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THE GEORGIA ENGINEER David M. Roebuck, P.E., C.C.M., Leland D. Squier, P.E., Ken Hix, C.B.O., C.E.A.P., Martin Holubar, Reed Sheats, E.I.T. The Standard Building Code (International Building Code, 2000 Edition - IBC® 2000) is the adopted building code in the state of Georgia. The Georgia state code requires that the Standard Building Code be applied throughout the state, regardless of whether it is adopted by a municipality. Chapter 17 of the 2000 IBC® mandates the use of “special inspections” to attempt to “govern the quality, workmanship, and requirements for materials.” Currently, engineers and architects throughout Georgia, and also in other states where the IBC® 2000 has been adopted, are faced with the question: How are the special inspection provisions to be interpreted and implemented? Building officials throughout Georgia are faced with another, equally challenging question: How are the special inspection provisions to be enforced? This article is written to provide a brief question and answer introduction to each of these central questions. The possible answers presented are not intended to be a definitive commentary but are only intended to reflect one possible interpretation. It is likely that more definitive answers to these questions may be developed through trial-and-error as the design, inspection, construction, and enforcement communities wrestle with the initial application of these provisions and discover what works best. 1. Q: Why are special inspections (SI) required? A: According to the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE): National Practice Guidelines for Special Inspections (NPGSI), and others, the development of the SI code provisions is an attempt to reduce structural failures by adding another level of mandated quality control during the construction process. The CASE document cites a report entitled Structural Failures in Public Facilities, House Report 98-621 from the Committee on Science and Technology of the United States House of Representatives. According to CASE, the report indicates that two of the most important factors contributing to structural failures are inadequate organization and communication between the multiple participants in a typical construction project and insufficient construction inspections “by the Structural Engineer of Record (SER) during the construction of principal structural components.” The SI code provisions attempt to address these identified problems by improving communication among project participants and also mandating construction inspections. 2. Q: For what projects are SI required? A: SI are required for all projects with a design involving the practice of professional engineering or architecture, unless specifically exempted by the building official. In the state of Georgia, the only structures that typically do not require design by a registered engineer or architect are one and two-family residences, agricultural occupancy farm buildings, and limited use one-story buildings less than 5000 square feet in area or pre-engineered. 3. Q: How may building officials mandate/require SI? A: By requiring a Statement (and Schedule) of SI to be submitted by the design professional as a condition of permit issuance. The Structural Engineers Association of Georgia (SEAOG) has developed templates for the statement and schedule that are presented in Figure #1. (The template for the Statement and Schedule of SI may also be downloaded from the SEAOG website: www.seaog.org.) The Schedule of SI indicates the SI services that are required for the project including the name (and/or qualifications) of the special inspectors. When the engineer/architect prepares the Statement and Schedule of SI, he/she is explicitly defining the inspection program and the qualifications of the special inspectors for the project. In past projects, the requirements for inspections were often hidden in the specifications and performed at the discretion of the owner or the contractor. 4. Q: How will building officials know that the SI were performed in accordance with the Statement/Schedule of SI? A: A Final Report(s) of SI must be submitted (signed and sealed) by the special inspector(s) before a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) will be issued. The SEAOG template for this form is presented in Figure #1. (The template for the Final Report of SI may also be downloaded from the SEAOG website: www.seaog.org.) 5. Q: What is the role of the Structural Engineer of Record (SER) in the SI process? A: To identify in the Schedule of SI the structural inspections to be performed to meet code provisions and usually to act as one of the special inspectors. 6. Q: Besides the SER, will other special inspectors be required? A: On many projects, multiple special inspectors may be involved, each with a different area of expertise. For example, for a steel frame building, one special inspector/inspection firm may verify the specified soil properties and compaction, a second inspector/inspection firm may observe the placement of concrete in the footings and cast cylinders for compressive strength testing, and a third inspector/inspection firm may inspect the welding and bolting of the steel. (Each of the above-referenced inspectors would also inspect other construction components within their field.) Ideally, the SER should also act as a special inspector and coordinate/monitor the reports of other sub-consultant inspectors to observe that critical structural components are installed as intended. 7. Q: Who pays for special inspections? A: The owner should pay for SI; according to the code, the contractor may not pay. The objective of this provision is apparently to eliminate possible conflicts of interest for special inspectors and to ensure that the special inspectors are independent agents. 8. Q: How should SI services be billed? A: SI services should be billed hourly as many variables may affect the time required for proper performance of the services needed. The fixed fee approach could create a situation in which the special inspector(s) begins to lose money if re-inspections are required resulting in possible “short-cuts” that could jeopardize the process. 9. Q: What is the role of the contractor in the SI process? A: The contractor retains the responsibility of coordination, scheduling, notification, and access for inspections with the incentive that the CO will not be issued if the required inspections have not been performed. (Incidentally, the SI should in no way relieve the contractor of full responsibility for job-site safety, quality control, and construction means, methods, sequences, techniques, and procedures.)
10. Q: What is the role of the architect in the SI process? A: The architect should inform the owner of the need to provide SI, provide a line item cost for SI in the project budget, and identify the non-structural SI to be performed for the project. 11. Q: What benefits will SI produce? A: The potential long-term benefits of SI are numerous and include the following:
12. Q: Do SI eliminate the need for inspections by local building inspection departments? A: No, SI are intended to be performed in addition to, not in lieu of, the inspections conducted by the local building inspection department and the periodic observations performed by the SER and architect. 13. Q: Will SI code provisions be diligently enforced by most municipalities particularly given the current budget and staffing constraints under which many building inspection and permit departments operate? A: The authors believe that the answer will, in the long term, be “yes.” The SI provisions may require some additional paperwork review and maintenance by building departments for the Statement, Schedule, and Final Report of SI and other inspection reports to be reviewed and filed. However, no additional field inspections by building department inspectors will be required. Also, as construction quality improves, the demands on department staff to pull archived project inspection files (and discuss the files with the parties involved) for projects involved in disputes or litigation should decline. 14. Q: How will the “guinea pigs” of the process react when told that, although construction is complete, a CO will not be issued because the required SI were not performed? After completion of construction, major (and extremely costly) destructive and non-destructive testing may be required to meet the SI provisions, and some of those construction items requiring continuous inspection may be impossible to verify without demolition and replacement. Will building officials “stick to their guns” on this issue when tested? A: Every attempt should be made to avoid the situation described above. It is important that building officials communicate their intention to strictly enforce the SI provisions. The Athens-Clarke (A-CC) Building Permits and Inspection Department, for example, has hosted a presentation on SI for building inspectors from other municipalities and design professionals in the area to introduce those parties to the SI provisions and A-CC’s intention to require compliance. A-CC is also requiring a Statement and Schedule of SI to be submitted before a permit is issued, in accordance with the code. Measures such as those used by A-CC should be effective in communicating the expectations of the building department to relevant parties and avoid or minimize future problems. 15. Q: Where are the code-required SI defined? A: The required SI are described in detail in Chapter 17 of the 2000 IBC®. 16. Q: What sources are recommended for additional information? A: All of the documents referenced below are valuable sources of information. Also, any of the listed authors of this article will be glad to further discuss the topic. In conclusion, the SI mandated by Chapter 17 of the 2000 IBC® are apparently intended to improve the quality and consistency of construction by specifying inspection, verification, and testing of materials and components. While many of the required inspections are structurally oriented, certain inspections of architectural, mechanical, and electrical components are also mandated. By requiring a Statement of SI to be prepared by the SER (or in some cases, the architect), the code also directs the SER to interpret and apply the SI provisions of Chapter 17 to the particular project and to declare those SI that are required (and the firms or agencies who should perform those inspections). Building officials can verify that SI were performed as specified by reviewing inspection reports and a final report (as mandated by Chapter 17) prepared by the special inspector(s) before issuing a certificate of occupancy.
There are many issues related to how the SI code section will be applied and enforced. Design professionals must be aware of how the section is interpreted by the building official having jurisdiction over their project before the construction process begins. In many cases, the lack of sufficient documentation for an inspection task may delay the receipt of a CO or, in more severe situations, require demolition to verify that a certain segment of the structure meets the requirements mandated by the design. Coordination of the SI by the contractor and payment to the special inspector(s) by the owner will likely lead to disputes between the two parties with the special inspector(s) and SER caught in the middle. A definitive SI plan laid out in the construction documents and understood by all parties to the contract should help to minimize these disputes by assigning responsibilities and addressing anticipated problematic situations before they occur. Obviously, the provisions of Chapter 17 are intended to have a beneficial impact on construction projects, but for this to occur the design community will have to work through many implementation issues and develop “workable” solutions that allow these benefits to be realized. Improper implementation will result in unintended consequences that may increase, rather than decrease, the problems identified in the Congressional report on structural failures. David M. Roebuck, P.E., C.C.M. is a principal and structural engineer with of the Athens, Georgia-based engineering consulting firm of Armentrout Roebuck Matheny Consulting Group, P.C. He is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering degree, respectively. He is a registered professional engineer in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama. (706-548-8211; droebuck@armentrout-roebuck.com) Leland D. Squier, P.E. is a principal of Geo-Hydro Engineers, Inc. He is a graduate of Kansas State University with a BArch in Structures and Iowa State University with a MSCE in Soil Engineering. (770-426-7100 x 123; lee@geohydro.co) Ken Hix, C.B.O., C.E.A.P. is the director of the Athens-Clarke County BuildingDepartment. (706-613-3520; kenhix@co.clarke.ga.us) Martin Holubar is the manager of the Athens office of Geo-Hydro Engineers, Inc. He has a BS degree in Geology from Long Island University and a MSCE degree from the University of Missouri at Rolla. (706-548-7170; martin@geohydro.com) Reed Sheats, E.I.T. is employed in the structural engineering department of Armentrout Roebuck Matheny Consulting Group, P.C. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering with emphasis in Structures. (706-548-8211; rsheats@armentrout-roebuck.com) References 2000 International Building Code®,
International Code Council, March 2000. 2000 International Building Code® Commentary, International Code Council August 2001. National Practice Guidelines for Special Inspections, CASE (Council of American Structural Engineers): CASE Special Inspections Subcommittee of the CASE National Guidelines Committee, Washington, D.C. “Frequently Asked Questions about Special Inspections,” CASE (Council of American Structural Engineers): Washington, D.C. “Model Program for Special Inspection: A Guideline to Assist Building Officials in the Administration and Enforcement of Special-Inspection Code Provisions,” International Code Council, 2002. Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia General Assembly, http://www.legis.state.ga.us. “Georgia’s Construction Codes,” Georgia Department of Community Affairs http://www.dca.state.ga.us/planning/codes2.html. Structural Engineers Association of Georgia Website, www.seaog.org.
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