Construction Quality
Assessment, Certification

North America

Greater cooperation in product assessmentin the United States, Canada and Europe

Three assessment and certification bodies—ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) (United States), Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) (Germany) and the CSTB (France)—are deepening their cooperation to meet the expectations of their mutual clients regarding construction products.

They are increasing information exchange by comparing and harmonizing technical documents. Such collaboration in the fastener sector helped improve support provided to manufacturers for assessment and certification on the American and European markets. It facilitates the marketing of their products on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 2016, thanks to strengthened ties between Europe and Canada (EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA), the CSTB reached out to its Canadian counterpart, the National Research Council (NRC), particularly its Construction Industry branch. An agreement similar to that with ICC Evaluation Service was concluded for the assessment of construction products.