IAS Spring 2020 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 8
COMMITTEES / ASSOCIATIONS
PCI
From L to R, Raj Nathan, Sandra McCracken,
Robert Risser, Dr. George Anastasopoulos,
Sam Palmer
PCI Signs Accreditation
Agreement with IAS
IAS participation in the 2020 TNI annual
meeting in Newport Beach
I
AS is involved in developing standards
around the world. The staff at IAS helps
shape the future by participating in local,
national and international committees for
standards development. The participation
in these committees not only enriches
the staff and IAS, but more importantly,
keeps a finger on the pulse of the
industry or sector they work with. This
is accomplished by providing firsthand
information on accreditation principles,
guidelines, and conformity infrastructure
designs to the committees. This ensures
that the requirements enshrined in the
standard will carry accurate information on
conformity rules when they get published.
The overall outcome of this involvement by
IAS ensures that the standards can be used
effectively and efficiently by the industry
and accreditation personnel. Involvement
in committees range from local chapters of
organizations, such as the ICC Los Angeles
Basin Chapter Inspection Committee,
to national industry groups, such as the
NELAC Institute (TNI) and Prestress
Concrete Institute (PCI), to international
groups, such as the International
Organization for Standards (ISO). IAS is
proud of its involvement in these groups
and understands that this participation has
cascading effects which re-enforce our
commitment to be a part of the conformity
chain protecting consumer safety and
health.
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SPRING 2020 NEWSLETTER
The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute
and the International Accreditation Service
(IAS) have completed a cooperation
agreement that will enable PCI-certified
plants to apply their PCI certification
toward accreditation by IAS as an approved
structural fabricator, in accordance with the
IAS AC 157 program.
The added benefit of approved fabricator
accreditation differentiates PCI-certified
plants from other suppliers and will allow
PCI plants to demonstrate clear compliance
with Section 1704 of the IBC. This will
eliminate the need for continuous special
inspection at the fabricator, potentially
saving time and reducing project costs.
During the process of obtaining IAS
accreditation for PCI’s Plant Certification
Program, PCI staff and members worked
diligently with IAS staff to bring the
requirements of PCI certification into
as close alignment as possible with the
requirements of AC157. Since then, IAS
and PCI have been working together to
reach agreement that by meeting the
technical and inspection requirements of
PCI certification, and accreditation program
oversight from IAS, a PCI plant also meets
the associated requirements of AC157.
This culminated in the signing of the official
agreement between PCI and IAS that
acknowledges this.
Section 1704 of the International Building
Code (IBC) requires special inspections
of fabricated structural, load-bearing
members unless an approved fabricator
is used. One method to demonstrate code
compliance is to use an approved fabricator
that meets the requirements of IAS AC157,
Accreditation for Fabricator Inspection
Programs for Reinforced and Precast/
Prestressed Concrete.
Accreditation as an approved fabricator
under the IAS program provides building
owners, specifiers, engineers, and architects
with the utmost confidence that the fabricator
consistently demonstrates competency in
manufacturing the highest-quality precast
concrete for a wide variety of building and
transportation projects. Accreditation also
provides building departments with a means
to register and approve fabricators.
IAS President, Raj Nathan and PCI President
and CEO, Robert Risser
About PCI
Founded in 1954, The Precast/Prestressed
Concrete Institute (PCI) is a technical
institute for the precast concrete structures
and systems industry. PCI develops,
maintains, and disseminates the Body of
Knowledge for the design, fabrication, and
construction of precast concrete structures
and systems. PCI develops consensus base
standards, industry handbooks, quality
assurance programs, certification, research
and development projects, design manuals,
continuing education and periodical
publications. PCI members include precast
concrete producers, erectors, suppliers,
professional engineers and architects,
educators, students, and industry
consultants who complement the wide
range of knowledge of precast concrete. For
more additional information, visit pci.org.
Assessor Spotlight:
Douglas N. Sickles, P.E.
F
or the past 9 years, Doug Sickles has been a Lead / Technical Assessor for IAS. He
earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI) in New York. He is a Professional Engineer in the state of New York.
Doug has a total of 34 years of experience as a compliance engineer. He is a member of 5
Engineer societies as well as the International Code Council (ICC), the parent company of
IAS.
Prior to working for IAS, Doug was a Building Inspector and Expert Witness at Heimer
Engineering for 8 years. He also served as a Senior Staff Engineer at UL for 17 years.
Doug considers himself lucky to have completed over 100 trips overseas due to his work
with IAS and UL.
When Doug isn’t working, he’s devoted to
his family, being happily married for 28
years with 2 children. Doug enjoys hiking
and swimming to stay active, he has also
served on Golf Evacuation Committees for
every US Open in New York since 2002.
Doug follows chess world championships
as well, having achieved the rank of Master
when he played chess competitively in his
teens and early 20s.
Doug has conducted over 700 assessments
of Inspection Agencies, Special Inspection
Agencies, Testing Labs, Field Evaluation
Bodies, and Product Certification Agencies.
Here’s what he had to say about doing
these assessments for IAS.
Q
hat is your favorite part of doing
W
assessments?
I enjoy learning about companies
and their business and helping them
improve their process. I strive to have
an exchange of knowledge which
benefits both parties.
Q
hat is the most challenging part of
W
doing assessments?
Efficiency is key; there is limited time
to sample enough tests or inspections
and conduct interviews. As lead
assessor I try to keep things moving.
I want to review everything the client
presents and capture all details in the
report and checklists, which should be
completely finished at the end of the
assessment.
Q
hat creates a positive assessment
W
experience?
I believe the client wants assessors
who understand their business and
have past experience that is valuable.
They want a fair assessment that will
improve their management system
and/or technical process. They don’t
want to be lectured to and they want
to know the issues before the closing
meeting, in case they can present
more evidence and avoid unnecessary
findings.
Q
ow should a customer prepare for an
H
assessment?
They should conduct a strong internal
audit, reviewing everything that IAS
would do; and they should have a
thorough management review. They
need to have all their documents and
records ready when we start to not
lose time. They should make available
everyone we need to interview or
witness and have a planned schedule.
Any problems or questions should be
worked out before the assessment
starts.
Q
What is your advice to a company
seeking accreditation?
Plan ahead and review your
management system to every
requirement in the standard. Many
findings are related to documentation
and records; assessors need to see
evidence. Make sure your requested
scope matches your technical
qualifications, it will reduce findings
that delay your accreditation. You can
add scope expansions later as you
need them. Be reasonable with lead
time to schedule the assessment and
expect there will be findings which
need to be resolved before getting
accredited.
www.iasonline.org
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