I learned today that some metal building manufacturers, commercial master specifications, and the Masterspec specification section on "Metal Building Systems" include incorrect information in regards to the certification of Per-Engineered Metal Buildings.
If you have the new 2011 3rd quarter Masterspec update you will not have any issues as described here.
I found that the some commercial masters, older versions of Masterspec, and most manufacturers' documents indicate the Metal Building manufacturer must be certified by American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) for the design and that the manufacturer produces metal building systems and components in an AISC-Certified Facility. This is not correct. I contacted AISC to confirm this and they stated they no longer provide this service and in fact the announcement came out in October 2007 and was finalized in December 2008. AISC suggested I should contact the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) who is providing the certification program.
Here is the link on AISC website discussing the separation with MBMA:
http://www.aisc.org/newsdetail.aspx?id=11150
After reaching out to MBMA, I confirmed they now rely on a third party certification organization International Accreditation Services, Inc. (iAS) to provide all accreditation certification for fabricators of Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings. You can find the accreditation listings here: http://www.iasonline.org/Metal_Building_Systems/MB.html
In short, be careful using manufacturer's product data and commercial masters because what you see may not always be correct.
Here are some web links to help make your search for information easier.
(AISC) - http://www.aisc.org/
(MBMA) - http://www.mbma.com/
(iAS) - http://www.iasonline.org
