The IAS Special Inspection Agency Accreditation Program is primarily based on the requirements
of Chapter 17 of the International Building Code (IBC) and the applicable portions of ISO/IEC
17020, General Requirements for the Operation of Various Bodies Performing Inspection. The
program requires special inspection agencies to operate under a quality system that is
documented in a manual, and also requires the agency to be assessed in the field to determine if
it is competent to perform specific inspections or types of inspections.
The criteria used to assess special inspection agencies pursuing accreditation is IAS Accreditation
Criteria for Special Inspection Agencies (AC291).