Have You Been Denied For A Building Permit Using One Of Our TER's?
Plan reviewers have the authority to question any document submitted to their building department for permit.
But they also must follow code-written guidelines in their review & approval.
Let’s explore the code and your options if our building product evaluations are not approved.
Basics For Plan Review Approval
Certified Technical Evaluation Reports (TER’s) and Building Product Evaluations by Engineering Express are code-compliant documents that, provided they meet the following (click each to read more):
The Performance Evaluation or TER Must Be An Original, Certified Copy
Photocopies or scans of original, engineer-certified product evaluations are NOT considered signed and sealed and are NOT approved for use.
For the TER or product evaluation to be code-compliant, each unique permit must contain a valid, certified document by the originating engineer of record for the evaluation.
Engineers, like doctors writing prescriptions, are required to seal each copy of their work to validate authenticity. Plan reviewers look for this seal for permit approval.
A Design Professional Must Certify The Use Of The Evaluation To A Site-Specific Project
The function of a Performance Evaluation is to evaluate the limitations of a building product for a variety of conditions.
They do not list nor approve how a product will perform on your project.
A design professional (as determined by the plan reviewer, could be the contractor, architect, engineer, etc), needs to evaluate and approve the use of that product at any site-specific project in need.
This documentation and approval must be provided to the plan reviewer for code compliance.
Engineering Express can provide a quotation to review your site-specific project to conform with one of our evaluations.
The Use Case Must Be Within The Limits Of The Evaluation
Your use case must be one of those listed within the certified evaluation.
For example, in the case of a 6′ fence plan, a 7′ fence is outside the limits of the evaluation.
Or if a TER is for ground mounted only, rooftop applications are outside the scope of the approval.
There are cases where a site-specific installation can be approved beyond the limits of the approval though.
For example, if a TER is approved up to 170mph on the ground only, but your installation is only in a 100mph zone, there may be capacity with the lower wind speed to approve a higher insulation.
Do you have one of our evaluations but you’re beyond the limits? Let us quote a site-specific review.
Code References To Back Up Approval
The Authority granted to provide a product evaluation comes from various chapters of the International and Florida Building codes and are in effect nationwide.
See this article for more on TER Code references and what they are;
What's The Difference Between A Performance Evaluation & A FL/Miami Dade NOA/ICC Approval?
Agency-Approved Product Approvals (such as Florida, Miami-Dade NOA, ICC, etc.) don’t need an original seal.
And in Florida, they may be required for permit approval if you’re in a mandatory building product category.
See this article to understand more about what needs an agency product approval
Ways Engineering Express Can Help
We work best curating evaluations for building product manufacturers and assisting their installers with approvals.
Many national brands trust Engineering Express with their product evaluation and approval needs.
We have over 700 code-compliant plans in our national Engineering Plan Store for review and purchase.
Are you a manufacturer looking for your product to be evaluated?
Do you have a site-specific adaptation For one of our Performance Evaluation?
You can also live chat with us during business hours.
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Last Update: June 25, 2025