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City of Plano Building Department is First to Earn Accreditation in Texas

The City of Plano (Texas) Building Inspections Department has earned national accreditation by International Accreditation Service (IAS), making Plano the first jurisdiction in Texas and the third in the nation to receive this important recognition. Accreditation signifies that the city’s Building Inspections Department operates under the highest professional and technical standards. The IAS accreditation also verifies that the department is professionally qualified to provide a high standard of public safety.

“The City of Plano is extremely proud of Selso Mata (Chief Building Official) and the entire Building Inspections Team for the hard work in garnering this outstanding honor and recognition for both the department and the city,” said Thomas H. Muehlenbeck, Plano City Manager.

In October 2006, the IAS Building Department Accreditation on-site evaluation team conducted a full evaluation of the city’s Building Inspections Department . The thirteen categories of accreditation criteria used to assess the department included basic jurisdictional information, department staff, permitting, budget, construction codes, plan reviews, professional credentials/licenses, inspections, certificate of occupancies, on-site evaluations, annual reports, reevaluation, and complaints/appeals.

Throughout the process, IAS evaluators carefully assessed critical elements of the building department including customer service, code interpretation and enforcement, and fiscal strength. This team of four IAS-trained evaluators, including practicing building officials, assessed the building department’s expertise and its compliance with the IAS Accreditation Criteria for Building Departments/Code Enforcement Agencies. The team also visited construction sites to appraise the performance of the city’s inspection process.

“This is a great achievement and demonstrates the Plano Building Inspections Department’s commitment to public safety,” said IAS President Chuck Ramani. “To achieve accreditation, the Plano Building Inspections Department underwent rigorous assessments to verify that it operates under the highest ethical, legal and technical standards while providing enhanced life safety and property protection.”

International Accreditation Service, a subsidiary of the International Code Council, has offered Building Department Accreditation since January 2005. Several major cities across the nation are currently going through the accreditation process.

The nation’s leading provider of building department accreditation, IAS also assesses and accredits testing and calibration laboratories, fabricator inspection programs and special inspection agencies. It is a subsidiary of the International Code Council, a membership association dedicated to building safety and fire prevention that develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Most U.S. cities, counties and states that adopt codes choose the International Codes developed by the International Code Council.

Photos of IAS accreditation presentation ceremony at Plano City Council Meeting. Ravi Shah, C.B.O., Chair, IAS Board Committee on Accreditation, Pat Evans, Mayor of Plano, and Selso Mata, Chief Building Official of Plano.

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