By Gary Schenk, WABO Technical Consultant

This article is the first in a series of ones like it that should be of interest to you, the building/code official. If you are new to this, one thing to think about is how you will determine the qualifications of the special inspectors, steel fabricators, welders and the related agencies that provide the services that you are likely to need on projects more complicated than a standard residential structure.

To begin, your duties for determining qualifications of those that you allow to assist in your jurisdictional duties are clearly stated beginning in Chapter 1, Section 110.4 of the IBC where it says that inspection agencies must “satisfy requirements as to qualifications and reliability”. This, of course, can be a daunting task and knowing whether you get it right can be fraught with great uncertainty and self-doubt. In IBC 1704.2.1, it goes on further to cover the qualifications of the special inspector and again, the building official is the one who determines who meets the requirements in each of these chapters.

One of the many benefits for being a member, or even just associated with WABO, is the advantages afforded by the Certification and Registration Program which includes the Special Inspection Registration (SIRP), Welder and Steel Fabricator programs. Each program deals with a challenge that you as the building official has, and how to effectively and completely meet your obligations in areas that you may know very little about. All of these responsibilities can be handled through WABO’s voluntary programs.

To begin, let’s touch on the qualification of the testing laboratories that employ the special inspectors and how they qualify to do what they have to do under the ISO/IEC 17025 Standard. This is the national standard for qualifying test labs and to be part of the WABO program, labs have to have met the requirements of 17025 and be current in their accreditation status. To be a WABO approved testing laboratory, the lab must meet these and additional requirements that deal with personnel qualifications, record keeping, processes and procedures that are qualified and maintained, and on and on. The lab, after receiving WABO approval, must also go through a renewal audit every three years to see if they are keeping up with all that they have to do. The requirements imposed upon the labs are what the building officials, who are driven by the codes, require. What you may not know is that their lab accreditation does not cover the certification and qualifications of their field inspectors that you will have representing you on the jobsites.

The special inspectors (SI’s) that qualify as WABO SI’s must meet the requirements outlined by ISO/IEC 17020; Special Inspector Qualifications. Aside from having to know what they are doing, they must be occasionally trained, retrained, and evaluated on an ongoing basis. They also must have some on-the-job training where they gain actual field experience in each discipline that they choose to be certified under, and that requires time being spent under the guidance of a WABO Field Supervisor. If you have ever accepted an ICC certified inspector before, you may be interested to know that there is no field experience required, meaning that if an individual can study for and pass their test, they are qualified as an SI. At WABO, they have to come in with that ICC certification where one exists for a particular discipline and then qualify further for the WABO program requirements that always requires an interview in both field experience and in codes and standards. Many inspector candidates do not pass their first time around, but when they do, we believe that they are ready to step in as qualified and experienced inspectors that feel confident and ready to represent you as the building official.

So far, this information probably has you thinking about what it is that you do if you are not using the WABO program to qualify the laboratories and inspectors that you utilize. Believe it when you read it that there is so much more to getting it right than just you saying that they are good guys and that’s why you use them, whoever they are. You need to know that the labs and SI’s that work in your jurisdiction are an extension of you as if they were your hand-selected employees who are deputized to represent you. How you do that is up to you, of course, and the jurisdictions that require or at least prefer the WABO approved labs and inspectors have all the bases covered where it comes to meeting the standards outlined in ISO/IEC 17020 and 17025. It would be good to take the time to look those standards up and read what these SI agencies and inspectors go through to become accredited and certified, and then see if those requirements are meeting your responsibilities also.

Next time, this article will go on to cover and explain the WABO Welder and Steel Fabricator programs and how they look out for your best interests in those areas or your responsibility.