EPA to get new AIC role

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be charged with administering the approval of inspection bodies in a shake up of the Accredited Inspector Contractor (AIC) scheme, Bodyshop.ie

Under the current scheme, the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) is responsible for accreditation. Howwvwe, the Bodyshop.ie has learned that

Once new regulations are signed into law, the EPA will have a number of options. It could opt to put the whole inspection scheme out to public tender and award an inspection contract to a single or multiple inspection bodies with a fixed cost per inspection to be paid by the operator.

Informed sources say that putting the scheme out to tender, would add an element of competition to the process and would drive down the cost of inspections. The EPA could opt to appoint more than one inspection body, which seems likely if it decides to go down the tender process route.

The EPA could also go another route and set up an INAB-like approval scheme, where inspection bodies would have to apply to the EPA for approval. The EPA would have to establish the criteria for approval, presumably along the lines of the current INAB approval.

Check out the full article in the Irish Bodyshop Journal out now.