Vetting Vendors

Trade show season is just around the corner. While walking the show floor lets you learn about new brands and products, it can also open your company to potential noncompliance. The International Hot Tub Association shares what you as a retailer can do to help ensure the products you find at a trade show can be safely sold in your store.

Certifications

There are several third-party certifications that hot tubs, swim spas and related products like chemicals must have to be sold in the U.S. Some states and jurisdictions have stricter requirements than at the national level, so it is important to know what regulations you must meet in the location you’re selling your products.

“As a consumer, you wouldn’t want to get in a car that hadn’t been registered and certified to make sure it has working brakes,” says Rick Hagan, senior director of industry affairs at the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, the parent organization of IHTA. “Hot tubs and pool products should be treated the same way.”

There are three certifications you should keep in mind when considering new products.

NSF

NSF is an independent organization that tests, audits and certifies products and services, including pools, hot tubs, filters, drain covers, pumps, disinfection equipment and more. When a product has the NSF certification mark, that means it meets or exceeds required standards for product design and performance. “If an NSF label isn’t on a chemical product, [consumers] aren’t going to take the chance,” Hagan says.

UL

UL is the safety science leader that delivers testing, inspection and certification services. UL tests products to ensure compliance with the International Electrotechnical Commission, the American National Standards Institute and NSF. UL assessments for pools and hot tubs include energy efficiency, product performance and electrical safety.

“In the U.S., we assume everything is UL-approved, but international companies may be missing those certifications, even though the product may be built to those standards,” Hagan says. Without the actual certification, the product should not be sold to consumers.

APSP-14

ANSI/APSP/ICC-14 American National Standard for Portable Electric Spa Energy Efficiency examines five areas related to energy efficiency for spas and hot tubs: 

• Testing procedures and methods that confirm manufacturers’ claims
• Energy labels that help consumers compare models
• Reduced energy consumption in line with existing state requirements
• Ways to compare energy efficiency on spas of different sizes — giving small and large models a single source of truth 
• Creating third-party verification and validation procedures for testing and clear pass/fail criteria

APSP-14 mirrors the California Electrical Code and is also referenced in the International Energy Conservation Code and the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, which have 16 mandatory state adoptions, 21 states with optional adoption and 588 local adoptions nationwide.

Liability

At industry trade shows, exhibitors do not need proof of certification to display or sell their products. It is the retailer’s responsibility to ensure what they buy meets applicable standards and regulations.

“In most cases, an American company is going to stand behind its product,” Hagan says. “If a consumer tries to sue a retailer over a product, the manufacturer is going to try to help the retailer prove that it was user error.” 

This is not always the case with international manufacturers, who may be harder to contact after the sale.

“If you buy something cheap from abroad and it isn’t certified, you could end up out of business if your customer gets injured,” Hagan warns. Retailers have very little protection in those instances.

Hagan, an industry veteran of nearly three decades, explains that local officials can visit retail stores, identify products without the required certifications and stop the retailer from continuing to sell those noncompliant products. Although this practice has become less common, Hagan knows many stories about calcium hypochlorite, cyanuric acid and even salt cells being removed from store shelves.

“The last thing you want is to have a customer with a defective or untested chemical,” he says.

What you can do

Hagan gives a simple piece of advice for retailers: See the certification with your own eyes.

“You should be able to ask for proof of documentation before you pay for the product,” he says. “Especially with hot tubs, the certification has to be on the tub itself.”

With some final words of wisdom, Hagan says, “You want to develop a reliable relationship with your consumers.”

Don’t ruin it by selling noncompliant or unregulated products. Do your homework ahead of trade show season.