CRRC Validation Testing

• The CRRC will terminate any product listed on the CRRC Rated Roof Products Directory that has not completed and passed Validation Testing every seven (7) years.

• Any product with an active CRRC rating will be due every seven (7) years for Validation Testing with the exception of Reference and Blend Assembly products. Reference and Blend Assembly products are excluded from Validation Testing, but are indirectly subject to Validation Testing through the parent product.

• Products shall undergo Validation Testing by a CRRC-designated Test Lab.

• Products may also be manually selected for Challenge Testing to address a specific need, including but not limited to unresolved testing from a previous Random Testing or Validation Testing Program year, or in response to a concern or formal complaint as outlined in Chapter 6 of the CRRC-1 Roof Product Rating Program Manual.

• The Licensee has the option to re-rate a product that is due for Validation Testing without going through the Validation Testing process. If the Licensee chooses to re-rate the product without going through Validation Testing, the Reformulated or Retested Product Rating Procedure shall be followed in accordance with section 3.9 and Appendix 6 of the CRRC-1 Roof Product Rating Program Manual. The existing rating may be retained until the new rating is published or until the December 31st of the Validation Testing year, whichever is sooner.

1. Each year, the CRRC will send all Test Labs an invitation to participate in the Validation Testing Program; Test Labs may opt out of participating.

2. For Test Labs that confirm their participation, they:

   1. Agree to test products for the Validation Testing Program for a predefined, negotiated price per product that may vary by product type, and

   2. will be assigned products by the CRRC based on laboratory availability on a rotating basis. To increase efficiency and prevent delays, the CRRC will refrain from assigning new products to the same Test Lab if the Test Lab has not submitted Validation Testing results for previously assigned products.

3. The CRRC will inform the Test Lab when a product has been assigned to be shipped to them.

   1. The Test Lab should expect to receive the Validation Testing product from the Licensee within approximately 45 days of being notified.

   2. If the Test Lab has not received the Validation Testing product within approximately 45 days of being notified, they should notify the CRRC.

4. The Test Lab shall inspect the Validation Testing package upon receipt to ensure that the Validation Testing samples were not damaged during shipping, Validation Testing samples are properly labeled, and confirm that a copy of the Sample Tag is enclosed.

   1. If the Validation Testing samples have been damaged during shipping, incorrectly or not labeled, or the package does not contain a copy of the Sample Tag, the Test Lab shall notify the CRRC immediately.

5. CRRC-designated Test Labs must conduct testing of the Validation Testing specimens according to the most current CRRC approved test methods and report the test results via the CRRC Online Rating Portal within four (4) weeks of receipt of the test specimens.

6. The Test Lab will directly invoice the CRRC at the predetermined negotiated amount per product.

7. The CRRC will review the Validation Testing results prior to paying the Test Lab invoice.

8. The Test Lab is required to hold the Specimens for at least one month (30 calendar days) following completion of testing.

If a product fails to meet the Validation Testing Program requirements in the first Validation Test, the CRRC will assign a second Test Lab to perform a second test following steps 2 through 8.

When a rated product participates in Validation Testing, the CRRC will inform the Licensee which Test Lab they will need to ship the Validation Testing specimens to. The Licensee must ship the Validation Testing specimens directly to the CRRC-designated Test Lab within 45 calendar days of the Test Lab designation.

1. When preparing the Validation Testing package before shipping it to the Test Lab, the Licensee shall

   1. Label the untested side (back) of each Validation Testing specimen with the CRRC Product ID

   2. Package Validation Testing specimens appropriately to ensure that the specimens are not damaged during shipping

   3. Include a copy of the Sample Tag from the CRRC Online Rating Portal in the package

Licensee shall ship the Sample from the point of manufacturing, including “retain Samples” from existing stock at the manufacturing site or from distributors or contractors directly to CRRC-designated Test Lab. Retained Samples are typically set aside after production runs for a manufacturers’ quality control purposes and must be traced to a specific production location and date. Samples can also be provided by a lab batch, a one-time/single-run batch, or a separate party (e.g., fabricator or private label OEM), as long as traceability is provided.

The Sample size that Licensees ship to Test Labs for Validation Testing will vary by product type and follows the requirements set forth in Section S.3 of ANSI/CRRC S100. For all product types except Tile, Wood, and other Variegated products, a minimum of two (2) Samples from one (1) lot/batch must be shipped. Tile products shall undergo the following process:

• Tiles shall be flat, unless only Profiled products are available.

• The Licensee will cut nine (9) Samples approximately 15 centimeters by 15 centimeters (6 inches by 6 inches) from nine (9) Tiles. Once cut, Tile Samples must be shipped to the CRRC-designated Test Lab. In the case that cut Tiles cannot be provided, the CRRC will consider accepting nine (9) full-size Tiles.

Validation Testing for Liquid-Applied Roof Coatings and Single-Ply Membranes

When the Test Lab receives a container of liquid coating, the Test Lab will apply the coating to a bare aluminum panel (10.2 centimeters by 15.2 centimeters or 4 inches by 6 inches in size) following the Manufacturer’s application instructions. The Test Lab may also receive an aluminum panel with the Liquid-Applied Roof Coating already applied. In either case, the Test Lab must conduct a Coating Thickness test in accordance with Chapter 2.0 of the CRRC-1 Roof Product Rating Program Manual. The average Thickness of the measured coating for each Specimen must be within 20% of the Manufacturer’s recommended minimum Thickness. Thickness testing must also be completed for Single-Ply Membrane products in accordance with Section 2.2.8 Single-Ply Thickness Tests.

The results of Validation Testing will be compared to the data reported in the Portal. The product is deemed to have passed the validation test if:

• The Solar Reflectance test results are no more than ±0.05 from the listed initial product rating, and

• The Thermal Emittance test results

  • are no more than ±0.05 for products with an initial emittance of 0.30 or less from the listed initial product rating, or

  • no more than ±0.10 for products with an initial emittance greater than 0.30 from the listed initial product rating.

For example, if the listed initial Solar Reflectance is 0.50, then any test result that is between 0.45 and 0.55 (inclusive) is considered passing.

If the results from the validation test differ from the listed initial product ratings beyond the threshold described above, the CRRC will follow the procedure below for retesting the Samples.

Compound Rating products will only be held to the negative (lower) threshold for determining compliance or failure. This is because compound products are assigned the lowest rated values of the compound product group to which they are assigned and typically perform higher than the rated value.

Note: Applies only to Compound Ratings for product types available in multiple shapes/geometries. See Section 3.5.1 (E).

When a product fails to meet the requirements of Validation Testing with passing results, the CRRC will notify the Licensee and request that new samples from a different batch or production source from the first Validation Test be shipped to a second CRRC-designated Test Lab for validation testing following the Validation Testing Procedures.

If a Tile product requires a second test, nine (9) additional 15 centimeters by 15 centimeters (6 inches by 6 inches) pieces from a different batch or manufacturing source from the first test be shipped to a second CRRC-designated Test Lab for validation testing.

If the product meets the requirements of Validation Testing in the second test, then the product has passed Validation Testing, and the product's rating remains active for an additional seven (7) years and the Licensee will be notified that the product has completed the Validation Testing Program.

If the results from the second test do not meet the requirements set forth in the “Evaluating Test Results” section above, the CRRC will notify the Licensee that the product is out of compliance with the requirements of the CRRC Roof Product Rating Program, and the product shall be Terminated and removed from the Rated Roof Products directory at the end of the year (December 31). Terminated products are not eligible for reactivation. The Licensee shall cease and discontinue the use of the CRRC product label on the failed product as is described in the Licensee Agreement upon termination on December 31.

If a product that is being Privately-Labeled is Terminated due to a Validation Testing failure, all corresponding product ratings (i.e. Reference ratings) that rely on the original Manufacturer’s rating will also be Terminated. If any of the products listed under a Compound Rating fails Validation Testing, including the representative, the complete product listing shall be Terminated.

The Validation Testing Program will verify that the Hunter L, a, b color coordinates are correct and that the product has been placed in the appropriate Color Family. The Radiative Properties of the product measured through Validation Testing must meet the requirements set forth in the “Evaluating Test Results” section above.

The Color Family Program allows Manufacturers to rate products with similar binder resin technology and within a similar color space to create Color Family Groups. These groups rely on the ratings of that group’s Representative Element (RE). Typically, the coil coating paint supplier establishes the Color Family Group. The RE is the only product in the Color Family Group that undergoes CRRC’s required three-year aging process. The other products in a Color Family Group are rated as Additional Elements (AE), and these AEs adopt the default values for a given Color Family (see Appendix 5 of the CRRC-1 Program Manual for more details on the Color Family Program).

CRRC recognizes the need to consider the implications for an established Color Family Group if a RE is selected for Validation Testing and fails the testing protocol.

NOTE: The following procedure is pertinent to REs only. If any AE fails Validation Testing, it is removed from the CRRC Rated Roof Products Directory without influencing the rest of the Color Family Group.

If selected for Validation Testing, the Color Family RE will have two (2) chances to meet the requirements set forth in the “Evaluating Test Results” section above. If the RE passes, no further action is needed. If the RE fails the Validation Testing protocol, the following procedure shall be followed:

1. The Color Family RE will lose its CRRC Product Rating and is removed from the CRRC Rated Roof Products Directory.

2. Two AEs from the Color Family Group in question will be selected and tested.
   1. If the test results for two AEs meet the passing criteria:

      1. One of these two AEs shall be selected under advisement by the supplier to become the new RE and will undergo laboratory aging (CRRC Rapid Rating) to establish preliminary aged values.

      2. Simultaneously, that same selected AE will undergo three-year aging to obtain the aged ratings.

   2. If the test results for one or both AEs fail to fall within the passing criteria, then all AEs within that Color Family Group will be deemed non-compliant and each AE within the Color Family Group will need to be re-tested.

      1. Those AEs that fail to meet the requirements set forth in the “Evaluating Test Results” section (see above) will be deemed to have failed and shall be removed from the CRRC Rated Roof Products Directory.

      2. If one of the AEs meets the requirements set forth in the “Evaluating Test Results” (see above), it will undergo both laboratory aging (CRRC Rapid Rating) and three-year aging to establish the aged values; if this AE passes it will become the new RE for that Color Family Group.

      3. If all the AEs fail re-testing, the Color Family Group will be Terminated from the CRRC Roof Product Rating Program, and each AE in that Color Family Group will lose its CRRC rating, which includes removal from the CRRC Rated Roof Products Directory and discontinued use of the CRRC product label.

   3. If the Color Family Group in question has fewer than two AEs, the supplier will have the option to submit one or two new AEs for evaluation, Rapid Rating, and three-year aging for each of the new AEs being submitted.

All products will be required to participate in Validation Testing to maintain their rating on the Directory with the exception of Reference products and Blend Assemblies. Reference products are excluded because their parent product is required to participate in Validation Testing. If you are the manufacturer of the “parent product” in this scenario, it is important to have your product validated because the companies referencing your product rely on you to keep the rating active.

The same is true for Blend Assemblies, which are made up of a blend of multiple other products that are subjected to Validation Testing.

A product's rating is required to be validated with passing test results seven (7) years from Initial approval or from the last Random Testing or Validation Testing year, whichever is more recent, and every seven (7) years thereafter.

There will be no CRRC Validation Testing fees, but to offset the costs due to the increased number of products that will be validated each year, CRRC Annual Product Renewal fees will incur an increase (shown above), effective with the 2025 Renewals cycle.

Under Validation Testing, products are tested using the current CRRC approved test methods, as opposed to the method that was used for initial testing. Before submitting Validation Testing decisions, Licensees should review the test methods used for Initial Testing located in the CRRC Portal application, as a difference in test methods may affect your results.

Products that do not have passing Validation Testing test results will automatically be terminated on December 31st of the seventh (7th) year. It is the responsibility of the Licensee to submit Validation Testing decisions early in the seventh (7th) year and to ship product specimens to the CRRC selected laboratory providing adequate time for the selected test lab to complete testing and submit test results for the Validation Testing Program, assuming two tests will be required. If the product passes Validation Testing on the first test, a second test will not be required, but the Licensee should plan for enough time for the second test results to be submitted, in the case it fails the first test.

Challenge Testing is Validation Testing that is triggered by concerns raised by a CRRC Licensee, the CRRC, or another entity about Product Ratings that are listed on the CRRC Rated Roof Products Directory.