Okay, I think some things need to be clarified, I hope I can do this in a satisfactory manner.
A 'Special Inspector' is not an inspector certified by the ICC, though someone certified by the ICC can become a 'Special Inspector'. A 'Special Inspector' is an individual working for an 'Approved Agency' as specified in Section 109, 1702.1, 1703.1, and 1704.1 (other places as well, these are the main references). According to IBC all they are required to do is satisfy the Local Building Authority as to their ability to competently accomplish the inspection work at hand. You do not need to be qualified to ALL inspections classes. In our area there are ten: Concrete, Concrete Testing, Epoxy, Fire Proofing, Masonry, Soils, Structural Steel, Welding, Post Tensioning, and UT. When an engineer calls for other tests in the job specs it is dealt with on an as needed basis to satisfy both engineer and Building Authority.
I do believe I understand PART of your description in that, while ASNT will take your money and call you an ASNT Level II VT inspector without taking their test, ICC has no such provision. But you can still be a 'Special Inspector'. That is not dependent upon who's certification you have. Just that your local BA recognizes your ability to competently accomplish the task.
Bolting, notice in '1704.3.3 High-strength bolts' that they "shall be periodically inspected in accordance with AISC specifications." No where does it say what, if any, certifications the inspector MUST have to accomplish this. And our local people are accepting AWS Bolting Endorsement as equal to IBC. So, support AWS, not IBC.
Not sure what you mean by "I don't recall any allowances to skip the ICC welding inspector exam because you have a AWS CWI certificate." No one has said anything about SKIPPING anything. You just don't always NEED it. Just like you don't always NEED ASNT Level II VT. All it is for MOST of us is extra money for no good reason. Now, there are some jobs that are much easier to land if you have all of them. But, how much money do you have to spend and how much time to keep taking more classes, seminars, and exams to stay qualified. Now, you will never, unless they begin some reciprocity, be an IBC/ICCBO SSW inspector without taking their test. But, depending upon what exactly your goals are, you may not need it.
Next, Just as AWS has experience qualifications, so does MY local Building Authority to be an Approved Agency.
This can become the same type of issue as to rather to get Pre-Approved, Certified Shop Fabricator status to avoid the 'Special Inspector' coming into your shop. As a TPI I have been a 'Continuous' Owner representative in Approved Fabricator Shops. If the Owner wants it, he gets it. Doesn't matter what certs you have. BUT, a TPI is only there to document the in house QC program. Not to be the substitute for the in house QC. I am Quality ASSURANCE, NOT, Quality Control. There is a difference between the two. Though occassionally you can hardly tell it. Their QC is documented in their Approved Fabricator Shop status. I am not it.
Hope I made sense. And sorry for the hijack John. Kinda related info anyway.
Have a Great Day, Brent
Doug,
I was just going through some print packs this morning and thought I would point this out; in the general notes for the Structurals the second section of my packs addresses the 'Basis For Design' and states roughly-'2006 International Building Code (IBC) with city/county amendments.'
They do not HAVE to adopt the IBC in whole. It can be amended any way they want. Every jurisdiction has several pages, sometimes as thick as the code book, of amendments. This includes the areas of Special Inspections and how they want to qualify Special Inspectors as well as the application of the codes to the work being performed.
When you call for a 'Special Inspection' you may do it through the Local Building Authority, General Contractor, or other designated routes. It is usually all set up before hand and at least part of the info is in the Job Specs. There are 'hold points' for all the trades on a job that must get inspected before work can continue. The LBA takes the reports from the SI and considers all to be well per the report. They are not experts in all fields either and can get into conflict of interest in some cases. They are just making sure everyone else does their job and can question the SI and their skills if they spot something they don't like. There are then other inspections that are completed by the LBA. The difference is in what the Special Inspections area of the job specs calls for and how it lines up with the codes of that particular building trade for inspections. I have to compare everything with the General Notes, Contract Documents, AISC Manual, AWS D1.1 and 1.3, 1.4 and others, the IBC, and city/county amendments. Sometimes there can be some pretty strong emotions flaring when trying to balance things with city officials, contractors, other inspectors, and myself. Varied opinions, need for inspections of work that another trade already covered up, all kinds of things.
Hope this has added more info that will make the Special Inspectors job easier to understand. NOT that I am an EXPERT at it.
Have a Great Day, Brent
Well, this certainly sheds a new bright light on the subject because it had been mine and our company's understanding that one needed to be ICC certified special welding inspector to perform these inspections. Not that one could not inspect because they were not ICC certiifed, but that the juristiction would only accept ICC certified inspector reports. That is who has been sent to our shop previously, almost exclusively from west coast projects.
I will have to forward this new insight back thru our channels and start addressing this issue differently in the future. We have only dealt with this on a handful of jobs since apparently the pushing of these IBC special inspections is much bigger on west coast than in FL. But we ship steel everywhere so I know it is coming. I have a job that is going to HI and am dealing with as we speak today that has this same issue. This will change how I deal with it.
I still stand by my opinion that ICC should have reciprocity with AWS just as Canada does with AWS with welding inspectors. There certainly could be stipulations that the CWI had to take exam with D1.1 as the upcoming structural inspector endorsement from AWS apparently will.
Apparently, I was not as big an expert on it as I thought I was either. Anyway, thank you for your explainations. I respect your opinions and you have stated your cases well. And, I will try not to have a biased opinion of other special inspectors in the future based upon some past experiences with SPECIAL inspectors.
Doug,
Here is another thought in line with what you just posted.
Get an Independant Testing Agency in your area to get the paperwork and qualify as an Approved Agency for the main city you do business with on the Left (I mean West) Coast. Then they can be the go to people to check work going out west without paying travel for someone from that city.
We are in AZ. Either I and/or a guy I do a lot of work for are Approved for most of AZ, LA, San Diego, and many other cities. We can do the inspections in shops here for pre-fab structural going to any of those cities and we can do the erection inspections there if we get/want that part of the contract. Many inspection companies in CA call us and ask us to sub for them doing the inspections here so they don't have to send someone and pay all the travel expenses. Depends upon their work load and how much they want to keep their own people busy and can justify the expense.
Just a thought. I'll see if I can get you some more info on this but you should be able to contact any of the cities within whose jurisdiction who are performing work and get all the info you need.
Have a Great Day, Brent