There a many good reasons a Special Inspector should be certified, ranging from legality to competency purposes. Of Course, certifications don’t mean everything. Its ideal to have a good a good blend of both field experience and accredited certifications. Here are a few good reason to have certified inspectors.
Competency
Certifications tend to show that the inspector is a competent person. Why? Several certifications require a set amount of years of field experience that could be up to a minimum of 5 years of work related experience. Also, several certification exams are very difficult with a test duration of one to several hours. For example, The AWS Certified Welding Inspector certification requires several years of experience depending on your education. The CWI exam duration is 6 hours that is divided into 3 sections. Some of the International Code Council certifications require up to 5 years of years of work experience followed by a 2 part exam (Knowledge based and Plan Based).
Legality
Not having a certified inspector could put your company or project in some unwanted legal predicaments. Having certified personnel provides documentation that inspectors have gone through the proper training to perform the inspection task. If some type a failure would happen on your project, one of the first questions would be “who inspected this and was that person properly trained?”
Work Ethic
An inspector that is certified tends to show the work ethic of the inspector. An inspector that is certified has spent several hours of his is own time studying day after day. Its shows that they are probably not lazy and won’t just pass everything they see while performing their inspections. Similar to college degrees, it shows your employer that you are willing to go above and beyond.
Conclusion
It is ideal to hire competent certified personnel. It protects you and it protects the construction project. Many inspectors will complain that they they have to do extra work, but that will separate the good from the bad.
