Qualifying Inspections Prior to publication of a new ICC-ES evaluation report, there must be a qualifying inspection of the facilities manufacturing products to be recognized in the evaluation report. The qualifying inspection is intended to verify that the manufactured products are consistent with the products described in the evaluation report, and that the manufacturer has documented and effectively implemented a quality control system that meets all requirements of the ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria for Quality Documentation (AC10). Below are current copies of Appendices A and B of AC10, and the ICC-ES Qualifying Inspection Report (Form Q-21). During the product evaluation process, Appendices A and B must be filled out by the report applicant and submitted to ICC-ES, to provide essential information on the quality system under which the product is manufactured. The Q-21 report is completed during the factory inspection, by a representative of either ICC-ES or a third-party, accredited inspection agency. Copies of the Q-21 are left with the manufacturer and forwarded to the ICC-ES technical staff for follow-up.
Follow-up Inspections All report holders are subject to regular, ongoing follow-up inspections or to annual inspections. Such inspections may be reported to ICC-ES using the Quality Control Inspection Summary Form or a form we call the Q-24.
The rules of procedure for plumbing, mechanical and fuel gas product listings require two types of inspections:
A qualifying (initial) inspection is part of the listing application process. The purpose of the qualifying inspection is to determine whether the manufacturer’s quality system has been successfully implemented and/or to verify that the manufactured product is the same as the product presented for recognition.
Qualifying inspections are required for:
A surveillance inspection, conducted after a listing has been issued, verifies that the listed products are the same as originally recognized.
Surveillance inspections of manufacturing facilities must be conducted, at a minimum, once per year unless otherwise noted in procedures and involve, as applicable:
A listee may request that the inspections be conducted by ICC-ES, or the listee may retain a third-party inspection body that has a contractual agreement with ICC-ES and that is accredited by the International Accreditation Service as meeting the requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17020, General Criteria for the Operation of Various Types of Bodies Performing Inspection.
Note: The third-party inspection body must complete the ICC-ES inspection form.
