No BIS Certificate for ACs if both Indoor and Outdoor Units are Outsourced to Supporting Manufacturer

Guidelines for Certification of Air Conditioners (AC) having Indoor Unit (IDU) and Outdoor Unit (ODU)

BIS issued guidelines on AC. It has created a big ambiguity by using the word “outsourcing “. On the face of it , it looks they are discouraging both imports as well as domestic outsourcing through vendors job workers and supporting manufacturers. Clarification from BIS, it will hamper AC manufacturer in a big way. Instead of using the word “imports “they wrote “Outsourcing“ thus creating a big ambiguity.

a) The manufacturer who intends to obtain BIS licence for ACs shall normally have complete in-house manufacturing facility. However, outsourcing of part of the manufacturing activity shall be permitted only to the extent of one of the Units (IDU or ODU) subject to proper justification by the manufacturer regarding exercise of control of outsourced activity for ensuring compliance to the relevant Indian Standard.

b) Upon obtaining BIS licence, the outsourced Unit (IDU/ODU) shall be brought to the licensed premises and the Standard Mark shall be applied on both Units (IDU and ODU) in the licensed premises, only after due testing of the product (AC) as per the relevant SIT.

c) The firm shall ensure that all the components used in manufacturing (either bought out or manufactured in-house) that are covered under various QCOs [e.g: Cables as per IS 694/ IS 9968-1, Capacitors as per IS 2993/IS 13340/ IS 13585-1, Motors as per IS 12615, Finned Type Heat Exchangers as per IS 11329, Hermetic Compressors as per IS 10617, Temperature Sensing Controls as per IS 60730-2-9 etc.), as applicable, are ISI Marked under a valid BIS licence.

d) Even if any of the Units (IDU or ODU) is procured from outside (either from domestic or foreign manufacturer), the compliance of components w.r.t. the provisions of the respective QCOs shall be ensured by the licensee firm for ACs.