(a) When testing of covered products or covered equipment is required to comply with section 323(c) of the Act, or to comply with rules prescribed under section 324, 325, or 342, 344, 345 or 346 of the Act, a sample comprised of production units (or units representative of production units) of the basic model being tested must be selected at random and tested, and must meet the criteria found in §§429.14 through 429.62 of this subpart. Components of similar design may be substituted without additional testing if the substitution does not affect energy or water consumption. Any represented values of measures of energy efficiency, water efficiency, energy consumption, or water consumption for all individual models represented by a given basic model must be the same, except for central air conditioners and central air conditioning heat pumps, as specified in §429.16 of this subpart.

(b) The minimum number of units tested shall be no less than two, except where:

(1) A different minimum limit is specified in §§429.14 through 429.65 of this subpart; or

(2) Only one unit of the basic model is produced, in which case, that unit must be tested and the test results must demonstrate that the basic model performs at or better than the applicable standard(s). If one or more units of the basic model are manufactured subsequently, compliance with the default sampling and representations provisions is required.

[76 FR 12451, Mar. 7, 2011, as amended at 81 FR 4144, Jan. 25, 2016; 81 FR 89303, Dec. 9, 2016; 82 FR 1468, Jan. 5, 2017]