Statement of Special Inspections

[Yankee Chronicler]

Most engineers in our state still use the CASE Form 101 for the statement of special inspections, and our state office of building inspector still has the CASE Form 101 on their web site as the suggested form. I know it's out of date and doesn't track perfectly with the current special inspection tables in chapter 17 of the IBC. I'm putting together some thoughts to submit to the state regarding possible tweaks to the IBC language and requirements for special inspections to try to eliminate some confusion.

What forms do you building officials and PEs generally see or use?

Who typically acts as the special inspection coordinator in your region: the structural engineer of record, some third-party PE, or an engineer at the testing lab hired to perform the special inspection tests?

 

[TheCommish]

EOR is the responsible part for special test and inspections

2015 IBC MA.

Section 107 Submittal Documents and Construction Control

[A] 107.1 General
Submittal documents consisting of construction documents, statement of special inspections, geotechnical report and other data shall be submitted in two or more sets with each permit application. The construction documents shall be prepared by a registered design professional where required by the statutes of the jurisdiction in which the project is to be constructed. Where special conditions exist, the building official is authorized to require additional construction documents to be prepared by a registered design professional.

What the documents the RDP uses does not mater to me, for small jobs the minumin number of sheets.

 

[Tim Mailloux]

EOR is the responsible part for special test and inspections

EOR is the responsible part for special test and inspections

I have never seen the EOR responsible for any testing.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

The Council of American Structural Engineers published a Guide to Special Inspections ( https://community.acec.org/HigherLo...519-5bdc-435f-a444-b32c8870137a&forceDialog=1 ) that goes into more detail than the IBC regarding how a special inspections program should be run. The CASE Guide makes it clear that there can (and should) be more than one Statement of Special Inspections on projects that involve special inspections of non-structural trades (such as EIFS). Each statement of special inspections should be completed by the registered design professional who designed and specified the respective portion of the work. Thus, for example, the architect would prepare a statement of special inspections for the EIFS portion.

The CASE document also uses the terms "Special Inspector" and "Special Inspection Coordinator" interchangeably. This creates potential confusion because the special inspectors (lower case) referred to in chapter 17 of the IBC refers to the actual field technicians who perform the testing, whereas the Special Inspector (capitalized) refers to the Special Inspection Coordinator. For structural special inspections the Special Inspector (capitalized) may be responsible for some of the actual testing, if he or his employees have the proper qualifications, but as the person in charge of the special inspections program the EOR is responsible for ensuring that the tests are carried out, and for collecting the field reports and making the interim reports to the Building Official.

In other words, as CASE views the special inspections program, the individual testing labs ("approved agencies" in IBC language) should not be forwarding their field reports directly to the Building Official. The reports should go to the Special Inspection Coordinator (who should be identified on the Statement of Special Inspections), who should review them, compile them, and then forward interim reports to the Building Official at an agreed-upon interval. CASE recommends weekly. I think for all but very small projects that's too frequent. On large projects I think monthly works better, and that has been acceptable to the state's Office of State Building Inspector for large State projects. The Building Official should be notified immediately only if a special inspection results in a fail and the contractor refuses to correct the condition when notified by the special inspector.

If the EOR is unwilling or unable to act as the Special Inspection Coordinator, the CASE Guide implies that another qualified registered design professional should be engaged by the owner to fulfill that role. We have seen statement of special inspections listing an engineer at the testing lab as the Special Inspection Coordinator. IMHO, that's hiring a fox to guard the hen house. On several large projects, there wasn't a single trade where the initial special inspections reports from the labs complied with the ASTM standards covering the respective tests. When I kicked them back, the usual response was, "Oh, sorry - we used the wrong template." I assume that means they had no idea what they were doing so they just made something up. We eventually received reports presented in the formats specified in the respective ASTM standards, but I don't have much faith that the numbers were really correct. But that's on the testing lab -- their engineer signed and sealed the reports.

TLR -- the EOR is not responsible for performing the special inspections testing, but unless some other registered sesign professional has been named as Special Inspection Coordinator, the EOR should be responsible for ensuring that special inspections testing is carried out as scheduled.

 

[Paul Sweet]

The Virginia Construction & Professional Services Manual requires a list of special inspections to be included in the specifications for construction projects for state buildings:

Documents and Forms

Documents and Forms

dgs.virginia.gov

The A/E, structural engineer, smoke control engineer (if applicable), project inspector all have to sign a final report of these inspections and corrections:

Documents and Forms

Documents and Forms

dgs.virginia.gov

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

What I'm asking is:

What forms do you building officials and PEs generally see or use [for the Statement of Special Inspections]?

Who typically acts as the special inspection coordinator in your region: the structural engineer of record, some third-party PE, or an engineer at the testing lab hired to perform the special inspection tests?

 

[TheCommish]

I have never seen the EOR responsible for any testing.

Tim, It seems as usual my mind is working in a different plane than my fingers can type.

Massachusetts 9th edition section 107.6.2.2 “perform the duties for Registered Design Professionals in 780 CMR chapter 17 special tests and Inspections” section 1704.2.3 “statement of special inspections the applicant shall submit a statement of special inspections in accordance with section 107.1 as a condition for permit issuance this statement shall be in accordance with section 1704.3”

So, my take on this whole thing is at the RDP under construction control is responsible for specifying when the special inspections are, what special inspections are needed. The test can be performed by qualified agency or the engineer of record. If they are performed by a qualified agency the RDP needs to review those reports to ensure compliance with their requirements and as part of the final control construction document indicate they have or their agent has been on the site to observe the construction, reviewed everything for compliance with all the construction documents and the special tests and inspection plan set up for the project.

 

[BayPointArchitect]

Considering that most special inspections are related to structural, we typically see the special inspection form filled out by the structural engineer. And - in most cases - the structural engineer will over-design the building in a way where she or he believes that a special inspection agency is not needed. There is a jurisdiction down the road that used to say that they require special inspections for every commercial project. And that over-zealous boast has faded away. Maybe because there were a lot of people who wanted to get paid to do special inspections but very few who are actually qualified as a third-party inspection agency with all of the right equipment and training.

Our jurisdiction established criteria for projects that require a special inspection form:

Schools with mor than 250 students
Places of assembly with more than 300 people
Risk categories III or IV (IBC Table 1604.5)

The structural engineer then identifies what parts of construction are exempt and which parts of construction (mortar joints and welding for example) require periodic inspection. If I see something that indicates special inspections are being required by the EOR, then I withhold the certificate of occupancy until I receive the final special inspection report signed by the EOR. Sometimes the construction manager will send me each and every periodic report and I don't complain about it. I don't do anything with them. I simply wait for the final report in accordance with IBC Chapter 17. See attached special inspection form that is twelve years old.

 

[jj1289]

The CASE form 101 is not an acceptable form to use as it is based on the 2003 IBC. This was developed by the CT structural engineers. When I see this form, I reject the SSI form and ask for a new and accurate document to be submitted for review.

 

[steveray]

I see nothing wrong with the CASE form as long as it has the required information and don't believe we can demand any particular format...:

1704.3 Statement of Special Inspections​

Where special inspections or tests are required by Section 1705, the registered design professional in responsible charge shall prepare a statement of special inspections in accordance with Section 1704.3.1 for submittal by the applicant in accordance with Section 1704.2.3.
Exception: The statement of special inspections is permitted to be prepared by a qualified person approved by the building official for construction not designed by a registered design professional.

1704.3.1 Content of Statement of Special Inspections

The statement of special inspections shall identify the following:

1. The materials, systems, components and work required to have special inspections or tests by the building official or by the registered design professional responsible for each portion of the work.
2. The type and extent of each special inspection.
3. The type and extent of each test.
4. Additional requirements for special inspections or tests for seismic or wind resistance as specified in Sections 1705.12, 1705.13 and 1705.14.
5. For each type of special inspection, identification as to whether it will be continuous special inspection, periodic special inspection or performed in accordance with the notation used in the referenced standard where the inspections are defined.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

The CASE form 101 is not an acceptable form to use as it is based on the 2003 IBC. This was developed by the CT structural engineers. When I see this form, I reject the SSI form and ask for a new and accurate document to be submitted for review.

As I stated in the opening post, it is known that the CASE Form 101 is out of date and requires some adaptation to track with the current IBC special inspections tables, but that doesn't mean the form itself should be rejected if it's properly filled out. The State Building Inspector's web site still tells anyone who looks that the CASE Form 101 is the form to use, so rejecting it simply because it's that form is probably legally unjustified.