The ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), the Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt, German Institute for Construction Engineering), and the China Academy of Building Research (CABR) entered into a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to help streamline the evaluation processes for manufacturers in North America, the European Union and China.
ICC-ES and DIBt have collaborated in the past as peer companies providing product evaluation reports for construction products to relevant codes and standards and sharing information about their conformity assessment work in North America and the European Union respectively. This MoU extends the bilateral collaboration to include CABR and enables all three companies to help building product manufacturers with meeting the conformity assessment needs within the three geographies. The program will have a positive impact on manufacturers seeking to gain recognition and to foster international trade, especially in regards to new products and innovative technologies.
“Manufacturers can use this cooperation as a tool to conduct a ‘one-stop-shop’ product evaluation,” said ICC-ES President Shahin Moinian, P.E. “This agreement will greatly reduce efforts and costs for manufacturers and will build confidence that the evaluated products meet the requirements of the three regions.”
“Each organization brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise, forming a strong alliance," said DIBt Vice President Karsten Kathage.
"We are very excited to partner with ICC-ES and DIBt. This program will allow our customers greater access to international markets," said CABR Vice President Wang Qingqin.
The MoU signing event took place at the International Code Council’s Western Regional Office in Brea, California. The signing ceremony included representatives from the three organizations and the Code Council.
About ICC-ES
The ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), a member of the ICC Family of Companies, is a nonprofit, limited liability company that does technical evaluations of building products, components, methods and materials. ICC-ES evaluation reports, building product listings and plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas and solar thermal product listings provide evidence that products and systems meet requirements of codes and technical standards.
About CABR
Founded in 1953, the China Academy of Building Research (CABR) is the largest and most diverse research institute in the building industry in China. Since 2000, it transferred from a public institute into a technology-based enterprise affiliated to the state-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. CABR is the largest comprehensive research and development institute in the building industry in China. CABR carries out its mission in catering to the needs of building and construction industries in China, putting forward solutions for the key technical problems met in engineering based on applied research and development, providing technical development and consulting services, and undertaking building design and construction activities.
About DIBt
The Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) is the German approval body for non-regulated construction products and techniques. As a provider of services and public functions, DIBt fulfills a large range of technical and regulatory tasks in the field of construction. These include, among others, granting national technical approvals, issuing European Technical Assessments, granting structural design type approvals, recognizing and notifying independent third-party bodies as well as performing market surveillance responsibilities. DIBt is also mandated to prepare and publish the Technical Building Rules and to keep them up-to-date.
About the International Code Council
The International Code Council is a member-focused association dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.
