As part of their enforcement of Chapter 17 of the International Building Code, building departments look to special inspection agencies for assessment of critical building elements from concrete, to soil studies, to the evaluation of post-installed concrete anchors. Given the expertise and attention to detail required of special inspection agencies, it is important that they are operating under a recognized quality management system.

The IAS Special Inspection Agency (SIA) Accreditation program provides onsite assessments at the SIA's offices and at jobsites and can provide assurance to building departments of the competence of agencies working in their jurisdictions. Because some building departments don't have the resources to assess the competence of the special inspection agencies working in their jurisdiction, the IAS SIA program fills a vital need for determining compliance with building code requirements. One of the areas that IAS assesses is the SIA's quality management system.

The IAS accreditation program is based on the requirements of the International Building Code (IBC), and the IAS Accreditation Criteria for IBC Special Inspection Agencies (AC291). The following is a brief overview of the IAS requirements for special inspection agencies to provide evidence that its quality management system shows compliance with the IAS Accreditation Criteria AC291.

The quality management system is the "roadmap" that explains what the special inspection agency should be doing. The quality management system documentation provided by the applicant SIA must include basic data such as the agency's experience and staff qualifications, the scope of its inspection activities, applicable inspection standards, and a matrix matching inspector qualifications with the scope of the agency's activities. Training, education, experience, certification requirements and the agency's procedures for monitoring its special inspectors must also be formally documented. Further, documented policies and procedures must be in place for conducting safe inspections, calibration of test/inspection equipment showing traceability to an accredited calibration provider, and the resolution of inspection discrepancies. Once IAS has determined that the agency has all of the required components in the quality management system, the next step is to verify if the agency is effectively implementing it.

The next issue of IAS eNews will provide a summary of the IAS onsite assessments of special inspection agencies focusing on how IAS determines competence of the agencies.