Background on IPEMA
IPEMA began as a division of the Equipment Council of the National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA). In 1995, members within the Playground Equipment Section wanted to start a third-party certification program. NSSEA’s Board of Directors asked the group to reorganize into a separate trade association due to potential liability issues. The members of the Section formally voted to start a new organization and the Play Equipment Manufacturers’ Association was incorporated in January of 1996. There were 13 charter members of the organization and it was organized and administered by Bill Duffy, a staff liaison of NSSEA, in Silver Spring, Maryland. IPEMA contracted with Detroit Testing Laboratory (DTL) to conduct its third-party testing for the certification program and added a surfacing certification program to its program. On October 1, 1998, the organization officially changed its name to the International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA). The Board decided to hire a full-time management company to handle the day-to-day affairs of the organization in April of 2004, and headquarters moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Currently, IPEMA has 78 members, 35 companies in the Surfacing Certification program, and 38 companies in the Equipment Certification program. For more information on the organization, contact IPEMA headquarters at 4305 North Sixth Street, Suite A, Harrisburg, PA 17110, (717) 238-1744 or via e-mail at info@ipema.org.