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CO Certification

As of 1-4-2023, only certified companies with skilled employees may commission gas combustion plants. The introduction of this so-called CO system also has consequences for the standardization of processes and messages in relation to the exchange between companies commissioning gas combustion plants and other parties such as Certifying Bodies (CI) and Competent Authority. The agreements for this specific process are part of the DICO Standard because these agreements have a clear relationship with the DICO Maintenance Messages. This standard also enables integration with the installation companies' business processes and software.

The Regulations for commissioning gas combustion plants are described in the Building Code in section §1.8:

Certification work on gas combustion plants in relation to carbon monoxide.

The exact legislative amendment to the 2012 Building Code can be found here: Legislative amendment regarding CO Certification (pdf). You can recognize the seal of approval that will be held by certified installation companies and mechanics by the logo below:

Logo certification mark CO Certification
Figure: Logo certification mark CO Certification

Involved parties​

In the entire process for CO certification, there are a number of parties directly involved. Namely: the scheme administrator, the installer, the building owner, the occupant, certifying body and the Competent Authority. In some situations, occupant, client and building owner may differ. Consider, for example, housing corporations. The branch organizations directly involved are Techniek Nederland and Nederlandse Haarden- en Kachelbranche.

There are also other stakeholders in the arrangement system around quality assurance, namely the Toelatingsorganisatie Kwaliteit voor het Bouwen (TLoKB), Board of Accreditation and the Ministry of Internal Affiars and Kingdom Relations (BZK). However, they are not direct parties to the exchange of data.

Scheme administrators​

Three assessment guidelines from three different scheme administrators are applicable in this process. These are the BRL 6000-25 from InstallQ, BRL NHK from NHK abd the BRL K25000 from KIWA. These schemes are administered according to the NTA 8813:

Requirements for development and management of conformity assessment schemes by independent scheme administrators.

NTA 8813 describes the requirements for independent scheme management. It concerns requirements for the development and management of schemes for conformity assessment (in particular certification and inspection) under accreditation. The NTA is intended for scheme managers that are independent of the conformity assessment bodies (CBIs) that use the schemes.

Link: Information about the NTA8813

Certifying bodies​

Certifying bodies (CB) work according to one of these schemes to certify parties. Currently, there are 5 CBs (Bureau Veritas, Dekra, Kiwa, Normec and SKG-IKOB) that take on this role. This may change in the future.

Commissioning Party​

The commissioning party is an installation company that installs a new gas combustion appliance (e.g., central heating boiler, water heater, geyser or gas fireplace) or performs maintenance on gas combustion appliances. The commissioning company is certified to do so.

Building owner or occupant​

The building owner or occupant is involved in this process because the boiler installation or maintenance will take place at that location. The building owner or occupant may be the same party, but this obviously does not have to be the case. Consider a situation with a housing association and a resident who rents.

Competent Authority​

The competent authority is the administrative body responsible for licensing, supervision, enforcement, notifications, and allowing deviations from general rules. This can be the central government, but can also be a province, a water board, a municipality or a transport region. In the CO certification system, the Competent Authority is also one of the recipients of the message of an unsafe situation. (Source: Information Living Environment)