FAQ

The International Building Code (IBC), Chapter 17, requires special inspection for designated categories of structural work — structural steel, welding, high-strength bolting, concrete, masonry, soils, and others — as listed in IBC Section 1705. The registered design professional identifies which categories apply to a given project in the Statement of Special Inspections (SSI) submitted with the permit documents, and the building official enforces it as a condition of the permit.

For structural steel specifically, IBC Section 1705.2 points to the quality assurance provisions of AISC 360 — Specification for Structural Steel Buildings, Chapter N. Most commercial, institutional, and multi-story residential projects with structural steel framing carry a special-inspection requirement; single-family residential work generally does not.

Under IBC Section 1704.2, the owner — or the registered design professional in responsible charge acting as the owner's agent — employs the special inspector. The contractor whose work is being observed does not hire the special inspector; that independence is central to the requirement. In practice, the owner, the engineer of record, or the general contractor acting under the owner's direction retains an inspection agency such as TMG, and reports are distributed to the owner, the EOR, and the building official.

Both credentials are issued by the American Welding Society (AWS) under AWS QC1. A Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) has passed the AWS examination covering welding processes, code application, and inspection practice. The Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) is the highest AWS inspection credential: it requires a minimum of 15 years of qualifying experience, at least six of them as a working CWI, plus an additional examination weighted toward quality systems, procedure review, and management of inspection programs. TMG operates under SCWI-level review on welding engagements.

Visual inspection is the base requirement for structural welds under AWS D1.1 — Structural Welding Code – Steel. Nondestructive testing beyond visual is required where the contract documents, the SSI, or the controlling code call for it. Common triggers: complete-joint-penetration (CJP) groove welds in risk-designated buildings (ultrasonic testing per AISC 360, Chapter N), demand-critical welds in seismic systems (AWS D1.8 and AISC 341), bridge welds under AWS D1.5, and fracture-critical members. Magnetic particle testing (MT) is commonly applied to welds where surface and near-surface discontinuities govern, and liquid penetrant testing (PT) to nonmagnetic materials.

The International Code Council (ICC) issues individual certifications for each special-inspection discipline — structural steel and bolting, structural welding, reinforced concrete, and others. The Master of Special Inspection designation recognizes an inspector who holds the full set of ICC structural special-inspection certifications plus the associated code examinations. It indicates breadth: one inspector qualified across the structural disciplines an SSI typically lists, rather than a single category. TMG's credential detail, with certificate numbers, is on the certifications page.

Under ASNT SNT-TC-1A — Personnel Qualification and Certification in Nondestructive Testing, a Level III is the senior technical position in an NDT program: qualified to establish techniques, prepare and approve procedures, administer the employer's written practice, and designate the methods and personnel qualifications the program uses. Level II technicians perform and evaluate tests under that framework. When an inspection agency carries in-house Level III oversight — as TMG does for ultrasonic and magnetic particle testing — procedures, technique sheets, and personnel certifications are managed under one roof rather than subcontracted.

TMG is based in Tallahassee, Florida, and serves Florida and the Southeast, including Georgia and Alabama. Shop fabrication surveillance is scheduled where the fabricator is located, which regularly places TMG in shops outside the project's home state. For projects farther afield, reach out through the contact page — bounded scopes such as shop audits and welder qualification campaigns travel well.

Project inspection and NDT are priced by day rate, per-visit call-out fee, or Time-and-Materials, tied to the contractor's schedule and field conditions. Fixed-fee scopes are available for bounded deliverables — single shop inspections, finite NDT campaigns, welder qualification testing, and WPS/PQR review packages. ASNT Level III services such as written-practice development and program oversight are available on a retainer or ongoing-program basis. Proposals state the fee basis, the anticipated visit cadence, and the reporting deliverable before work begins.

For building structural steel, AWS D1.1 governs, with acceptance criteria in Table 8.1. Bridges fall under AWS D1.5 — Bridge Welding Code; stainless steel under AWS D1.6; seismic supplemental requirements under AWS D1.8 alongside AISC 341. High-strength bolting follows the RCSC Specification for Structural Joints Using High-Strength Bolts. Aboveground storage tanks are covered by API 650 (new construction) and API 653 — Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Reconstruction (in-service); pressure equipment by ASME BPVC Section IX and the ASME B31 piping codes. The project specification and the SSI identify which codes control.

TMG reports follow the special-inspection reporting model that IBC Section 1704.2.4 describes: each observation is anchored to a specific code clause, discrepancies are identified in writing to the contractor and the EOR, and a final report documenting required inspections and the resolution of noted discrepancies is submitted at completion. Findings are stated as professional opinions in general conformance with the cited clause — with photo evidence and drawing references — which is the documentation building departments look for when closing out a permit.