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IAS Building Department Accreditation Program FAQs
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The AC251 Accreditation Criteria for Building Departments/Code Enforcement Agencies contains requirements for data to be submitted by building departments. As jurisdictions prepare responses to the criteria, some have asked questions or requested interpretation of various clauses. International Accreditation Service (IAS) Project Coordinator Kellee Lostaunau has responded to these recurring questions.
Clauses:
3.1.1 Historical and political information on administering entity:
Copy of Charter; incorporation details, if any; copy of enabling legislation;
organizational chart showing lines of authority within the jurisdiction;
map showing boundaries of jurisdictional area.
3.3.1 Organizational chart providing employee names and titles for all full- and part-time staff positions within the code enforcement organization.
Q: In both clauses 3.1.1 and 3.3.1 of the accreditation criteria, IAS requests an organizational chart. Why is IAS asking twice?
Lostaunau: Actually, IAS is looking for two entirely different organizational charts.
In Clause 3.1.1, IAS is looking for an organizational chart of the entire administering entity. In other words, if the applicant jurisdiction is a city, IAS wants the organizational chart to show who runs the city—from the mayor and city council members, to the city manager and city attorney—on down to the heads of each department (e.g., director of public works, director of economic development, director of building and safety, director of human resources, etc.) with names and job titles.
In Clause 3.3.1, (continuing with the example, above) IAS would be looking for an organizational chart with names and job titles for all full- and part-time jobs within the department of building and safety, beginning with the name and job title of the director. (In cases where there is a job vacancy, the job title should still be listed on the organization chart; however, it should just list "vacant" where the employee's name would normally be located.)
Clauses:
3.2.6 Steps taken to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
3.3.2 Policies and procedures on ethical behavior involving conflicts of interest and job performance.
Q: In both clauses 3.2.6 and 3.3.2 of the accreditation criteria, IAS asks for information related to conflicts of interest. What is the difference between the two sections?
Lostaunau: In Section 3.2.6, IAS wants to know what the governing body (the city, county or state-whatever authority oversees the building department) does, as a whole, to educate staff on how to avoid conflicts of interest in their work. This is probably going to be more of a policy statement. In Section 3.3.2, IAS wants to know how the building department actually implements this policy: How does the department explain to its staff what would constitute a conflict of interest on the job, and how would the department handle a conflict of interest issue if one was discovered?
Clauses:
3.2.8 Accessibility of information and records, minimum retention times
for records, and details on safe storage of records.
3.2.9 Control of access to records: safeguards in place to prevent unauthorized access or modifications to records.
Q: Aren't clauses 3.2.8 and 3.2.9 of the criteria asking the same thing?
Lostaunau: Section 3.2.8 is related to which records must be kept and for how long (this is often mandated by the state), who's allowed to see those records (for instance, are certain documents freely accessible to anyone as a matter of public record), and where those records are kept (e.g., hardcopies are kept in fireproof filing cabinets onsite, hardcopies are scanned, and the electronic versions are backed-up and kept on an offsite server, etc.).
In Section 3.2.9, IAS wants to know how access to records is granted (e.g., how does someone go about viewing records, who is authorized to access those records and who controls the authorizations, etc.) and how are those records protected from alteration or modification (for instance, how does the department prevent a staff member or visitor from altering inspection results in an inspection report on a computer linked to the network).