History of special inspections presented at Construction Institute Summit. |
| SHARE |
| American Society of Civil Engineers' Construction Institute Construction Quality Management and Inspection subcommittee chairman Mark Baker — a licensed professional engineer and special inspector, and president/owner of IBA Consultants (an engineering firm specializing in building envelope consulting, inspection and testing), an IAS-accredited special inspection agency — presented on special inspections at the Construction Institute Summit, held March 2-5, in Anaheim, Calif. The event was hosted by the Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The session covered some of the history of special inspections, an overview of the responsibilities established within the building code, and the implication of the responsibility of civil engineers to protect the public health, safety and welfare. The International Building Code contains requirements for detailed structural inspection of buildings that are critical for public safety or exceed a certain threshold for occupancy. These requirements are detailed in Chapter 17, Structural Tests and Special Inspections. However, the implementation of special inspection varies widely across jurisdictions throughout the country. In some cases, local certification for special inspectors allows vocational practitioners to be responsible for this activity, without being licensed as either a professional engineer or registered architect. "The purpose of my presentation was to encourage all engineers to promote the enforcement of special inspection requirements of the International Building Code, including the requirement that registered engineers are/and should be preparing the Statement of Inspection reports," said Baker. While Chapter 17 of the International Building Code requiring special inspection is relatively new (2000), the concept of special inspection originated from the International Conference of Building Officials in 1927, in the aftermath of a Southern California earthquake and the subsequent investigation that identified poor construction workmanship as the significant cause of structural failures. Recent experience indicated that construction errors and poor workmanship continue to be the most significant cause of construction failures, and that a documented, quality management system, utilizing qualified and certified inspectors, under the responsible charge of a professional engineer, is the most effective way to identify and eliminate construction errors and protect the public life, safety and welfare. IAS accredits companies that provide special inspection services under the IAS Special Inspection Agency Accreditation Program, which provides verification for code officials and industry professionals that special inspection agencies are competent to perform inspections listed by IAS in the accredited company's scope of accreditation. International Accreditation Service accreditation is based on the assessment of a special inspection agency's inspection procedures, the competence of its inspection staff and its reporting procedures. |