External inspection, in particular of construction products, is traditionally an important field of activity, especially in the competence areas of plastics and building materials. The inspection department, which was established in 2011 at the State Materials Testing Institute Darmstadt, is an independent organizational unit beside the competence areas and is responsible for all inspections that occur in the context of product monitoring.
In order to fulfill the diverse inspection tasks, specialists from the different areas of competence carry out the inspections on site, monitor the testing tasks and prepare the inspection reports.
The inspection body does not maintain any inspection capacities itself. Instead, the testing tasks required as part of the inspection are carried out as an internal order by the accredited testing laboratories of the competence areas.
In certification of products, the inspection body cooperates with different certification bodies and is obliged to provide them with information on all questions relating to the inspections. In most cases, certification is carried out by the certification body of the State Materials Testing Institute Darmstadt.
The inspection body is active in the product areas listed below and cooperates with the named competence areas
- Plastic components (KB Plastics and Composites)
- Pipes and piping components (KB Plastics and Composites)
- Mineral building materials, reinforced concrete components and wood structures (KB Building Materials)
- Glass and system components for glass facades (KB Building Materials)
- Metallic materials and metal components (KB Bauteilfestigkeit)
Approval by the building authorities according to the Hessian Building Code (HBO)
The Staatliche Materialprüfungsanstalt Darmstadt has been recognized for numerous building products by the Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) as a PÜZ body in accordance with the state building code. The inspection body assumes the tasks of:
- Monitoring body for the external monitoring of construction products and types of construction for which this is provided for according to the Building Rules List A.
- Inspection body for the supervision of activities with construction products and types of construction according to HBO §16 Abs.6.
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Other recognitions
Apart from the legally regulated area, the inspection body is also active in the following fields
• as an inspection body within the scope of certification procedures of associations and organizations, e.g. the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water DVGW and the Association for Conformity Assessment DIN-CERTCO.
• as an inspection body within the scope of certification procedures of the certification body of the State Materials Testing Institute Darmstadt for products not regulated by law (award of the mark “MPA Darmstadt cert”).
The inspection body is independent of its clients and all parties affected by the inspections in its activities as a monitoring body within the scope of the Hessian Building Code (HBO). The inspection body and the inspectors do not engage in activities that may jeopardize the independence of their judgment and their integrity in the inspections. In particular, they do not engage in the development of items that are the same or similar to the subject matter of the inspections. The inspection services offered are equally accessible to all interested parties and are offered under reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions.
All employees of the inspection body are obliged to maintain confidentiality and to continue to report inspection conflicts.