The Property Professional’s Guide to Anchor Certification and Annual Inspections

What’s the difference between certification and annual inspections?

Certification
Anchors must be certified before they should even be referred to as anchors. An anchor certification is a document containing the following elements:

• Engineer’s stamp
• Illustration identifying each anchorage
• Load rating
• Intended use / limitations of anchors
• Manufacturer’s instructions for anchors, installations and permanent fixtures

This document is good for TEN YEARS or until re-roofing takes place, whichever comes first.
At that point, re-certification and load testing must take place.

Inspection
Once anchors are certified, they must be inspected ANNUALLY by a qualified person. The company providing inspection services should provide you an inspection report which you should provide a copy to your contractor as well as keep one on file.

Who does certifications / inspections?
The first person to contact about your anchors is the manufacturer of the anchors.
If you don’t have any roof plans indicating manufacturer, VIP may recommend a company.

More info regarding window cleaning safety and the ANSI/ IWCA I 14.1 Safety Standard:

References:
http://www.iwca.org/Content.asp?CID=190
http://www.fall-arrest.com/
http://www.boma.org/Advocacy/Standards/Pages/WindowCleaningSafetyStandard-IWCA1-14.1.aspx