Fall Newsletter 2020 - web version - Flipbook - Page 6
IAS Newsletter | Fall 2020
TAC Building Department Accreditation
Meeting
The Technical Advisory Council-Building Department Accreditation
(TAC BDA) met via teleconference on August 6, 2020. Chairperson
Selso Mata, Building Official for the City of Plano, TX, opened the
meeting. He welcomed the members of the council. IAS President
Raj Nathan updated the council on the current business status
and programs. The TAC BDA discussed revisions to the accreditation program and criteria. Mike Bouse, IAS BDA program manager
updated the council on administrative and program status pertaining to the Building Department Accreditation Program.
TAC Food Safety Meeting
Calibration Program Update
Helga Alexander recently made multiple presentations on the ISO/
IEC 17025:2017 standard’s new decision rule requirements for
accredited laboratories. She gave her first presentation on this
topic at the 2020 Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards
(AFRPS) Virtual Meeting in June. This was followed by a more
detailed 2-part webinar, delivered through the NCSL International
Metrology in Motion Webinar Series, drawing participants from
all over the world. The new standard’s decision rule requirements
ensure that laboratories take measurement uncertainties into
account when making a conformity statement in a test or calibration report and consider the risk of a potential “Pass” decision,
when the true result was actually a “Fail.” Owing to the fact that
different decision rules carry different levels of risk of a potentially
incorrect decision, the new standard requires that the laboratory’s
customers agree to the decision rule adopted by the laboratory
before work begins.
Identify Fake Certificates
IAS held a Food Safety Technical Advisory Council (TAC) meeting,
Wednesday, June 24th, to discuss and identify issues pertaining
to food safety in testing, inspection, product and personnel certification, and management systems certification entities. The Food
TAC is chaired by Mr. Udo Lampe (Analytica Alimentaria GmbH)
and supported by representatives from government laboratories,
accredited organizations, and IAS staff.
The meeting included discussions on the COVID-19 pandemic
and challenges in accreditation of conformity assessment bodies,
blockchain and food safety, food sampling, the proposed Rule
for FDA Testing Laboratories, IAS food accreditation programs
updates, and the latest IAF Food Working Group meeting outputs.
The IAS Accreditation program expansions to new areas such
as Accreditation of Halal Certification Bodies or BRC were also
highlighted during the meeting. Innovative techniques alternative
to traditional Quality Assurance Programs (PT-ILC) for Testing
Laboratories, such as the use of undercover samples, were
introduced to attendees. Decisions were made on the development of various technical papers and presentations (e.g. for food
sampling and associated risks and challenges) and participation
in future events. Special attention was given to the traction that
the 2020 World Accreditation Day event that IAS hosted on June
9th received, since the theme was related to Accreditation and
Food Safety. IAS Top Management Commitment to promote food
safety through the IAS Accreditation Programs and participation
in major events, was verified through the closing remarks by IAS
President, Mr. Raj Nathan.
Fake Certificates from certification bodies or testing laboratories
may result in ineffective or even dangerous products. This why it
is important to know how to tell the difference between fake and
authentic certificates. Learn 10 tips to identify fake certificates in
this entertaining video produced by IAF and ILAC. IAS is a signatory member of these organizations and is pleased to provide this
video as an education resource. View the video
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Clark County, Nev., is home of the world-famous Las Vegas Strip.
Clark is the nation’s 13th-largest county in the U.S. and provides
extensive regional services to more than 2.3 million citizens and
more than 45.6 million visitors a year. The Clark County Building
Department relies on International Accreditation Service (IAS)
accredited special inspection agencies to help ensure a high level
of building safety for everyone that visits, lives and works in the
county. “The Clark County process for approving special inspections is a very robust program. We want to make sure the agencies going out in the field to represent us are qualified. They are an
extension of us,” said Sam Palmer, assistant director, Department
of Building and Fire Prevention, Clark County.
not employed by the building department, the building official is
responsible to approve special inspector qualifications and verify
that mandatory special inspections are being performed.
Clark County uses an amended version of the International
Building Code (IBC), published by the International Code Council,
to ensure the construction of safe buildings. Special inspection is
defined in the IBC as “the inspection of construction requiring the
expertise of an approved special inspector in order to ensure compliance with the code and the approved construction documents.”
Building departments are often understaffed with many duties,
both technical and administrative, making it difficult if not impossible to manage a special inspection program. The lack of staff
and the absence of an administrative framework to enforce special inspection compliance are big obstacles. IAS developed the
Special Inspection Agency Accreditation Program to help building departments overcome these obstacles. “The IBC basically
requires you to have special inspections,” said Palmer. “The IAS
special inspection program helps you as a building department to
manage the process and ensure the projects being built in your
community are built safe and sound.”
Chapter 17 of the IBC includes 16 major categories of mandatory
special inspections that have critical life-safety and structural-safety roles, including:
Accreditation
Accepted Worldwide
Inspection of fabricators
Wind requirements
Concrete construction
Pier foundations
Masonry construction
Sprayed fire-resistant materials
Steel construction
Mastic and intumescent
fire-resistant coatings
Wood construction
Soils
Pile foundations
Smoke control
Vertical masonry elements
Exterior insulation and finish
systems
Special cases
Seismic requirements
The IAS Special Inspection Agency Accreditation Program was
developed to help building departments implement the special inspection requirements mandated in Chapter 17 of the IBC. “When
we talk about special inspections, IAS almost mirrors the steps in
the IBC Chapter 17,” said Palmer. “The program itself follows all
of the main items that we need that show how the firm operates,
who are the main players, what are their qualifications, what are
their certifications, etc. IAS follows each step all the way down
in a very precise and qualified format. That’s one of the main reasons we like the IAS program.”
Trust, Competence, Safety
20-19253
For more information about the IAS Food Technical Advisory
Council, email Mr. Dimitrios Katsieris, IAS Food Safety TAC Secretary, dimitriosk@iasonline.org
Read the full summary of the previous TAC meeting here.
IAS Accredited Special Inspection Agencies Helping
to Protect Clark County, Nevada
IAS Fall 2020 Newsletter
Special inspectors are hired by the owner, engineer or architect
of record, and not the contractor. While special inspectors are
www.iasonline.org
Chapter 17 of the IBC provides specific requirements for approving agencies performing special inspections. The special inspection agency must be independent of the contractor responsible
for the work being inspected. The agency shall have adequate
equipment to perform required tests and the equipment shall be
periodically calibrated. The agency shall employ experienced personnel educated in conducting, supervising and evaluating tests
and special inspections. The IBC includes additional requirements
related to inspection reports, labeling, follow-up inspections, etc.
The IAS Special Inspection Agency Accreditation Program is a
trusted method being used by building departments to document
the qualifications of special inspection agencies and the special
inspectors that serve their jurisdiction. IAS also provides accreditation for special inspection agencies recognizing the requirements of various local jurisdictions as adopted in the New York
City Building Code, Philadelphia Building Code, Southern Nevada
Building Code and others. IAS assesses special inspection agencies based on the requirements in IBC Chapter 17 as adopted
by the states and other large jurisdictions. Getting accredited involves an assessment of the agency’s inspection procedures, the
competence of its inspection staff, and its reporting procedures.
Every accredited agency is given an
Accreditation Certificate and Scope document that lists the specific inspections
the agency to accredited to conduct.
These documents, placed on the IAS
website, serve as the basis for approvals
from the building department.
For more information about the IAS
Special Inspection Agency Accreditation
Program, review the IAS Special Inspection Agency brochure.
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