IAS President's Corner

The summer of 2014 has delivered some exciting changes to IAS. The recent move to our new offices in Brea, Calif., has brought us modern facilities and upgraded technology. This summer, IAS also created two brand new committees to operate under the direction of our Board of Directors. The Finance Committee is tasked with the annual review and approval of the IAS budget. The Business and Strategic Planning Committee is looking to the future on how IAS can manage its growth while continuing to meet the needs of its existing and new customers at home and abroad. Continue reading message

The first-ever Joint General Assembly meeting of the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) and the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) was attended by IAS Vice President/Chief Technical Officer Pat McCullen, Vice President of Operations Raj Nathan and Quality Manager Mohan Sabaratnam in Guadalajara, Mexico. Our participation in the Joint General Assembly and its technical meetings is of strategic importance for IAS as we will undergo a full re-evaluation by PAC for continuation of our signatory status with PAC and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) for our Product Certification Body accreditation program. Continue reading story

The International Accreditation Service, along with our parent the International Code Council and its other subsidiary ICC Evaluation Service, has moved its West Coast operations to 3060 Saturn Street in Brea. Consistent with IAS' commitment to efficiency and environmental responsibility, the new facility meets or exceeds the CALGreen standards adopted by the State of California and features updated technologies and on-site training facilities.

Sign up to win an iPad when you visit the IAS booth at the ICC Annual Conference September 28-30. One lucky winner will be randomly selected from qualifying entries at the conclusion of the conference. IAS will be present at the conference to provide information on how our accreditation programs assist code officials by highlighting their departments' important work and how IAS helps code officials by accrediting companies that wish to work in your jurisdiction.

QUESTION: Why did I receive an invoice for renewal? We just went through our reassessment a few months ago.

ANSWER: The difference is between renewal and reassessment. Renewal is an administrative process that includes a reminder when the renewal application is due, options to renew for a given period, an application to renew, and re-application fees. Reassessment is the technical process involving setting an agenda, conducting an assessment, providing a report of the findings, reviewing responses to these findings, issuing an updated accreditation certificate.

Melanie Adams, JD, Building Director for the city of Hillsboro, Ore., is the newest member of the IAS Board of Directors. Marshall Doyle of Cal-Cert Company has recently been appointed to the IAS Technical Advisory Council for Laboratories and Sajid Raza of Butler Engineering is newly appointed to the IAS Technical Advisory Council for Inspections. Continue reading story

For his leadership and service as Chairman of the International Code Council Global Membership Council and dedication to achieving accreditation for the city of Philadelphia's building department, Michael Maenner was presented with a certificate from the International Code Council and the International Accreditation Service. Maenner advocated for ICC to become a truly international organization, recognizing that building safety is vital in all parts of the world. He joined ICC's Global Membership Council and his vision resulted in his election to their Governing Committee, and within two years, election to Committee Chairman. Continue reading story

Gregory J. Franklin, Assistant Director of the Clark County Department of Building & Fire Prevention, retired on July 14 after more than 29 years of service to Clark County. Franklin served as the President of the Southern Nevada Chapter of ICC, and served on the ICC Building Official Certification Committee and Education Committee. Franklin co-founded and developed the SNC-ICC EduCode Program, a nationally recognized educational seminar designed for building code professionals, and served as its Chairman for the first seven years. At his retirement celebration he was presented with a certificate from IAS and gifts from ICC for his leadership and service, dedication to safety in the built environment and support of IAS Programs.

IAS staff, stakeholders and accredited entities were in attendance at the NFPA Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. Staff participated in the expo answering questions about various IAS accreditation programs in the fire protection and prevention areas, including the IAS Fire Prevention and Life Safety Department Accreditation Program. Many of IAS' accredited laboratories and stakeholder associations also participated in the Expo highlighting their service offerings to the greater fire community. During one of the educational sessions, the presenter drew upon an article written by IAS staff member Kellee Fernandez that illustrates the role both private and public sector entities play in the code enforcement process to ensure a "safety net" exists during the design, review and construction processes.

IAS was a sponsor, exhibitor and presenter at the Building Officials Association of Texas (BOAT) Annual Conference in Granbury, Texas. IAS Marketing Manager Greg West gave a presentation titled, "Helping Building Departments Approve Metal Building Inspection Programs using IAS AC472." In the IAS exhibit booth, information was provided for attendees about all IAS accreditation programs that can assist building departments in their work of enforcing the building codes. BOAT is a chapter of the International Code Council and an affiliate organization of the Texas Municipal League which represents some 98 percent of Texas' urban population through its 1,090-plus member cities and towns.

IAS exhibited at the 2014 NCSLI Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., to provide information for attendees about IAS accreditation of calibration and testing laboratories and related organizations in the calibration field. The conference brought together calibration professionals from around the world to present tutorials, papers, panels, plenary sessions and workshops, and to discuss shared problems and solutions in sessions and informal settings at all levels of instruction. NCSL International was formed in 1961 to promote cooperative efforts for solving the common problems faced by measurement laboratories. Today, NCSL International has over 1,000 member organizations from academic, scientific, industrial, commercial and government facilities around the world.

IAS is offering ISO/IEC 17020 (Inspection Agency) Training and ISO/IEC 17025 (Laboratory) Training Nov. 17-21 in Upper Marlboro, Md. Knowledge of these standards is beneficial for conformity assessment bodies involved in inspection, testing, calibration and product certification that wish to become accredited. If you are considering accreditation, contact IAS for more information on training schedules, custom curricula, training at your facility, special requests or more information at (866) 427-4422 or e-mail info@iasonline.org.

• May 14 | Downey, Calif. | IAS attended the ICC Los Angeles Basin Chapter Training Day.
• June 12 | Alhambra, Calif. | IAS attended the ICC Los Angeles Basin Chapter Meeting.
• June 17-19 | Salt Lake City , Utah | An IAS team visited Child Related Research as part of their reassessment. One of the factors that the evaluation team found unique to other testing facilities is that they do not test samples; they use samples of containers provided by pharmaceutical companies in order to assess subjects' ability to open and close the sample bottles. The containers must be difficult for children without being too difficult for senior citizens to open. The ability of children and seniors to open and close medication containers must be within the testing standards specified by governmental agencies.

Upcoming Events
• Sept. 28-30 | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | Visit the IAS booth at the ICC Annual Conference and register to win an iPad.
• Sept. 28 | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | Attend the Global Membership Council Meeting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Sept. 29 | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | Attend the Global Forum at the ICC Annual Conference from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
• Oct. 3 | Denver, Colo. | Attend METALCON 2014 at the Colorado Convention Center and attend a free seminar delivered by IAS Program Manager Sandi McCracken and MBCEA President Gary Smith on IAS accreditation of assemblers of metal building systems.
• Oct. 20-24 | Upper Marlboro, Md. | Attend IAS training on ISO/IEC Standards 17020 and 17025.

A complete list of companies and organizations that became accredited or renewed their accreditation with IAS between May 1, 2014, and July 1, 2014, is now available.

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EDITOR'S NOTE — We are dedicated to providing informative insight into the world of accreditation. IAS would like to encourage all of our participants in all of our programs to submit relevant articles for future publications. Your unique perspective will prove extremely valuable to our readership. Please forward your articles and photographs to Pat McCullen at pmccullen@iasonline.org.
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