Evaluator Qualifications

Three categories of Disaster Service Worker (DSW) resources are available to local governments:

DSW-Volunteer – individuals from the private sector
DSW-Local – local government representatives
DSW-State – state employees

Only individuals who meet the following established qualifications may register for the Safety Assessment Program:

Professionally registered civil, structural, or geotechnical engineers,
Professionally licensed architects,
Professionally registered geologist or engineering geologist, or

Certified building inspectors or officials as follows: Building Inspector [ICC], Building Plans Examiner [ICC], Combination Inspector [ICC], Building Official [ICC], Master Code Professional [ICC], Residential Building Inspector [ICC], Residential Combination Inspector [ICC], Combination Plans Examiner [ICC], Building Code Official [ICC], Construction Inspector Division II [ACIA], Division of the State Architect Class 1 & 2, and OSHPD Class A.) (For a current list of recognized certifications, please visit the SAP web page at the OES website, www.oes.ca.gov.)

People who do not meet evaluator requirements may be deployed as part of the program to serve as assistants to evaluators and coordinators. Roles filled by the assistants may include safety watch and data management. Code enforcement personnel may be asked to handle interactions with members of the public.

Qualified evaluators also must have:

General knowledge of construction: The evaluator must be able to rapidly describe any framing system, know how it works, and identify the load path.
Professional experience: The evaluator must have practical experience working with various framing systems. Experience may come from designing and detailing systems, reviewing designs and details prepared by others, or inspecting actual construction of framing systems.
Evaluators must be able to look at a potentially damaged system and assess the system’s ability to withstand another disaster event of equal magnitude.