Last July NTA, Inc. announced it had been acquired by the International Code Council. For those not aware, the International Code Council is a nonprofit association that provides a wide range of building safety solutions including product evaluation, accreditation, certification, codification, and training. The International Code Council consists of several distinct entities to include:

• ICC-ES: ICC-ES is a nonprofit, limited liability company that does technical evaluations of building products, components, methods, and materials.
• IAS: IAS is a nonprofit, public-benefit corporation that has been providing accreditation services since 1975.
• General Code: General Code is a market leader in codification and content management solutions.
• S. K. Ghosh Associates Inc.: S. K. Ghosh Associates Inc.serves as a technical resource on structural codes and standards for code development and enforcement agencies and personnel; design professionals; academics; and the material industries.
• The Alliance for National & Community Resilience: The Alliance for National & Community Resilience is a coalition of public and private entities working to create the nation’s first whole-community resilience benchmarking system.

By adding NTA, Inc. to their family of solutions, the International Code Council significantly expanded the services the Code Council provides by adding major laboratory and testing capabilities.

We recently sat down with ICC NTA CEO David A. Tompos to ask a few questions about the acquisition:

Q: Now that NTA is part of the International Code Council’s Family of Solutions, what’s the biggest benefit for your customers?
A: For many years, NTA has worked to give our clients the best product on the market. The acquisition gives us the ability to collaborate and partner with a large team of experts all focused on the same goal of providing health, safety, and welfare for people living and working in our communities. Our clients will benefit from having a one-stop experience when it comes to codes, standards, testing, and evaluations. The synergy developed by joining forces with the International Code Council and its Family of Solutions is something that defines the famous quote “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. A team working together towards common goals will streamline the time-to-market for product manufacturers and enhance the overall customer experience.

Q: With such a large team, have you experienced any overlap in services?
A: One of the most significant elements of this process is integrating NTA’s code evaluation division with the ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES). The two companies’ evaluation services are working closely together to provide clients with faster and more streamlined processes. By joining forces, NTA and ICC-ES offer enhanced services and improved client experience. NTA’s “culture of responsiveness” has always been a strength and continues to this day. Together NTA and ICC-ES have significantly reduced turnaround time to produce evaluation reports, improved client communications, and revamped operations to make the evaluation process as easy and seamless as possible.

Q: Will there be any personnel changes?
A: NTA and the Code Council recognize the expertise of our employees is one of the most important assets we have. Our clients depend on the fact that account managers and our registered professional engineers are committed to accuracy, consistency, and an overall deep understanding of the codes and standards and how they correlate to an individual product manufacturer. After 40+ years of providing code evaluation, product certification, inspection, engineering, plan review, and testing services, our staff has created long-standing business relationships with our customers. Our entire staff works as a team to make the certification process simple, seamless and efficient. We are committed to the growth and professional development of our team.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Currently ICC NTA is working to open its new 27,000 square foot state-of-the-art testing laboratory in Bryan/College Station, TX which is dedicated to large and intermediate-scale fire testing. The Southwest campus has an impressive collection of testing apparatuses. The facility exemplifies our commitment to growth and innovation by providing testing capabilities in an area that is extremely important to our consumer safety.

Additionally, ICC NTA consistently adds new and advanced testing equipment to the already impressive list of apparatuses. Our goal is to ensure that we continue to provide the highest quality testing, inspection, and certification services for all concerned with the safety and performance of the built environment.

Lastly, ICC NTA continues the growth of the largest manufacturing inspection workforces in the market. Our inspection professionals currently hold hundreds of Code Council certifications and our network of auditors enable us to provide review and inspection of in-plant quality control procedures.

For further information on ICC NTA and our code evaluation, product certification, inspection, engineering, plan review, and testing services, please call 574.773.7975 or contact us here.