Letter from the president |
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| International Accreditation Service (IAS) staff continue to work dilligently to ensure that corporate goals for the calendar year are all met. Plans are afoot at IAS to train several new assessors and technical experts to prepare for servicing the growing portfolio of new clients in a timely fashion. In the coming months, town-hall style engagements are scheduled with IAS clients in overseas markets to ensure that Team IAS clearly understands customer needs and continues to serve them in the best possible, cost-effective manner.
IAS management is focusing on the forthcoming 2018 peer evaluations of the organization by international oversight teams. We go through this exercise once every four years with each of the international peer groups that recognize our accreditation certificates. During the evaluations, our entire operations and records are scrutinized and the competence of assessors and experts IAS deploys in the field are examined. Typically, evaluation teams consist of six to eight experts drawn from accreditation bodies from member nations. Several months of preparations are needed to effectively manage the logistics of chaperoning the evaluation teams for a week at a time. Successful completion of this major task will require an intense effort and sound cooperation from all concerned, including our clients who host our assessment teams for the observed evaluations. By the time this newsletter hits our webpage, the IAS Board of Directors fall meeting and the International Code Council's Global Connections Day will have ended. Both of these events were held in conjunction with the ICC Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in mid-September. Every year, IAS staff looks forward to these events to spread the accreditation mantra to hundreds of regulators representing the core membership of the ICC. Global Connections Day also helps us showcase ICC's Global Services work and the parent organization's continuing commitment to safety in the built environment. "Team IAS clearly understands customer needs and continues to serve them in the best possible, cost-effective manner." Finally, I have some comments about the devastation we witnessed in Texas and Florida. While scientific progress has clearly made hurricane predictions more and more accurate, it is very clear that more work needs to be done on the post-disaster recovery side. Hurricane Harvey made landfall around 11:00 p.m. ET on Aug. 25 between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor, Texas, as a category 4 event. Harvey is the strongest hurricane to impact Texas since 1961 and the first category 4 storm to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Charley in 2004. In addition to the severe impact on electrical power generation and distribution, many major industries such as petroleum, chemical, natural gas and shipping have been deeply impacted. At the time I penned this note, Harvey was continuing to produce heavy rain across southeastern Texas and Louisiana, which has led to significant flooding and loss of life and property. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma will continue to impact the region for many months to come as clean up and reconstruction begins. ICC offered its Disaster Response Network, and many of ICC's governmental members are preparing to volunteer to serve on survey teams to assist local municipalities develop their recovery and reconstruction strategy. To help those in the affected areas, the International Code Council pledged to match member, staff and stakeholder donations up to $64,000 to the American Red Cross and raised over $110,000 for disaster relief. Visit the ICC hurricane resources webpage for more information on how you can help. It is worth noting that despite the severity of the storm, loss of life has been low when compared to similar size disasters in other parts of the world. This truly reflects on a great system of governance and delivery of code enforcement services under the ICC umbrella! IAS is a proud member of the ICC Family of Companies that provides validation of competence in product and personnel certification programs and accredits building and fire prevention departments worldwide. 
C.P. (Chuck) Ramani, P.E., CBO President International Accreditation Service |