PHOENIX, AZ – Evaluation and Certification Services, LLC (ECS) has started development of a new industry program for the certification of rebar installers. “Structural engineers and specifiers continue to embrace the concept of certification of field personnel. As the country moves forward with the redevelopment and revitalization of its infrastructure it will be vitally important for project management to know their projects are being manned by qualified personnel,” states Jim Rogers, Managing Director of ECS. “Installation of rebar in bridges, containment structures, and buildings continues to get more complex and the reinforcing must be properly installed in order for the structures to perform as designed.”

Thanks to grants from several sources including Reinforcing Ironworkers Union Locals throughout the United States, the National Association of Reinforcing Steel Contractors, and the Michigan Re-Steel Association, development of the program is well under way. The program is being designed from the onset to meet the requirements of ISO 17024, which defines the structure and minimum standards to be followed by programs that certify field personnel. A certification program study is currently being compiled, and surveys have been sent to structural engineers throughout the United States and Canada to solicit input on the development of the certification requirements. Once the program is in operation, it will be submitted to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), for accreditation under the ISO 17024 standard.

At a minimum, the program will require an applicant to demonstrate that they possess the knowledge and skills needed to properly install the rebar that reinforces the nation’s concrete buildings, bridges, and other structures. The certification will also encompass the latest technologies and developments in rebar coupling and anchoring. With a planned launch by the third quarter of 2009, the program aims to have certified personnel in the market in time to supply projects that come on line as the industry recovers from the current downturn.

About Evaluation and Certification Services, LLC (ECS)
ECS is based in Phoenix, Arizona and was formed in 2005 to create a program for the certification of installers of post-tensioned reinforcing. That program, titled Post Tensioning Ironworker Certification™ is also designed to meet the requirements of ISO 17024 and has been submitted to ANSI for review and accreditation. ECS’s post-tensioning certification program has certified thousands of installers of unbonded and bonded post-tensioning systems and is being used to meet requirements on building and bridge projects throughout the United States and Canada. The program to certify post-tensioning installers was created first in order to meet requirements for certification that already appeared in codes and specifications. ECS sees the creation of this new program for rebar installers as a natural fit that will allow project management to prequalify the personnel who will be working on a project installing rebar and post-tensioning.

About ANSI Accreditation and ISO 17024
In the United States, ANSI is the organization that is charged with accrediting programs to the ISO 17024 standard. This ISO standard is touted as the future of programs that certify field personnel in all industries. It establishes a rigorous set of standards and rules to insure that a certification program is operated properly, and that the industry for which the certifications are being issued are properly served. Among other things, a program must meet extensive psychometric standards which are commonly addressed in higher education programs, but are not as familiar in to the construction industry.

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