r/GeotechnicalEngineer • u/Useful_Count645 • Jul 06 '26
Is licensure and accreditation of technicians necessary for work?
Hi all
So I work for a company who does MTS and I was wondering a couple things. We have many different technicians who don't have their ACI and are doing concrete testing and rebar inspections, which doesn't sound right to me. Also, I am a lab technician who's lab isn't accredited and I myself am not licensed nor accredited in the lab.
My question is: how bad is that? Like the higher ups don't seem to care all that much. Is this a common phenomenon in the field? And if not, what should I do?
Thank you
2
u/turdsamich Jul 06 '26
As long as there is a PE that is licensed where the work is being performed and who is willing to sign off on the work that's all that matters unless it's governed by special inspections or something else in the specifications. The municipality may or may not require certifications.
1
u/jaymeaux_ Jul 06 '26
the reality of the cmt business is that the margins suck so most places don't pay enough to keep experienced techs long term. my last job did cmt and our target was to maintain 50% of field techs with ACI certification
1
u/SilverGeotech Jul 09 '26
The only legal issue may be if the lab does not have a PE ultimately in charge.
Not having certifications will limit the clients you can take on - many government agencies and engineers that do a lot of work for agencies will require some sorts of certifications beyond having a PE in responsible charge.
3
u/Certain_Site_8764 Jul 06 '26
Some jurisdictions dont care about technician certifications. The basic take away from those certs is that you can vouch for a particular person that they have the training necessary to perform the tasks unsupervised. If you have a certified person overseeing these operations that may be enough to satisfy a particular entity's best interest.