecor Statement on the RoHS Directive
The controls industry supplying to the heating market is not affected by the RoHS directive. However, the controls manufacturers have defined a strategy how they are going to deal with the requirements of the directive. The Afecor statement is to be found here.

October 17th, 2006: GAD-AC Statement on the Transition of EN298
The statement which was first drafted in May 2006 and has now been endorsed by the GAD-AC Meeting. The document will be published, probably as a Guidance Sheet. You can find the text of the statement here.

October 17th: Designed Lifetime of Safety Relevant Controls
A table has been put together using information from the standards to compile the designed lifetime figures for various safety relevant controls. A document describes also how this information will have to be used. Please find the document here, it compiles the lifetime figures from various standards

April 18th, 2005: Statement on the Transition of EN298 (Gas Burner Controls)
Afecor has drafted a statement on the transition of EN298, from a previous version to a new one. This is about the first transition of a harmonized standard in our industry, leaving some questions open on how to deal with products in the market.

July 8th, 2004: Co-operation Agreement with EHI
An agreement has been signed between Afecor and EHI (European Heating Industries Association) on how to organize the work between the two organizations. Afecor will continue to deal with all component related subjects. All work items that involve controls and appliance aspects will be handled within EHI Department 3, in which Afecor is represented.

February 6th, 2004: New LVD Working Document
The European Commission has published the current document on the revision of the Low Voltage Directive. You can find the document here.

October 14th/15th, 2003: 4th afecor seminar
Four years after the last one now the 4th afecor seminar took place in Strasbourg, France. Once again experts from the European Commission, trade associations, the industry, notified bodies, research organisations came to the seminar to discuss the relevant subjects which still involve some open issues: Programme 4th afecor Seminar

October 6th, 2003: GADAC Guidance Sheets back online again
After the guidance sheets have been revised they were aproved by the member states in the GAD Working Group in June. Consequently, the guidance sheets have been put back online. The link can be found on the 'links' page and for the time being here.

January 10th, 2003: EOTC Workshop on Mutual Recognition
EOTC, the European Organisation for Conformity Assessments is going to hold a workshop on March 4th 2003 in Brussels. The workshop will deal with all aspects of the Mutual Recognition Agreements as mentioned at the very bottom of this page. For conference details please click here. The latest MRA covers Switzerland.

December 19th, 2002: Harmonized Standards under the Gas Appliances Directive
A comprehensive list of harmonized standards under the Gas Appliances Directive is available oin the EC web site of the EC DG Enterprise. The list contains all standards that have been published so far. Here is a direct link.

October 4th, 2002: Gas Appliances Guidance Sheets published
The guidance sheets that have been drafted and released by the Gas Appliances Advisory Committee have been published on the EC web site. There is no legal status for the documents, they are purely informative. The PDF files can now be obtained here. Note: The Guidance Sheets are currently being revised, so the files are not available at this point in time!

September 19th, 2002: CEN Conference on Pressure Equipment in Europe
On November 19th/20th a European Conference on Pressure Eqipment in Europe will be held in Brussels. The conference will deal with the PED, standards and conformity assessments. The conference program and registration details can be obtained here.

July 27th, 2002: PED Definition Sheets updated
Similar to the GADAC sheets on the interpretation of the Gas Appliances Directive, there is a PED Working Group drafting definition sheets on the Pressure Equipment Directive. The entire set of documents (158 pages) has been updated and can be downloaded here. Give the document a moment to upload, it is a big file.

July 15th, 2002: Impacts of the Pressure Equipment Directive on Products already placed on the Market
Products that have been brought on the market before the transition period for the PED expired on May 29th 2002, will not have to go through certification again now that the PED is in force. ORGALIME has issued a statement, click here for details.

July 7th, 2002: Producer Responsibility in the the proposed Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEED)
The industry is concerned that the directive might encourage free riders and also impose cost on the manufacturers beyond their responsibility. The electrical and electronic working industries are represented in Europe by Orgalime. Through that channel a document is available comparing ORGALIME's proposed text with the current EC draft for the directive. Click here to see the document.

June 11th, 2002: New afecor member GOK
The company GOK has joined afecor as a direct company member. GOK is a manufacturer of controls for liquefied gas and oil combustion plants. Information on the company can be obtained on their web site.

April 25th, 2002: afecor Liaison with IEC TC 72 'Automatic Controls for Household Use'
The liaison between afecor and IEC TC 72 has been reconfirmed.

February 1st, 2002: Updated Version of the Vienna Agreement
The Vienna Agreement sets the rules to organize standardization work between CEN and ISO. The update is basically a simplification. Click here to see the document. In addition there are guidelines available to support the Agreement.

October 11th, 2001: GADAC Meeting in Brussels
On the last GADAC meeting afecor has presented their position on how to deal with reconditioned control products and with spare parts for old appliances. A point was made also on minimum requirements for field inspectors. For details on the afecor position for the a.m. subjects please use the contact page.

October 2nd, 2001 : Preparation for next afecor seminar launched
Afecor has come to the decision to conduct another seminar in autumn 2003 at Strasbourg. Following the tradition of previous seminars, the major subjects will be the EC directives, national legislation and new technologies.

June 6th, 2001: The Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEED)
According to the actual draft directive the disposal or re-use of waste electric or electronic equipment will fall mainly under the responsibility of the manufactures, whether they take the products back or make sure that a system exists how to deal with the waste. This will also involve the controls manufacturers in Europe, who currently are developing a strategy how to deal with the requirements. The text of the directive can be downloaded here.

May 11th, 2001: Proposed Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings
In June the Commission has published their proposed directive on the energy performance of buildings, the text can be downloaded here.

April 4th, 2001: Mutual agreements between the EU Community and Third Countries
The European Community has made another Mutual Agreement, this time with Japan, on the recognition of conformity assessment between both parties. Covered are -among others- the fields electrical safety and electromagnetic compatibility. In practical terms this means, that certificates from those partner countries are being recognized in the EC and vice versa. The individual agreements can be checked under the following links, which also include conformity assessment guides for the EC Designating Authorities, EC CABs and European industry (New agreement Japan):
Australia
New Zealand
United States
Canada
Israel

For PDF files, you can get the Acrobat Reader here: