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ESAC Task Group Provides Several Recommendations
The Evaluation Service Advisory Committee (ESAC) held its second meeting of the year in May. Items addressed included:
A previous ESAC task group considering ways to improve the Acceptance Criteria submittal process was disbanded. The idea of developing a submittal checklist did not seem to be a viable option and the task group’s efforts moved toward Evaluation Report reviews. The task group and ESAC recommended that ICC-ES reconsider allowing qualified outside consultants and accredited test labs to develop, submit or review evaluation report applications to ICC-ES.
A new task group was formed to consider issues related to allowing independent accredited test labs to develop and submit Evaluation Reports for ICC-ES review. This group would also develop recommendations for allowing qualified independent consultants to review Evaluation Report submittals with ICC-ES oversight.
Based on task group’s work, the ESAC made several recommendations to ICC-ES for improving the Acceptance Criteria public comment process. Some of the recommendations included:
- Providing a template for presentations at the public hearing to help keep the presentations focused and to the point.
- Make it clear who the primary staff person is on each Acceptance Criteria.
- Insure that all deadlines associated with the development of the Criteria are clear.
The task group working in this area will be inactivated for one year at which time a review will take place to see if any further effort is needed.
One additional issue that may be addressed in future ESAC considerations is the issue of Acceptance Criteria being revised multiple times in successive public hearings. This can cause a significant hardship to parties trying to test and submit for an evaluation report. If the requirements change too quickly then it is very difficult to submit an evaluation submittal package.
The ESAC meets for the final time this year, on September 16, during the 2008 ICC Annual Conference and Final Action Hearings in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the committee will be install new officers for 2009.
