The state of Florida has specific and stringent regulations in place for the use of building materials for residential or commercial properties.
There’s a reason that these regulations exist – Florida properties must stand up to some incredible storm damage, especially during hurricane season. It’s not difficult to find YouTube videos of devastation in communities across the state from seasonal tropical storms.
With that in mind, Building product manufacturers must have somewhere to turn to get the right compliance standards in place. Most business leaders don’t already have a deep grounding in how to comply with the FPA, so it can be an intimidating source of continual headaches.
ICC NTA can help – here are some of the key ways that we assist businesses in achieving FPA compliance.
Certification Marks or Listings
One of the basic steps is to provide all the certification materials for a given product. Many of these have straightforward descriptions and explanations of why products are compliant, and that goes a long way in and of itself in satisfying the concerns of regulators.
Test Reports
As some would say, the proof is in the pudding, and the test report is that proof from a hands-on evidentiary process. Our test labs can conduct the testing that allows our clients to present detailed reports to regulators. Conducting proper tests generates the discovery that’s so important in proving the integrity of materials, leading to a “case closed” result.
Report From a Code Evaluation Entity: Getting Outside Endorsements
As a member of the ICC Family of Solutions, ICC NTA has the standing to present this type of external report to regulators. This is the aspect of compliance that involves getting outside endorsement to shore up a case for a particular product’s durability and integrity for its intended use.
Evaluation Report from a Licensed Engineer: The Individual Professional’s Sign-Off
Our staff engineers have the professional credentials to create those individual reports that are also helpful in FPA analysis. Someone’s name must be on the document, and so it’s important for companies like ICC NTA to have professionally credentialed people on the payroll.
ICC NTA is ISO-accredited and experienced with assisting business leaders through the FPA compliance process. If you are not sure how to prove how well your building materials stand up to high winds or debris impact, contact us, and we will help you make your case before the appropriate state bodies.
About ICC NTA, LLC: As an accredited third-party agency and part of the International Code Council (ICC) family of solutions, NTA provides code evaluation, product certification, inspection, engineering, plan review, and testing services, as well as independent quality and standards compliance verification for building product manufacturers. With offices, testing labs, and training facilities in both Nappanee, Indiana, and Bryan, Texas, NTA serves residential and commercial builders, code officials, manufacturers, and suppliers throughout the building industry.
