Films manufactured by companies that then receive private labels may now be able to receive National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) ratings under their names.

It all started two years ago when the NFRC was approached by a distributor seeking certification of its own brand of window films that were manufactured by other companies that already had its own products listed in the Council’s certified products directory.

NFRC members have approved a motion to add private window film brands to its public ratings.

“There’s only a few primary film manufacturers,” says Ray McGowan, senior program manager at NFRC. “It’s been an ongoing need in the industry and they’re finally taking care of it.”

The first step in that process was reestablishing the Applied Films Task Group, chaired by Darrell Smith, executive director of the International Window Film Association.

After 18 months of collaboration, the task group sent its recommendation out to be balloted by the membership for the Spring 2015 meeting being held in Annapolis, Md., the week of March 23, 2015. The original membership ballot received only one negative ballot which was determined at the meeting to be only “editorial” in nature, so the approved ballot was then recommended by the certification subcommittee to be sent to the full ratings committee for consideration, where it passed by unanimous voice vote. It was then sent to the board of directors for consideration, where it was also approved unanimously.

Burns Mulhearn, president of Geoshield Window Film, welcomes the news.

He says that previously, “they made it really difficult for private label guys to get NFRC certified.” Now, he’ll “be one of the first ones in line” to get Geoshield’s product ratings on their public website.

“For the window film industry, this means more choices in structure of arrangements between manufacturers and their downstream customers,” Smith says. “It also gives them more ways to separate their own brands internally, should they choose to do so.”