News

IAS Board of Directors Building Safety Week Actions and Activities

The International Accreditation Service (IAS) Board of Directors meeting on May 4 in Washington, D.C., launched Building Safety Week with a week-long series of activities.

The Board began the session by approving several revisions to the IAS Rules of Procedure for the accreditation of Fabricator Inspection Programs, Product Certification Agencies, and Building Department/Code Enforcement Agencies. The Board also approved fee adjustments for the Fabricator Inspection and Inspection Agency Programs.

Two new members were approved to the IAS Accreditation Committee. Imad Eldurubi from Pompano Beach, Florida, became the first industry member ever appointed to the Accreditation Committee. The second member appointment was Jonathan Bahr, from Clark County, Nevada. Eldurubi and Barr replace Isam Hasenin and Guy Tomberlin who are now on the IAS Board.

New members were also approved to IAS Technical Advisory Councils (TAC). The Board appointed Craig Joss from a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, testing laboratory/inspection agency and Jay Ponce, from the city of Portland, Oregon, to the Inspection Agency TAC. These two individuals replace Kevin Irannejad of the city of Milpitas, California, and Earl Russell of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Wayne Durand from the city of Los Angeles, California, was appointed to the Work Force Qualifications TAC while Dale Black from Canada and Paul Moliski from Intertek were appointed to the newly established Product Certification TAC.

Following the IAS Board meeting, the International Code Council Board met on May 5 at the Council’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. IAS Board Chair Majed Dabdoub and IAS President Chuck Ramani attended this meeting and were present when Dr. Izz Eddin Katkhuda, head of the Arab Center for Engineering Studies in Amman, Jordan, was appointed as the first international director of IAS. Also at this meeting, a first-quarter report on IAS was presented to the Board by Code Council Board liaison Ron Lynn with updates provided by Chairman Dabdoub and President Ramani.

On May 5, IAS Vice President Patrick McCullen took IAS Board members on a visit to the research facilities of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The IAS Board toured the Research Center’s new state-of-the-art product testing laboratory and market research facility. Bob Hill, the center’s director of laboratory and certification programs, arranged several testing demonstrations for the Board, including a uniform load test of a structural beam; an air cannon test used to simulate wind-blown debris; plumbing fixtures and insulation testing; and product certification tests on OSB, a commonly used sheathing material used in construction. The demonstrations provided the IAS Board with an up-close perspective of how products are tested in an IAS-accredited laboratory. During the laboratory tour, Vice President McCullen was able to provide board members with insight into some of the technical activities that IAS assessors perform when conducting an assessment of a construction material testing laboratory.

The IAS Board joined the Code Council Board and other volunteers on May 6 to build homes for the underprivileged with the Habitat for Humanity in Southeast Washington, D.C. The day-long event provided approximately 240 hours of skilled/semi-skilled/unskilled labor to the Habitat project. Also, at the conclusion of the work day, Code Council President Steve Shapiro and Chief Executive Officer Rick Weiland presented the Habitat’s Washington chapter with a check for $10,000 to help its ongoing projects.

The following day, IAS and Council Board members made their annual trip to Capitol Hill to visit members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to seek support for the Community Building Code Administration Grant (CBCAG) Program. The CBCAG Act was introduced on December 12, 2007, as S. 2458 by Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and as H.R. 4461 by Congressman Dennis Moore (D-KS). This legislation will authorize a grant program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. When enacted and funded, the CBCAG will provide competitively evaluated federal grants, locally matched to jurisdictions who seek to build up their local building and fire code administration and enforcement capabilities. The evening’s roof-top Congressional Reception at the Code Council’s Washington, D.C., headquarters included a special award to IAS Board member Ravi Shah, Director of Urban Development for the city of Carrollton, Texas, for his efforts to raise the profile for code officials. Click here for photos and videos of the ceremony.

The week’s activities culminated with a dinner hosted by Code Council President Shapiro honoring the volunteers who serve on the Council and IAS boards and the Council’s staff that made the Washington events perform with clockwork precision.


Code Council CEO Rick Weiland (left) and Board President Steve Shapiro (right) present Ravi Shah, Director of Urban Development, city of Carrollton, Texas, with a Profile Award following the Building Safety Week reception.		IAS Board Chairman Majed Dabdoub (center) and Code Council Congressional Relations Vice President Mark Dinneen meet with Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) to discuss the CBCAG Program.


From left, Bob Hill, Guy Tomberlin, Michael Bouse and Isam Hasenin view a structural test during a visit to the National Association of Home Builders.		IAS Board members, spouses and staff in front of a long-term natural weathering exposure test house on the grounds of the National Association of Home Builders. The test house is instrumented to determine the effects of temperature, humidity, rainfall and other atmospheric effects on the exterior and interior of the building. From left, IAS Board members Michael Bouse, Ravi Shah, Guy Tomberlin, Isam Hasenin and John Barrios. Also pictured are spouses Arlene Barrios and Radhika Ramani along with IAS staff members Nancy Libby and Pat McCullen.