Letter from the President.

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The recent devastating flooding in Louisiana, wildfires in California, and tornadoes in Indiana and Ohio remind us of nature's fury and the need for constant preparation and eternal vigilance. These events also show us the importance of community resilience, which requires more than just mitigation efforts. It gives me comfort to know that in its own way, IAS contributed in good measure to the mitigation efforts by accrediting competent entities that test, inspect and certify firefighting equipment, fire protective clothing and accessories and also by offering accreditation programs for building code enforcement and fire prevention departments. All the major, large-scale, fire-testing laboratories within the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates are IAS-accredited. In May 2011, IAS published an accreditation criteria for fire prevention and life safety departments which — coupled with the criteria for accreditation of building code enforcement departments — created a strong foundation for recognition of competent governmental entities involved in public safety and property protection. Now, with much enthusiasm, IAS is moving forward to look at issues related to community resilience and workforce development. With the approach of the fall season, IAS started preparations for active participation in the forthcoming International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation/International Accreditation Forum General Assembly in New Delhi, India. These peer organizations facilitate global trade by establishing mutual recognition programs between participating accreditation bodies. As in the past, IAS will be at the International Code Council's Annual Conference and the Global Connections Day that follows immediately thereafter in Kansas City in October. This year's Global Connections Day events include the traditional Global Forum where issues related to resilience will be discussed. Many leading domestic and international experts are expected to participate in this year's Global Forum. It is my fervent hope that people involved in life safety and property protection and those representing leading academic and trade associations will attend the forum and take part in the discussions. Recent events show the critical importance of community resilience. With Labor Day behind us, IAS staff and contractors are pushing hard to continue their sterling performance. So far this year, IAS revenues are ahead of projections while expenses are below budget. My congratulations and thanks to staff and contractors for taking on a tremendous load this year. C.P. (Chuck) Ramani, P.E., CBO President International Accreditation Service