TEXTILES.ORG
In partnership with the California Division of the State Architect – known as DSA – AASHTO re:source has developed a new on-site evaluation program for laboratories providing special inspection and/or structural testing services on DSA projects in California; referred to as the Special Inspection Program or SIP.
AASHTO re:source is a technical service program offered by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials that provides services and tools through three major programs: the Laboratory Assessment Program, the Proficiency Sample Program, and the AASHTO Accreditation Program. Its mission is to collaborate with key stakeholders to provide services that ensure the integrity of the materials in our nation’s infrastructure.
Effective July 1, 2024, AASHTO re:source began evaluating laboratories based on the criteria established by the SIP. All California laboratories seeking to be approved or that are currently approved by the DSA Laboratory Evaluation and Acceptance or LEA program will be required to receive the SIP evaluation, noted Greg Uherek, manager-business development and technical services for AASHTO re:source.
Uherek said that DSA provides construction oversight of K-12 schools, community colleges, and various other state-owned buildings in California – and any additional or new construction must be approved by DSA. For fiscal years 2023 and 2024, this translated into 3,935 projects with the total cost of those projects pegged at $10.3 billion.
“Traditionally, we have been focused on the needs of the horizontal infrastructure sector – highways, roadways, etc.,” he explained. “That being said, there has always been some overlap with the vertical infrastructure sector in the work we do in terms of laboratory assessments.”
Uherek said the new SIP will evaluate approximately 170 laboratories located in California that are part of the DSA LEA program. Based on completed pilot visits, he estimates the typical SIP evaluation will require about a half day or less to complete – depending on the number of inspection and structural testing disciplines performed.
“We have considered developing a SIP so we can be a ‘one-stop shop’ for labs which perform special inspection as well as laboratory testing,” he pointed out. “It’s not a stretch; there is a lot of engineering overlap between buildings, roadways, and bridges. About 50 percent of our accredited labs provide special inspection services.”
In the past, Uherek said DSA relied on AASHTO re:source to evaluate the quality of labs in the LEA program, though the AASHTO re:source assessments focused primarily on laboratory testing, not special inspection or structural testing.
Now, however, the new SIP initiative enhances the effectiveness of DSA’s LEA Program for labs providing special inspection and structural testing by adding comprehensive quality management system requirements to existing acceptance criteria and requiring regular on-site evaluations from AASHTO re:source to evaluate conformance to DSA requirements.
“Ultimately, it’s all about making sure everything is built in conformance with code requirements to the highest quality possible and to provide a safe structure for the public,” he said.
Because many of the construction materials testing laboratories which currently participate in the AASHTO Accreditation Program also provide special inspection services to clients, the program could eventually be expanded to include laboratories on a national level.
Learn more about the program and its requirements here: http://aashtoresource.org/lap/DSA-SIP/. Information courtesy of AASHTO. Learn more here.