ICC Evaluation Service marks 10 Years of nationwide consolidation, unparalleled engineering expertise and robust product evaluation process

WITTIER, Calif. – Ten years ago, if a nationwide manufacturer introduced a new product for the construction industry it was more than likely they would need to purchase three evaluation reports to demonstrate to code officials and specifiers that the product was code compliant. Due to regional code differences, code compliance may have been different in the East, Midwest, South or West. Homebuilders, architects, engineers, designers and contractors faced the same obstacles, a patchwork of building safety regulations.

That all changed on Feb. 1, 2003, when three regional code organizations—Building Officials and Code Administrators, International Conference of Building Officials and Southern Building Code Congress International—began operating as one consolidated association: the International Code Council. Part of the consolidation brought together three evaluation services with more than 80 years of experience.

“ICC-ES has made much progress during the past 10 years, resulting in improved customer service, streamlined evaluation processes and new programs including a new expedited evaluation program and a new building product listing program to better serve the construction industry,” said ICC-ES President Shahin Moinian, P.E. “Our broad technical expertise is the cornerstone upon which we are built.”

The combined years of quality and staff experience separates ICC-ES from other evaluation services. ICC-ES engineers have extensive training and knowledge of the International Codes, as well as a broad range of industry standards. "ICC-ES Evaluation Reports are very helpful and important to our building department,” said Sheila Lee, Building Official for the City of Santa Clara, Calif. “A product that has an ICC-ES Evaluation Report will save a lot of our research time because the product has already been analyzed by the experts at ICC-ES. Very often the approved product by ICC-ES will get approval in my department since the product has gone through the evaluation of meeting the current code requirements."

ICC-ES staffers are professional engineers, licensed structural engineers, Master Code Professionals, Certified Building Officials and hold degrees in several engineering disciplines. Many are active members of industry organizations and committees who regularly participate in meetings and offer suggestions when industry changes are considered. Each is actively involved in the development of ICC-ES acceptance criteria (AC) and works closely with the industry before and during Evaluation Committee meetings to ensure all comments for new or revised ACs are considered.

Today, ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) offers one evaluation that is readily recognized across the U.S. ICC-ES evaluation programs include evaluation reports (ESRs), Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas (PMG) listings for both the U.S. and Canada, Building Product listings and environmental reports.

ICC-ES is synonymous with unparalleled quality because it is ANSI-accredited and fully compliant with section 1703 of the International Building Code (IBC). ICC-ES is known for the rigorous technical review required to receive an evaluation report that building officials across the country respect.