Archive for category: Service & Acknowledgment

On 13 and 14 April 2026, members of the HKI Trade Association and the Trade Association for Commercial Kitchens met in Frankfurt am Main for this year’s spring meeting. The event focused on current developments in the market, politics and standardisation, as well as the future direction of the industry. Our General Manager, Dennis Droll, also represented our company at the spring meeting and was involved in discussions on key industry issues.

The presented market data highlighted the current challenging situation in the industry. Whilst international markets are showing signs of recovery, demand in Germany remains restrained. Following the exceptional growth in sales seen during the recent years of crisis, the domestic market is growing at a slower pace than many other European markets. France, in particular, is currently experiencing positive growth.

A significant amount of time was devoted to the new EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR), which will come into force in August 2026 and will impose new requirements on businesses throughout the entire value chain. In addition, the expert committees provided information on current regulatory and technical issues. These included, amongst other things, the ongoing revision of the Ecodesign requirements, the planned amendment to the Federal Immission Control Ordinance (BImSchV) and the publication of the EN 16510 series of standards in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Other key topics included market surveillance issues, the EPREL database and the introduction of the Digital Product Passport. Discussions also focused on ways to raise the profile of fireplaces in the new-build sector and highlight their potential.

The changing landscape of the trade fair industry was also discussed at length. The growing number of new event formats and a packed calendar in the coming years are leading to increased planning demands for many companies and placing additional strain on available resources.

The climate dialogue film, which has now been completed, has received a positive response; it presents modern wood-burning systems in a factual and contemporary manner. Through this project, the industry aims to raise its profile, provide information on modern combustion technology and enhance public understanding. At the same time, the association will focus its communications work even more strongly in future on the issues of security of supply, resilience and crisis preparation.

We are pleased to announce that RRF will take over the testing facility from the Danish ChimneyLab. This will allow us to expand our professional and technical capacities in the field of metal exhaust systems and connectors, which is an important step towards strengthening the availability of qualified testing facilities in Germany in the long term.

We are particularly interested in continuing Finn Petersen’s legacy. Over many years, he made a significant contribution to the development and implementation of tests in the field of exhaust systems and connectors, acquiring outstanding expertise throughout Europe. Finn Petersen previously worked at the DTI (Danish Technological Institute), later became self-employed and carried out numerous tests in his own laboratories. In addition, he has been heavily involved in national and international standardisation processes.

We are pleased that Finn Petersen will continue to be available to us as a consultant in the future.

The partnership between RRF and Finn Petersen began more than ten years ago. During this time, we have regularly exchanged technical information and worked together to develop testing and certification processes. Initial considerations regarding a merger of laboratory capacities were already underway before the coronavirus pandemic. However, the circumstances at the time meant that the project had to be postponed. We are even more pleased that we are now able to carry out this project together.

A key factor behind the collaboration is the clear need in Germany for laboratories that focus on testing emission reduction technologies, electronic separators and modern filter technologies. With the test facility we have acquired, we will be able to close this gap much more effectively in the future.

The new testing facility premises are currently being added at our location in Drolshagen. The move is planned for the middle of the year. From the second half of the year onwards, we will therefore be able to offer you expanded testing capacities and additional services.

In the future, our services will include:

• Inspections of metal chimneys, exhaust systems and connecting pieces in accordance with e.g. EN 1856-1 and EN 1856-2 as well as EN 13216
• Tests of dust separators, catalytic converters and filter systems

We are looking forward to welcoming you soon to our new testing facility and offering you an even wider range of testing services!

Our expectations on the “World of Fireplaces” were exceeded. Not only we, but also the associations, such as HKI and EFA, the other exhibitors and the visitors were positively surprised by the premiere of the World of Fireplace. The rush to the first major trade fair after the pandemic was so great that close physical contact on the 15,000 square meters plus outdoor area became unavoidable.

At the fair we shared a stand with our partner Mr Petersen from “ChimneyLab Europe ApS” in Denmark. We had a lot of fun not only with our stand partner, but also with all interested parties who exchanged technical information with us on topics such as the new EN 16510 standard, the “Blue Angel” eco-label or “Environmental Sustainability Information” and on business matters such as the certification of flue gas systems according to EN 1856-1/-2, new offers and our re-accreditation. Likewise, we were delighted to meet face-to-face the people with whom we had only written exchanges during the pandemic. Of course, we also talked to our stand visitors about the current trade fair and can say that this was consistently positive.

Particularly noteworthy was the well-attended “Fireplace Hub”, which offered visitors a varied programme of presentations from research and development as well as panel discussions. On Monday, we were represented by our Managing Director Dennis Droll on the topic of “How important is quality in stoves? Of course, not only was this topic discussed, but various questions were also answered.

From our point of view, the foundation has been laid for the goal set by Michael Rambach, Managing Director of Trendfairs, the organiser of the fair, to make the fair a permanently successful event for all participants. The “World of Fireplaces” own statistics show that a total of 8,135 trade fair visits were counted. The first two days were the ones with the greatest rush. As expected, most of the visitors came from Germany. But the fair also attracted people from all over Europe, also. Less well represented, but still representative, were the visitors from America, Asia, Australia and the Emirates who had travelled a long way. Rhe range of trade visitors was broad, from CEOs and fitters to decision-makers of the independent sales sector.

Our conclusion of the trade fair is clear: All in all, it was a very successful event, which inspired everyone involved and which we are happy to continue regularly.

We and everyone else involved are certain that the specialist event has a great future ahead of it. We look forward to seeing the World of Fireplace surpass the bar they have set for themselves in 2025.

Especially with environmental labels such as the “Blue Angel for stoves”, particulate matter precipitators and reduction devices are becoming more and more important. The RRF has been involved in this area for many years and has established itself as one of the leading laboratories. We are therefore a reliable partner at your side in this area as well. We can test your particulate matter precipitators according to DIN SPEC 33999 as well as the preliminary test program for particulate matter precipitators of the DIBt.

Based on our experience Mr. Dennis Droll has been appointed int to the ad-hoc group particulate matter precipitators and thus actively participates in the creation of future standards. In the ad-hoc group, the DIN SPEC 33999 is to be adapted in such a way that testing with particulate matter precipitators can be more appliable to small combustion systems. In addition to the ad-hoc group, we work with our technical head Mr. Sven Müller in the TC 166 for exhaust systems.

In the area of the Landesbauordnung (LBO) we have been your reliable partner as a testing, monitoring and certification body since the nineties and are also allowed to perform the corresponding tests, the monitoring and certification for particulate matter precipitators and reduction devices.

If you are interested in a test using one of the two test methods mentioned above, please do not hesitate to talk to us in person. We can offer you the right solution for your product.

Due to several inquiries, we would like to give you information about the currently valid version of the requirements of Flamme Verte.

We would like to inform you that the current version of the requirements can be found via the search function (“reglement 2019”) on the Flamme Verte website. The 2018 version is no longer valid with the issue of the newer version.

One reform is, for example, that the tolerance of the nominal heat output was included for the performance test.  

This year also the official round robin test of the Flamme Verte laboratories is scheduled. Here, the tolerances and the Flamme Verte regulations are to be tested. Of course, as an official Flamme Verte laboratory, the RRF also takes part in this.