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We Open More Doors

CDI is dedicated to professionalism through its one of a kind Certification Program and the support it provides garage door technicians across Canada.

Some Business You Can’t Afford to Do

Dealing with Imported Doors/Door Components: Part 1

Valued Members,

As you may be aware, garage door sections some imports from outside North America have increased their footprint in the Canadian market. Many of these products are lower priced than the home-grown article, which makes them attractive. As you may also know, there have been quality issues with them. 

What you may not know, is that we have evidence that a number of these products do not meet required Canadian environmental safety standards laid out in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999 (CEPA 1999). In this series of emails, we’ll be discussing the risks you could incur if you use these products. In this email, we’re talking about regulatory and legal liability.

Materials that aren’t CEPA 1999 compliant include:

  • Certain polyurethane foams
  • Paints containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
  • Components with banned flame retardants

Suspect components, on which our industry relies, include:

  • Insulation foams
  • Coatings
  • Lubricants
  • Electronic components

Use of door sections containing these materials, whether by garage door manufacturers, distributors, or dealers, are subject to penalties under CEPA:

  • Product seizures and forfeitures
  • Mandatory recalls
  • Fines, which can be assessed against both an individual (for a sole proprietorship or partnership) or a corporation, and which can be quite significant
  • Prison sentences for individuals of up to 3 years. This could be instead of or in addition to the monetary fines

It is up to you to exercise due diligence about your supply chain to ensure compliance with CEPA standards. In other words, you as the importer, manufacturer, distributor or dealer could face significant fines or even prison if you use non-compliant products, and the assumption is that you knew or should have known that they were non-compliant. Is this business you can afford to do?

In our next email, we’ll talk about disruption to business operations. 

Sincerely,
Your CDI National Board of Directors