What are Special Inspections and why are they required

What are Special Inspections

Special inspections are defined by the International Building Code (IBC) as the “inspection of construction requiring the expertise of an approved special inspector in order to ensure compliance with the code and the approved construction documents”. Special inspections includes both testing and inspection of the materials, installation, fabrication, erection or placement of components and connections to ensure compliance with the code, referenced standards adopted by the code and approved construction documents.

Why are special inspections required

One word "Safety". Buildings have become increasingly complex over the past 50 years , and materials and practices have changed. There isn't one specific item that led to the creation of special inspections, rather it was a group of construction accidents and collapses that got the process started. Multiple construction failures in the 1970s and 1980s caused congress to step in and investigate these failures. The deaths and injuries resulting from structural failures drew national attention, highlighting a need for more stringent building regulations that would help prevent future tragedies. The House of Representatives formed a special committee to review these failures.

In the early 1980s, the U.S. House of Representatives tasked the Committee on Science and Technology with studying the underlying contributing factors to these structural failures. In 1984, the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee ,presented their findings published in House Report 98-621, Structural Failures in Public Facilities.

The subcommittees results diagnosed several factors in the failures, but the two main factors .

1. Lack of communication and organization between the construction team, design team, and all parties on the construction project

2. Lack of sufficient inspections by the design professional

The subcommittee made multiple recommendations but none more important than having all codes and professional organizations to ensure that provisions are in-place to make design professional of record oversight mandatory during construction of public facilities.

All state and local code agencies require the design professional of record, or a designated representative, to be on-site at the appropriate time.