InkWELS – Issue 3, 2018

The Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme newsletter is published quarterly to update you on developments and highlight some of our achievements.

If you have particular topics you’d like to see covered in future, please let us know.

Chinese language fact sheets now available

Do you source products from China but struggle to explain WELS requirements to your suppliers?

We have developed two fact sheets in Chinese Simplified language, which can be read by both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers.

The fact sheets are to help manufacturers based in China understand how to register and label WELS products that will be sold in Australia.

Contact us at WELS Compliance to request the fact sheets. Help your suppliers help you to comply with your WELS obligations.

Registration renewals

Registration renewals have been open since 15 September and will close on 5 December 2018.

You need to apply to renew the registration of your products before 5 December if you want them to remain registered. 

Once you’ve applied to renew your registration, you also need to ensure the department receives your renewal payment by 22 January 2019.

Products that are not renewed (including those where payment has not been received by 22 January 2019) will expire on 22 July 2019.

It is illegal to supply WELS products in Australia if their registration has expired. If a registration expires and you wish to continue supplying the product, you must submit a new registration application.

Please consider how long it takes to clear stock when deciding whether to renew your products.

For more information visit Register your products on the Water Rating website.

Penalties for providing false or misleading information

The WELS Regulator recently gave an infringement notice to a registrant for providing falsified documents with a WELS product application.

Under the WELS Act, the Regulator may give an infringement notice to a person who provides false or misleading information or documents with an application for registration of a WELS product.

Penalty amounts for WELS Act infringement notices are from $630 to $1,260 for an individual, and $3,150 to $6,300 for a body corporate. A court can impose a penalty up to ten times those amounts.

The Criminal Code 1995 (Part 7.4) may also apply when a person provides false or misleading information with a WELS application. A penalty of imprisonment for 12 months applies to contraventions of this part of the Criminal Code.

Don’t take the risk—make sure the documents and information you submit with your WELS application are true and correct.

To find out more about your obligations under the WELS Act, visit the Inspections and enforcement area on the Water Rating website.

Progress on an ISO international standard for water efficiency rating

An ISO international standard for water efficiency rating will provide greater consistency for suppliers and manufacturers. It will also enable countries without labelling schemes to obtain the water-saving benefits provided by WELS and other labelling programs around the world.

In July Standards Australia hosted the first meeting of ISO PC 316—the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) project committee that has been tasked with developing a standard for rating and labelling products with their water efficiency.

Participants at the first ISO PC 316 meeting in Sydney represented standards organisations in Australia, Singapore, Japan, China, the US, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The committee, chaired by Steve Cummings, agreed that the ISO standard will cover a similar set of products to Australia’s WELS scheme.

The standard will include water efficiency ratings and key test requirements relating to water efficiency.

Two working groups were established to draft the standard, with Working Group 1 focused on plumbing products and Working Group 2 covering white goods.

How to get involved

Australian experts who are not in a working group but would like to be involved should contact WELS or Standards Australia.

The first teleconferences of the working groups will be held on 19 December 2018.