Over the years, 3-A SSI has been upgrading all of the sanitary standards and requiring a third party verification process to maintain the integrity of the 3-A symbol.  After consulting with industry experts and addressing all their questions and concerns, 3-A has approved a major revision of the Sanitary Hose Assembly Standard. The new standard # 62-02 replaces standard #62-01.

There are numerous hoses and fittings on the market that carry a 3-A symbol.  This simply means that the particular component piece meets a 3-A standard for that type of commodity product.  Rubber & Plastic hoses meet the appropriate 3-A Standard for Rubber & Plastic.  Stainless Steel ends meet the appropriate 3-A standard for Stainless Steel fittings. The 62-01 Hose Assembly standard was designed to approve the assembled product. When you take a 3-A hose and attach 3-A stems and sleeves, the assembled product now needs to meet a different 3-A standard(new standard 62-02) because you have now created a totally different product . Much like building a pump – all the parts and pieces need to be put together in such a way that the resulting product meets the sanitary design.

The new hose assembly standard #62-02 now requires that all symbol holders participate in a 3rd party verification process (TPV).  3-A has a list of trained and certified CCE’s (Certified Conformance Evaluator) to conduct the TPV inspection.

Once companies pass and file all the appropriate paper work, they will be awarded a new 3-A 62-02 symbol holder authorization.  One of the most noticeable changes you will see in the field with the new standard is the REQUIREMENT of a 3-A #62-02 label placed behind each coupler on the hose assembly. Hoses assembled by unauthorized personnel will not be allowed to carry this label.

The new standard was approved November 15th, 2010 and all current 62-01 symbol holders have 90 days to comply with the requirements of the new 62-02 standard.  Nelson-Jameson is currently working on meeting this new 62-02 Standard and receiving our 62-02 Symbol Holder Certification.  After attaining our certification, Nelson-Jameson will make it a priority to inform and educate our customers and industry partners.

For more information please see 3A’s website at www.3-A.org