IAS July 2021 - Flipbook - Page 10
IAS NEWSLETTER July 2021
Technical Advisory Council – Building Department
Accreditation Meeting
The First Standard: Looking Back at the
Dawn of Conformity Assessment
By Mike Bouse, IAS Accreditation / Recognition Program Manager
By George Anastasopoulos, Ph.D., IAS Vice President of Global Development and Compliance
The IAS Technical Advisory Council-Building Department
Accreditation (TAC-BDA) group conducted an online meeting on
April 15, 2021. The meeting took place under the able chairmanship
of Selso Mata, chief building official, city of Plano, Texas. TAC-BDA
members, most of whom are from accredited jurisdictions, gave
brief updates on various activities occurring in their respective
jurisdictions. IAS President Raj Nathan gave an update on recent
activities at IAS including several new initiatives implemented by
IAS.
The TAC-BDA, like other IAS TACs, provides guidance on
accreditation policies and requirements to IAS management
on those programs under the scope of the TAC. The current
membership of the TAC includes the following members:
x Selso Mata, Chairman, city of Plano, Texas
x Mo Bayat, city of Kelowna, British Columbia
x Hakim Bayyoud, Charleston County, South Carolina
x Scott Cope, city of Rochester Hills, Michigan
x Joel Dramis, city of Port St. Lucie, Florida
x Michael Shannon, city of San Antonio, Texas
x Rebai Tamerhoulet, city of Salem, Oregon.
Mike Bouse, IAS building department accreditation (BDA) program
manager, reviewed the BDA program activities for 2021 and gave an
overview of other IAS program activities to occur in 2021. Bouse also
reviewed various documents developed for the administration of the
new Building Department Recognition (BDR) program. The chairman
and other members of the TAC complimented him for developing a
user-friendly document structure.
Laura Uraine, IAS customer success specialist, gave an overview of
the IAS webpage for the new BDR program. During her presentation
she highlighted the BDR online application, as well as the location
of Recognition Criteria RC418 that contains the requirements
applicable to BDR. You can view this webpage here.
In addition to other technical matters on the agenda, the TACBDA members discussed the need for IAS to clarify the three
payment options on the invoices for payment of annual renewal
fees. The members expressed interest in a fee schedule that would
combine all BDA accreditation fees (i.e., surveillance, renewal
and reassessment) into a fixed amount to be paid annually over
the three-year accreditation period. The members advised that
such a fixed fee could be budgeted annually. The members further
advised that a fixed-fee schedule would avoid the budget spikes
that typically occur during the third year of accreditation when
reassessment fees are due. IAS staff advised that a draft of an
annual fixed-fee schedule would be developed and presented to the
council for review and comment at a meeting in the near future
A “standard” nowadays is considered a
document established by a consensus of
subject matter experts that is sometimes
approved by an authority (i.e., regulator).
It provides guidance on the design, use or
performance of materials, products and/or
processes.
Many of today’s organizations are
developing products and/or are offering
services to satisfy consumer requirements
based on standards, client requirements and
relevant applicable regulations. In order to
safeguard the quality, reliability, consistency
and safety of those products and services,
“quality control” was introduced. Quality
control is the process of maintaining
standards in manufactured products by
testing a sample of the output against the
specification.
Standardization, certification, quality control
of products, consumer protection … strange
though it may seem, these are not modern
discoveries of our technological culture!
Inscribed stele from fourth century B.C. is
the most ancient example of a technical
standard.
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The research of many scholars shows that
their roots stretch far back into antiquity and
that they were mastered by societies with
high cultural and advanced technological
levels. The Parthenon, for example, the
temple on the Athenian Acropolis considered
to be the zenith of classical architecture,
couldn’t be built without such a “quality”
culture. The technical advancement of
humanity is inconceivable without the
application of norms to ensure the quality
of the materials and the processes used.
Historical evidence shows the ancient Greek
civilization devised a statutory framework
for quality—a basic requirement for the
design and construction of the masterpieces
of that era.
During classical times in Greece, there was
a mechanism in place for the quality control,
standardization and certification of items
produced and sold in many city-states
around the Mediterranean Sea. The ancient
Greeks applied standards with very strict
specifications supported by regulations
with harsh penalties for anyone who did
not comply. These standards covered the
entire range of products made at that time—
from metals and their alloys to agricultural
products, foods, beverages, currency and
even building products! This might seem
strange, but it is nevertheless true.
It is worth mentioning that in 1863, D.
Philios discovered an inscribed stele
from fourth century B.C. in the city of
Eleusis. The study of its text led to a very
interesting conclusion—that this inscription
is the most ancient example of a technical
standard, with strict specifications for the
manufacture of building materials known as
“empolia” and “polio” (i.e., bronze fittings/
dowels used to join the drums of columns
in ancient buildings). The specifications
concerned the origin, chemical composition
and manufacturing process of the bronze
fittings
Building materials known as empolia and
polio (i.e., bronze fittings/dowels used
to join the drums of columns in ancient
buildings).
As an example, the inscription mentions this
interesting fact: “… to shape hard bronze on
the lathe into cylindrical dowels (b) according to a particular sample.” This allusion to
the manufacturing process also implies that
a reference material/standard was used!
Most important, however, is the reference to
the origin of the raw material and its composition as prescribed in this inscription: “… the
copper must be produced in Marius, Cyprus
[a large commercial and metallurgical center
in antiquity] and of its twelve parts, eleven
were to be of copper and one of tin.” That is,
approximately 92% copper and 8% tin. That
was important not only from a structural
point of view but also a financial perspective,
considering the price of tin was seven times
higher than copper!
Further study of this inscription’s text leads
to the astounding conclusion that standards
and quality control principles were applied
at least 2,600 years before the modern era.
Interesting times, indeed!
References:
“Ancient Greek Standards”, George Varoufakis, Professor of the University of Athens,
1999
“Engineering and Technology in Ancient
Greece”, Christos D. Lazos, 1992
“The Inscribed Stele of Eleusis and Quality
Control in Antiquity”, Archaeology Magazine,
June 2014
“Eleusis”, D. Philios, 78-79, Athens, 1896
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