Steel Erector, Design Organizations Collaborate to Improve Steel Erector Certification Requirements

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Steel Erectors Association of America and the American Institute of Steel Construction have worked together to draft a reciprocal indemnity agreement and revise the additional insured language as part of AISC’s Certified Steel Erector program requirements. The reciprocal indemnity and revised additional insured language is mutually beneficial to both AISC and steel erectors participating in the Certified Steel Erector program.

“Before, the indemnification clause only protected AISC; now it goes both ways, with each party indemnifying each other,” explained Mark Trimble, AISC’s vice president of certification.

Steel erectors will still be required to name AISC as an additional insured. However, the revised additional insured requirement is narrowly tailored to situations involving third party liability (e.g., personal injury lawsuit). The reciprocal indemnity language assures both steel erectors and AISC that they will not be liable for the other party’s acts or omissions as part of the Certified Steel Erector program. Overall, this collaborative effort improves the AISC Certified Steel Erector program and strengthens the relationship between AISC and the steel erection industry.

AISC’s certification program for erectors is designed to make sure quality is built in from the start of a project. “AISC Certification goes far beyond product inspection requirements—it examines a company’s quality management systems as a whole,” Trimble explained. “The program results in a quality management system embedded within an organization to increase productivity, which helps to reduce unnecessary costs and ensure the quality of processes,” he said.