The WSAA National Product Appraisals program is a voluntary scheme introduced by the Water Services Association of Australia to provide a single coordinated appraisal of a product's technical conformity to the needs of the urban water businesses. It was developed with industry assistance, and draws on the collective knowledge and experience of the urban water businesses and industry.

The program is designed for manufacturers, suppliers, importers, distributors or agents who have a product that may be technically suitable for use by the water industry and is a process of assessment and review of the design, performance and suitability of a product for use in water and wastewater infrastructure at a nominated performance level. The program includes input from water businesses into testing requirements and trialling conditions, and also includes review of the quality management system under which the product is manufactured and supplied. The applicant is provided with a report and recommendations resulting from the assessment and review. Final authorisation, approval or acceptance for use of the product lies with the individual water businesses.

Importantly, while WSAA requires applicants to warrant that the product the subject of an appraisal does not infringe intellectual property rights or rights in relation to confidential information, WSAA does not undertake any assessment of those matters and such matters are beyond the scope of appraisal reports. Further, from time to time WSAA or its members may receive notice of allegations that the importation, manufacture, sale or use of certain products infringe intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights. WSAA's policy is not to refer to such allegations in its reports or to take any other steps to put recipients on notice of such allegations, unless and until it is aware that the allegations have been admitted or proved in court. 

What are the benefits?

The scheme provides manufacturers and suppliers with:

  • a one-stop shop for product appraisal;
  • a single point of reference to the Australian urban water businesses and their associates;
  • savings in time and money by streamlining the assessment and review process; and
  • consistent standards across the whole water industry.

Appraisal reports give a quality and technical basis of product appraisal which is accepted by the individual water businesses and can be used by manufacturers and suppliers for marketing purposes. Importantly, however, the scope and content of an Appraisal report is limited to assessing the quality and technical characteristics of a product, and does not address other issues such as, for example, whether importation, sale, or use of the product the subject of the Appraisal report is likely to infringe intellectual property rights or rights in relation to confidential information or breach any laws. 

How does it work?

There are three levels of appraisal:

  1. Initial Assessment: A preliminary review to provide direction to the manufacturer
  2. Standard Appraisal: For established, well-understood products manufactured to recognised Standards, and for similar types of products that have been through the appraisal process
  3. Complex Appraisal: For new systems or products that require assessment of complex test reports, detailed field trials and/or development of new test procedures. All appraisal reports are public documents and are freely available through this website. However, WSAA reserves the right not to publish reports in relation to particular products or types of products (for details, see Product Appraisal Terms and Conditions).

Apply for an appraisal

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