“A 3rd Party is an independent body called upon to provide an unbiased determination for two principals in an agreement or dispute.”

3rd Party Testing provides an ethical method of ensuring code compliance by documenting technical performance that is used to determine acceptance or the corrective actions needed for a system.  3rd Party Testing of Emergency Responder Radio Coverage Systems (ERRCS) is essential to ensure:

  1. Quality control for critical Life Safety Systems that are owned and operated by a large variety of building owners throughout the jurisdiction.
  2. Consumer Protection for the Owner with independent inspection of Contractor supplied systems and work.
  3. Consistent Network Performance when individual systems are designed and installed by a variety of contractors.
  4. The system functions in the event of an emergency.
  5. Interference Free Operation and mitigation of negative impacts to the Public Safety Radio System.

The CA SMOG compliance program utilizes a similar structure and has a standards based approach that produces positive results benefiting both the community and the public safety agencies.  Utilizing 3rd Party Inspection is also a common practice in Fire Prevention and utilized to bridge knowledge and resource gaps.  A 3rd Party Test Program for ERRCS:

  1. Maintains ethics by eliminating a conflict of interest.
  2. Controls the test process and acceptance criteria.
  3. Produces accurate measurement results utilizing an automated test platform to reduce human error.
  4. Keeps the decision process with the AHJ.
  5. Ensures the quality of the end product.