Some Business You Can’t Afford to Do

Dealing with Imported Doors/Door Components: Part 2

Valued Members,

In our last email, we talked about the regulatory and legal liability you could incur if you work with, distribute, sell or install doors with imported components that don’t comply with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (CEPA 1999). As a reminder, non-compliant components may contain:

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

In this email, we’re talking about disruption to business operations. If a product is found to contain a substance that isn’t in compliance with CEPA 1999, its sale or use may be halted immediately. This could result in:

• Production shutdowns and removal/disposal of non-compliant materials, along with further production delays as you source compliant materials or components made with compliant materials
• Delayed installations while you source compliant materials or doors made with compliant materials
• Lost contracts due to missed deadlines resulting from shutdowns and delays

Suppliers of product for government or environmentally certified projects may be under greater scrutiny, increasing the risks.

In other words, you could experience significant disruption to your business while you source doors/components made with compliant materials, and that can have a financial effect. You may have to pay staff who aren’t working or lay off staff. You may have angry or impatient customers because they can’t get their doors installed. For a manufacturer, a production shutdown also impacts your distributors and dealers. Is this business you can afford to do?

In our next email, we’ll talk about reputational harm.

Sincerely,
Your CDI National Board of Directors