News
Inspection Agencies Urged to Expedite Compliance with AC304
The ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria for Quality Documentation (AC10) was recently revised, and a new criteria—the ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria for Inspection Agencies (AC304)—was recently approved. By revising AC10 and creating AC304, ICC-ES has streamlined procedures for submitting quality documentation for evaluation report applicants and has clarified the role of inspection agencies.
To demonstrate compliance with AC304, inspection agencies were required to submit a Declaration of Compliance with ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) Acceptance Criteria for Inspection Agencies (AC304) to the International Accreditation Service (IAS), enabling IAS to add AC304 to its scope of accreditation.
A recent check with IAS indicated that several inspection agencies that are currently conducting qualifying (initial) and follow-up inspections of ICC-ES report holders/applicants have not yet filed the IAS Declaration of Compliance with AC304. This declaration was created by IAS to facilitate expanding the scope of agencies that conduct qualifying and follow-up inspections of ICC-ES evaluation report holders/applicants. Inspection agencies that have already submitted a completed Declaration of Compliance to IAS have had AC304 added to their scope of accreditation. Conversely, inspection agencies that have not submitted the Declaration are not recognized by ICC-ES to conduct inspections of ICC-ES report holders/applicants.
Since the criteria became effective October 1, 2006, Evaluation Service staff are now tasked with ensuring that agencies conducting inspections are properly accredited under AC304. It is in the best interests of our mutual clients that the processing of evaluation reports not be delayed because of accreditation issues. If you have not already done so, please file the Declaration of Compliance with IAS as soon as possible. Upon review and approval of the signed declaration, IAS will add your agency to the list of inspection agencies qualified to conduct qualifying and follow-up inspections of ICC-ES report holders/applicants. IAS has advised us that AC304 will be added to your scope of accreditation at the next revision of the accreditation certificate. The Declaration of Compliance can be accessed here.
In conjunction with the February 2006 ICC-ES Evaluation Committee meeting in Los Angeles, ICC-ES will be making a presentation on the new procedures. Understanding the procedures is important and inspection agencies are encouraged to attend as the new procedures rely heavily on the participation of the agency. A similar presentation earlier this year was well received as much for the interchange of ideas and questions as for the presentation itself. If your staff has questions about inspections under the ICC-ES program, this is an opportunity to have them answered. If sufficient interest is shown, ICC-ES will consider holding a web-based seminar that might be more accessible for your operational staff who might not have the opportunity to attend an Evaluation Committee meeting.