Thursday, November 18, 2010

NFRC to Offer Introductory Membership Opportunities Beginning in January 2011

The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) strives to be as inclusive, open, and transparent as possible. With this in mind, and to make it easier for new fenestration and fenestration-related industry groups to participate in NFRC, the Board has approved a new “introductory membership period.”

Under this new policy, new members will pay an introductory fee for the first year that is half of the regular fee for the Member-1 (Fenestration Manufacturers and Suppliers) category. (Please note: this action is not applicable for those MBR-1 categories whose dues are less than $1000.00 and is not applicable to other membership categories).

Under the introductory program, a fenestration supplier with between $10 million and $20 million in annual sales will pay $1,650 for the first year of its membership rather than the full fee of $3,300. After the first year, annual dues will return to the regular amount.

The introductory membership period will allow new members to spend a year determining if:
  • They fully support NFRC’s mission, vision, and goals.
  • NFRC membership provides unique benefits for organizations interested in the energy focused fenestration industry.
  • NFRC is the right organization to develop ratings in a way that meets the needs of the public for those organizations seeking to develop new NFRC ratings for their products.
The introductory membership period will become effective on January 1, 2011.

With this new introductory period in place, the Board also decided to phase out membership category 1-A (Members with New Ratings under Development). This category will end on December 31, 2010. All members currently in this category will be eligible for this one-year discount introductory membership period.

The Board concluded that the one-year introductory membership discount provides the proper balance between encouraging organizations to evaluate whether NFRC can develop ratings for their new products and supporting the costs of that development if NFRC does pursue that development.