By definition, the mark stands for compliance of the product with an applicable code and/or a standard or rating system
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BEYOND MARKS: ICC-ES
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product manufacturers design their products in accordance with applicable codes, standards and rating systems. Such products are by and large evaluated by an accredited product certification agency, which have a mark of conformity. By definition, the mark stands for compliance of the product with an applicable code and/or a standard or rating system and it is what a code official uses as the vehicle to approve a product for installation. But do all these marks of conformity have the same meaning? ICC Evaluation Service believes not. Three marks stand out and are widely accepted: The ICC Evaluation Service marks of conformity for Evaluation Reports (ESRs), PMG Listings and Environmental Reports: The Marks of Conformity That Code Officials Trust
The product evaluation process conducted by many certification bodies includes a few common steps, including
testing, evaluation, inspection, certification decision, and follow-up monitoring of the recognized product. What makes ICC-ES marks stand out is the fact that ICC-ES goes well beyond the minimum requirements for each of its programs—and that is why code officials across the United States and in Canada look for and trust the ICC-ES marks of conformity. ICC-ES enjoys the employment of highly trained in-house engineers and architects in a variety of disciplines. More than 30 of these engineers and architects are licensed professionals and possess advanced degrees in their areas of expertise. Moreover, ICC-ES has over eighty years of experience in evaluating building products. One feature of the ICC-ES PMG Program that makes it stand out is the fact that it requires test reports by an ILAC-MLA accredited testing agency to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. This requirement is not commonly found among certification bodies. However, since testing is the most essential part of the product certification process, ICC-ES PMG believes that such accreditation gives a higher level of confidence to the quality of the test reports used toward product certification. On the inspection side, ICC-ES requires inspection agencies that conduct plant inspections to be accredited to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17020 based on the belief that this requirement is critical due to the assurance that a product continues to comply with codes and standards. The most important activity to determine such compliance is the manufacturing plant inspection by a qualified inspection agency. Furthermore to its expertise, ICC-ES is a subsidiary of the International Code Council (ICC), which publishes the codes used by most U.S. jurisdictions and enjoys a membership that is 50,000 strong, including 15,000 code officials. The ICC codes include the International Building Code® (IBC), International Plumbing Code® (IPC), International Mechanical Code® (IMC), International Fuel and Gas Code® (IFGC), International Green Construction Code® (IgCC) and International Residential Code® (IRC). ICC code experts are at all times available to the ICC-ES technical staff for consultation as to whether a product complies with applicable sections of the aforementioned codes. Code officials look for the ICC-ES marks of conformity, because they know that ICC-ES goes the extra mile when evaluating for code compliance and their approval of products for installation is a weighty decision. For that reason, code officials prefer ICC-ES and look for the ICC-ES marks of conformity to assure product safety and compliance with the applicable codes, standards and rating systems.
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