Exhibit 31.1
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CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER


I, Robert J. O'Toole, Chairman,  President, and Chief Executive Officer, certify
that:

1.   I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report  on  Form  10-Q  of A.  O.  Smith
     Corporation (the "company");

2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of
     a material  fact or omit to state a  material  fact  necessary  to make the
     statements made, in light of the circumstances  under which such statements
     were made,  not  misleading  with  respect  to the  period  covered by this
     report;

3.   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information  included  in  this  report,  fairly  present  in all  material
     respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of
     the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.   The  company's  other   certifying   officer  and  I  are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the company and we have:

     a)   Designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  or caused such
          disclosure   controls  and   procedures  to  be  designed   under  our
          supervision,  to ensure  that  material  information  relating  to the
          company, including its consolidated subsidiaries,  is made known to us
          by others  within those  entities,  particularly  during the period in
          which this report is being prepared;

     b)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the company's  disclosure  controls and
          procedures  and  presented  in this report our  conclusions  about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
          of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     c)   Disclosed in this report any changes in the company's internal control
          over  financial  reporting  that occurred  during the  company's  most
          recent fiscal quarter that has materially  affected,  or is reasonably
          likely to  materially  affect,  the  company's  internal  control over
          financial reporting; and

5.   The company's other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based on our
     most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
     company's  auditors  and the  audit  committee  of the  company's  board of
     directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):


     a)   All significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
          operation  of internal  control  over  financial  reporting  which are
          reasonably likely to adversely affect the company's ability to record,
          process, summarize and report financial information; and

     b)   Any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management or other
          employees  who  have a  significant  role  in the  company's  internal
          control over financial reporting.




Date: October 30, 2003


/s/ Robert J. O'Toole
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Robert J. O'Toole
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer