Brea, CA – An innovative new offering from ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), an IRC Equivalency Evaluation Report (EER), indicates the findings of a particular end use application or design of a building product, evaluated by ICC-ES, for compliance with the prescriptive requirements of the International Residential Code® (IRC). An ICC-ES EER aids building officials in the approval of products evaluated by ICC-ES for single-family houses, two-family houses (duplexes) and buildings consisting of three or more townhouse units. It also helps the general public (such as contractors, homeowners and architects) by providing prescriptive design evaluated by ICC-ES that can be used for building permit applications, streamlining the permit process.

The first EER has been issued to Helix Steel for Helix® Micro Rebar®. The report highlights the residential application of this concrete building product, focusing on the end use application and compliance with the IRC. EER-3949 is available for public viewing on the directory.

“The IRC Equivalency Evaluation program benefits building product manufacturers as well as homeowners who wish to make common residential improvements such as adding a deck, patio cover or retaining wall,” says Vincent Chui, P.E., Regional Vice President of Engineering for ICC-ES. “Because the report contains all the relevant technical drawings for end-use application, and is backed up by a trusted ICC-ES evaluation report, the approval process is streamlined significantly. We are happy to offer the EER to our clients as well as the general public and will continue to provide innovative solutions for the building industry.”

“We are really excited to have worked with ICC-ES to pioneer this new report and to make Helix Micro Rebar reinforcement more accessible to residential builders, building officials and homeowners,” says Luke Pinkerton, President & CTO of Helix Steel. “This user-friendly report will provide ease, efficiency and a sustainable option to the residential construction community.”

The IRC Equivalency Evaluation Report is available to manufacturers as a value-added service in addition to a traditional ICC-ES evaluation report. Applications may be submitted through the ICC-ES website. Interested parties may also contact ICC-ES directly at 1-800-423-6587, or email Manuel Chan P.E., S.E., Principal Structural Engineer at mchan@icc-es.org.