The AISC Quality Certification Program

In recent years, the quality of construction methods and materials has become the subject of increasing concern to building officials, highway officials, and designers. One result of this concern has been the enactment of ever more demanding inspection requirements intended to ensure product quality. In many cases, however, these more demanding inspection requirements have not been based upon demonstrated unsatisfactory performance of structures in service. Rather, they have been based upon the capacity of sophisticated test equipment, or upon standards developed for nuclear construction rather than conventional construction. Adding to the problem, arbitrary interpretation of specifications by inspectors has too often been made without rational consideration of the type of construction involved. The result has been spiraling increases in the costs of fabrication of structural steel and of inspection, which must be paid by owners without necessarily assuring that the product quality required has been improved. Product inspection, although it has a valid place in the construction process, is not the most logical or practical way to assure that structural steelwork will conform to the requirements of contract documents and satisfy the intended use. A better solution can be found in the exercise of good quality control and quality assurance by the fabricator throughout the entire production process.