Building product manufacturers and building officials alike are looking for more than just the required paperwork when it comes to Evaluation Reports — they’re looking for a real partner in the process; a true liaison to shepherd the process from start to finish.
And they find it with IAPMO ES.
The organization has leveraged industry-leading expertise in some of the most complex products through its partnership with VanDorpe Chou Associations, Inc. (VCA). VCA’s 30 years of experience with building officials enables IAPMO ES to serve clients more effectively, efficiently and professionally than any other provider of evaluation services.
VCA Code Group is a multidisciplinary engineering company with excellent references in the industry. Principal Tom VanDorpe, S.E., has been very active with the Seismology and Structural Standards Committee for the Structural Engineers Association of California. He is the primary writer of a number of sections contained in the 2009 SEAOC Blue Book, which is the premier publication of the Structural Engineers Association and is recognized worldwide. VanDorpe was recently a co-presenter at the SEAOC annual conference of a well-received report on the Laboratory Testing of Anchor Bolts attaching wood sill plates, which addressed strong industry criticisms with the 2006 IBC treatment of these connectors used in light-frame construction.
This relationship allows IAPMO ES staff to focus on their client, placing a great value upon being more responsive, with an industry-leading level of technical competence and expertise that result in savings of time and resources, which are passed directly onto the client.
“IAPMO ES offers a remarkable combination of expertise, professionalism, credibility, customer service, affordability, speed and of course a readily accepted evaluation report; everything the building industry seeks from a third-party provider of evaluation services,” says Shahin Moinian, P.E., senior director of IAPMO ES.
Any organization begins with good people. From top to bottom, IAPMO ES is staffed with highly experienced, attentive engineers and stakeholder service representatives, who give each stakeholder their undivided attention throughout the process for each report IAPMO ES completes on their behalf. Manufacturers need not hire an outside vendor to assist with the completion of their report; IAPMO ES already has staff in place to serve in this vital facilitation role. The organization features more professional engineers and structural engineers on staff and through its qualified consultants than any other product evaluator in a similar field.
IAPMO ES Director Amir Zamanian, P.E., is uniquely qualified to recognize the wide variety of stakeholder needs because he has spent a considerable amount of time on his stakeholders’ side of the counter. In more than 15 years in the field, Zamanian has participated in a wide variety of projects as a designer, engineer and contractor. He has designed bridges, storm water control improvements and roadways.
As a third-party provider of services and reports, impartiality is a requirement. IAPMO ES takes this pledge to heart, as it is an organization-wide philosophy to equally serve the manufacturer seeking the evaluation and the building official for whom it is intended.
Last modified: October 6, 2009