W A B O ASHINGTON SSOCIATION OF UILDING FFICIALS SPECIAL INSPECTION REGISTRATION PROGRAM WABO S I PECIAL NSPECTION A I GENCY AND NSPECTION P ERFORMANCE QUALIFICATION STANDARD 1701 WABO Standard No. 1701 Eighth Edition Effective August 2015 ©Copyright 2007-2016 Washington Association of Building Officials 1 FOREWORD This eighth edition of the Special Inspection Agency and Inspection Performance Qualification Standard No. 1701 updates and replaces previous editions of this standard and reflects the applicable requirements and intent of most recent editions of the Washington State Building Code. This Standard has been published as follows: 1st edition July 1998 2nd edition January 2003 3rd edition November 2004 4th edition January 2007 5th edition November 2013 6th edition November 2014 7th edition December 18, 2014 8th edition August 2015 © 1998 – 2015 Washington Association of Building Officials Washington Association of Building Officials PO Box 7310 Olympia, Washington 98507-7310 (360) 628-8669 Toll Free: 888-664-9515 Fax: 360-918-8021 E-mail: [email protected] Web page: www.wabo.org 2 PREFACE The Washington Association of Building Officials (WABO) is a nonprofit corporation established to research, develop, and promote the uniform implementation and enforcement of building codes in the State of Washington. The Association’s membership includes building officials from jurisdictions at all levels (state, county, city, and town) who are responsible for administering and enforcing building codes. Building codes adopted within the State of Washington include requirements for qualifications of special inspectors. To provide greater confidence in compliance with these requirements, WABO Standard 1701 establishes uniform qualification and procedures for registration of special inspection agencies and inspectors. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION TITLE PAGE 1. GENERAL INFORMATION 4 2. PROGRAM 6 3. DEFINITIONS 6 4. AGENCY 8 5. KEY PERSONNEL 13 6. FIELD TESTING TECHNICIAN 15 7. PLACEMENT INSPECTOR 16 8. SPECIAL INSPECTOR 17 APPENDIX A Acceptable National Accrediting and Inspecting 20 Authorities APPENDIX B Agency Facilities, Equipment, Records and 23 Personnel Survey Checklist APPENDIX C Technical Director/Supervisor/Inspector 39 Application Evaluation APPENDIX D Procedure for Key Personnel and Inspector 43 Interviews APPENDIX E Registration Board 47 APPENDIX F Special Inspection Registration Program 51 Bulletins 4 1. GENERAL INFORMATION Adoption by the State of Washington of the International Building Code as amended requires that all construction or work for which a permit is required shall be subject to inspection by a building official. This program is designed around the philosophy that the "special inspector" referenced in the International Building Code (IBC) Section 1704 is a quality control agency, organized with qualified management, and supervisory personnel, special inspectors and laboratory technicians together with the appropriate equipment and facilities to conduct material testing in accordance with those standards stipulated in the IBC. The quality control agency can also be an individual, who fulfills multiple required roles or who subcontracts some of the required roles or testing methods described in this Standard. When structural observation is required by Section 1709, the inspection program shall name the individuals or firms who are to perform structural observation and describe the states of construction at which structural observation is to occur. In addition to the required inspections, the owner, or the engineer or architect of record acting as the owner's agent shall employ one or more special inspectors who shall provide inspections during construction. The Special Inspection Registration Program described herein is a program of the Washington Association of Building Officials (WABO). The Program was developed in response to a need, expressed by a number of jurisdictions and quality control agencies in the State of Washington, for a uniform method of determining qualifications of special inspection agencies and special inspectors. The program is designed to assist local jurisdictions in meeting their obligation to assure that qualified special inspection services are being used and to provide long-term monitoring of those involved in special inspection to assure continuing quality control. The program is intended to provide building departments with the means to meet the obligation imposed on the building official to approve special inspectors. The IBC Section 1704 specifies that "the special inspector shall be a qualified person who shall demonstrate competence, to the satisfaction of the building official, for inspection of the particular type of construction or operation requiring special inspection." The program is also intended to aid the quality control (special inspection) community by providing a consistent set of criteria by which their competency will be judged. The voluntary registration program is designed to provide a means of documenting special inspection and testing qualifications and competency in the various types of work cited in the IBC. The program provides the means for "special inspection agencies" and/or "special inspectors" to demonstrate competency to a consistent set of criteria relative to special inspection, as specified in the IBC, and establishes a roster to which local jurisdiction building officials in the State of Washington may refer to determine if an agency or individual has met preferred recognized criteria to perform special inspections in the areas required for each individual project. 5 This document defines minimum requirements for personnel and equipment (refer to Appendix B) for organizations engaged in the testing and/or inspection of a variety of structural systems or critical building components, who wish to become registered as "special inspectors" with WABO. The program provides for registration of organizations as referenced in 4.3.2 as Special Inspection Agencies and individuals as Special Inspection Inspectors in the following categories: 1. Reinforced Concrete* (RC) 2. Prestressed Concrete** (PC) 3. Shotcrete** (SC) 4. Structural Masonry (SM) 5. Structural Steel and Bolting (SSB) 6. Structural Welding (SW) 7. Spray-applied Fire-resistive Materials (FP) 8. Lateral Wood (LW) 9. Cold-Formed Steel Framing (CF) 10. Proprietary Anchors (PA) * Requires current ACI certification as an ACI Field Technician – Grade 1. ** Reinforced Concrete registration is a prerequisite for obtaining this inspector registration. A description of the required qualifications, submittal requirements, examination criteria, monitoring system and more are contained herein. The standard set of qualifications herein are a combination of nationally accepted criteria and criteria developed by WABO combined together to form a unique program which combines theory and applied practice together with ethics and responsibilities. With the agency and inspector registries this program will generate, various building officials will no longer have to develop their own methods of determining the competency of "special inspectors" nor will organizations and individuals involved in quality control/special inspection need to meet a variety of criteria to demonstrate their competency to the variety of building officials throughout the state. However, this program is not intended to eliminate the responsibilities of the building official to: assure that the special inspection agency is employed by the owner, the engineer or architect of record, or an agent of the owner; monitor each job within the jurisdiction; review special inspection reports; or, any other obligation stipulated in the IBC. It is recommended that the building official refer to the WABO model program for special inspection as a reference guide for procedures and sample forms for administering the day-to- day oversight of special inspection services. The program recognizes that organizations performing testing and/or special inspections are varied in size and scope. Where one agency may be a single individual, another may be a company with a large staff of specialists. Nothing contained in this program should be construed to limit or eliminate any person or organization from participating in the program. 6 2. PROGRAM 2.1 NAME 2.1.1 This program shall be known as the WABO Special Inspection Registration Program (SIRP). 2.2 PURPOSE 2.2.1 The purpose of the program is to provide a uniform and consistent manner by which Special Inspection Agencies (Agencies) and Special Inspectors (Inspectors) in Washington can demonstrate their competence to assure conformance with the intent of IBC Chapter 17. 2.3 DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE 2.3.1 The program has been developed and will be maintained by the Special Inspection Registration Board (Board) as authorized by the WABO voting representatives. 2.3.2 WABO may publish bulletins as deemed necessary for the effective administration of this program. These bulletins will carry the same force and effect as the standard. 2.4 FINANCES AND STAFF 2.4.1 Financing of the program shall be prescribed in the WABO annual operation budget(s). 2.4.2 The WABO executive board, upon the recommendation of the WABO executive director, shall enter into contracts for professional or technical services deemed necessary to support the board in its assigned responsibilities. Support services for the program shall be selected, assigned and directed by the WABO executive director. 3. DEFINITIONS 3.1 Registered Agency An organization or individual offering quality control (testing and/or inspection) services; accredited or inspected by an approved national authority, with qualified management and supervisory personnel, laboratory technicians and certified special inspectors; and, with the appropriate equipment and facilities to conduct materials testing and/or inspection in accordance with those standards stipulated in Section 1702 of the International Building Code and adopted references. 3.1.1 An Inspection Only Agency may be an ICC certified special inspector wishing to obtain WABO registration and conduct special inspection only services. Such agency shall meet the requirement of a Registered Agency where appropriate. Such an agency or individual makes visual observations/inspections and field measurements of construction 7 materials. It may collect and submit samples identified with respective portions of the construction for laboratory evaluations. 3.2 Concrete Compressive Strength For purposes of this registration program, concrete compressive strength may be of two (2) categories: 3.2.1 normal - less than 6,000 psi design strength 3.2.2 high - 6,000 psi design strength or more 3.3 External Technical Services Those technical services an agency must obtain, in the course of providing its services, from sources independent of the agency. 3.4 Field Testing Laboratory A testing laboratory facility set up in a dedicated area on-site for the duration of testing activities for a specific project for a period expected to not exceed three years. Field testing laboratories of registered agencies shall have qualified key personnel and inspectors; have the appropriate equipment; and have documentable quality control practices in effect consistent with WABO Standards. 3.5 Field Testing Technician An employee of an agency who is assigned to perform and record the results of specific field tests (specified in Section 6) for the agency. The individual shall be certified and hold an unexpired American Concrete Institute (ACI) Concrete Field Testing Technician-Grade 1 certification and be capable of demonstrating competence, to the satisfaction of the building official. 3.6 Inspection or Accreditation Authority An independent national entity, apart from the agency, that provides an unbiased evaluation of testing and/or inspection agencies. The entity must have the capability to assess the professional and technical capabilities of testing and/or inspection agencies. 3.7 Key Personnel (technical director, supervising laboratory technician and special inspection field supervisor) A full-time employee of an agency who is assigned to manage, oversee and/or supervise the testing and/or inspection operations conducted by an agency. An individual may serve as technical director of multiple agencies under a common ownership if the individual is so employed full-time and the agencies are located within a 50-mile radius of the technical director's permanent office location. 3.8 Permanent Office Location Registration application forms for key personnel and/or inspector initial applications require the "Agency Employer Name" in addition to a letter of recommendation from the requesting agency. 8 3.9 Placement Inspector An employee of an agency who is assigned to perform field concrete testing and concrete placement inspection for non-complex structures. This person shall be qualified in accordance with the requirements of WABO Standard No. 1701, Section 7. 3.10 Register A listing of organizations and/or individuals meeting the requirements prescribed in the program for organizations and individuals offering to provide special inspection services. 3.11 Registration Board The board (special committee) appointed by the WABO president and ratified by the WABO membership to oversee the WABO Special Inspection Registration Program. 3.12 Special Inspector An employee of an agency who has demonstrated competency in accordance with WABO Standard No. 1701. 3.13 Washington Association of Building Officials (WABO) A nonprofit corporation (registered in the State of Washington) and professional association of building officials from the towns, cities, counties and selected state agencies in Washington. 4. AGENCY 4.1 REGISTRATION 4.1.1 An agency or individual wanting to become registered in the WABO Special Inspection Registration Program shall contact the WABO office for application information or download forms from www.wabo.org. 4.1.2 Agency Registration is valid for three years. Renewal is required for subsequent three year periods. 4.1.3 Key Personnel registration is valid for one year and must be renewed prior to the expiration date. 4.2 REGISTRATION CATEGORIES 4.2.1 Agencies may become registered for one or more of the following types of work 4.2.1.1 Reinforced Concrete* (RC) 4.2.1.2 Prestressed Concrete** (PC) 4.2.1.3 Shotcrete* (SC) 4.2.1.4 Structural Masonry (SM) 4.2.1.5 Structural Steel and Bolting (SSB) 4.2.1.6 Structural Welding (SW) 9