PSIP CERTIFICATION STANDARDS.

PART 1. WHO MAY BE CERTIFIED

• Any registered business that already does concrete work or pool work may apply, for the trade side it already works: concrete or aquatic. There is no invitation, no sponsor and no membership prerequisite.
• PSIP certifies work in cleared states only, listed on psipprotocol.com. A business registered in a state that is not cleared is not certified, even for work in a cleared state. The applicant initials the cleared states statement at registration.
• The applicant may prepare from any source, before or after sitting the examination, including the published documents of the American Concrete Institute and ASTM International.
• Step one is the free PSIP guide for the trade side. Downloading it with a confirmed email address unlocks the examination on any device. The guide teaches exactly what the examination asks.
• The applicant passes the PSIP certification examination for the trade side applied for, concrete or aquatic. The examination is 50 questions and the pass mark is 76 percent, 38 of 50. It is offered at no charge and allows three attempts, then a 30 day waiting period before three more.
• The examination and its pass mark do not depend on what the applicant used to prepare.
• The applicant accepts the PSIP Contractor Certification and Directory Agreement.
• The applicant pays the annual certification fee after passing. The first certification year starts the day PSSG sends a working login to the PSIP app, and the anniversary is that date each year.
• Every person who records under a seat passes the examination himself, on his own email. Added seats are optional, and certification never requires one.
• Certification is issued to the contracting business in its legal entity name, is specific to a trade side, and is not transferable.
• The applicant states its legal entity name at registration. PSSG issues the certificate in the name the applicant states, without checking it, and the applicant is responsible for its accuracy.

PART 2. WHAT A CERTIFIED CONTRACTOR MUST HOLD AND MAINTAIN

• An active PSIP certification in good standing for the trade side being represented.
• All licenses and registrations required by law for the work performed.
• Accurate representation of its certification status and scope at all times, to PSSG and to customers.
• The current version of the PSIP Contractor Certification and Directory Agreement, accepted.
• Payment of the annual certification fee.
• Current proof of insurance, once PSSG publishes it as a condition and gives written notice. During the Charter Class and initial enrollment period it is requested and not required.

PART 3. WHAT A CERTIFIED CONTRACTOR MUST DO ON EVERY PROJECT IT DOCUMENTS FOR A PSIP CERTIFICATE

Every line in Part 3 applies on both trade sides unless it names one.

Before the work is scheduled

• Record the property address, and the property owner name, email and telephone number, at the walkthrough.

Stages that cannot be documented

• No stage is skipped. A stage the contractor cannot document is marked Not documented, with his written reason, and the stage locks. The certificate keeps that stage in its fixed position, marked Not documented with his stated reason.

How every photograph must be captured

• Photographs are captured live inside the PSIP application at the moment of the work. Images from a photo library cannot be submitted.
• The device coordinate and the timestamp are written into the image and into the PSIP record in the same operation, at the moment of capture.
• Photographs cannot be edited or replaced after capture. A contractor returning to a stage adds to the record and never overwrites it.

Batch tickets

• Photograph the batch ticket for every delivery. The photograph records what the ticket shows. Batch tickets vary, and many do not list everything in the load. The PSIP application does not pull values out of the photograph. The contractor is responsible for documenting as much of the load as he can, and adds what he knows in the notes, recorded as the contractor's own statement. The photograph cannot be edited or replaced. Where the ticket and a recorded specification disagree, the contractor records the difference in the notes. Where no batch ticket exists, as with gunite mixed on site, the contractor records the materials and proportions as his own statement, labeled entered.

Concrete. Before placement

• Record the job information, including client, address confirmed by device coordinate, application type and region.
• Record the pour day conditions as captured automatically at the job coordinate. These values are not contractor editable.
• Record the specified mix design, the cement type, and the supplementary cementitious material by type, or that none is specified.
• Confirm the setup, which activates the pour date.

Concrete. The eight stage record

• Capture each of the following stages in the PSIP application, with at least one photograph per stage.

  These eight stages are Version 1, the minimum a record holds, and they will change. A contractor may record more, and the record shows everything he recorded.

  1. Subgrade
  2. Formwork
  3. Base protection
  4. Base pre hydration
  5. Reinforcement
  6. Vapor barrier
  7. Placement in progress
  8. Final surface
• Stages one through six may be captured in any order. Stage seven follows them. Stage eight follows stage seven.
• Stage seven locks the placement date and starts the twenty eight day record period.

Aquatic. At project creation

• Record the job information, including client and address.
• The pool builder attests once, at project creation, that all work documented in the record is performed by the pool builder or under the pool builder's license and responsibility.
• The record carries no license or credential number for any other trade.

Aquatic. The eleven stage record

• Capture each of the following stages in the PSIP application.

  These eleven stages are Version 1, the minimum a record holds, and they will change. A contractor may record more, and the record shows everything he recorded.

  1. Excavation and subgrade
  2. Plumbing pressure
  3. Steel, bond and blockouts
  4. Electrical bonding
  5. Gas line pressure
  6. Pre shoot conditions
  7. Shoot day record
  8. Shell thickness, trowel and compaction
  9. Curing
  10. Finish prep
  11. Final shell record
• Stages two through five: the pool builder documents his own work, and the stage reads Awaiting inspection until the inspection report, or a photo of the green tag, is attached to that same stage. If the certificate issues first, that stage reads Inspection not on file; the certificate never waits on the county. PSIP holds the report and does not restate it or state that the work passed.
• Stage five may be recorded as not applicable where the pool has no gas line. That entry appears on the record.
• Stage six records the conditions at the shell.
• Stage seven holds the batch tickets for each shoot day and the nozzle crew. Record the delivery method, wet shotcrete or dry gunite. Record the nozzle operator by name, as the pool builder states it. Record how rebound was handled, discarded or reincorporated.
• Stage eight records the shell thickness at each point measured, with a photograph at each point, on each wall documented. The number of walls and points documented appears on the record.
• Stage nine runs twenty eight calendar days from each shoot day. A post cure treatment, if applied, is recorded by type. None is required.
• Stage ten may be recorded as carried out by others. That entry appears on the record.
• Stage eleven closes the record.

After the work

• Complete the close out with the property owner and deliver the PSIP certificate to the property owner once it issues.
• When the certificate issues, PSSG emails the property owner an invitation to a PSIP account of their own, where the certificate can be seen.
• The contractor's public page shows each certificate's own details only. It never shows the property owner's name, address, ZIP code or photos of the job.
• Retain the close out documentation the protocol requires.
• Record no value on a PSIP record that cannot be traced to a document or to a capture. A statement by the contractor, such as a name or a reason, is recorded as the contractor's statement.

PART 4. WHAT A CERTIFIED CONTRACTOR MUST NOT DO

• Represent the certification as a warranty, a guarantee, insurance, engineering or design services, an inspection or approval of any work, or a government license or code approval.
• Represent a job as PSIP certified when PSSG issued no certificate for it.
• Record a pour he did not perform, or another's work as his own.
• Display the PSIP marks or certification badge while certification is inactive, suspended or revoked.
• Represent a trade side the contractor is not certified for.

PART 5. GROUNDS FOR SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION

The grounds, the process and who decides are those of section 7 of the PSIP Contractor Certification and Directory Agreement, in its words:

Grounds for revocation: claiming certification you do not hold or after it lapsed; altering, forging or reissuing a certificate or record; using the seal on work PSIP never recorded; recording a pour you did not perform, or another's work as yours; letting anyone record under a seat but the certified person it belongs to, or sharing a seat's login; saying or implying PSIP licensed, insured, approved or guaranteed you, or that PSIP is a party to the contract.

Any other breach of this Agreement is also a ground.

Every suspension and revocation gets due process, forgery included. PSIP tells you in writing and states the ground. For most grounds you get 10 days to fix it before review. For forgery, a fake certificate or a fake seal, certification is suspended the day PSIP gives written notice, while it is reviewed. A review runs 30 days, with one extension if PSIP gives the reason in writing, and never more than 60 days; past 60 days you are restored in full, automatically. While suspended, your record page reads not currently certified and nothing more, the seal license stops, room billing pauses and your rotation place is held. A review ends in revocation, or in full restoration with no mark on your page. Revocation carries no refund, and the record page reads not currently certified.

Non payment is not a ground for suspension or revocation. A renewal charge that does not clear lapses your certification on your anniversary, as the Billing and Refund Policy states, and a payment that clears within thirty days reinstates the same certificate number and the same anniversary.

Revocation is permanent, and a revoked contractor can never certify with PSIP again.

Today, review decisions rest with PSSG, and each one is logged by name and date. PSSG reserves the right to seat a standards council.

• A complaint against a PSIP certificate may be filed within five years of the day it issued, and a revocation on a complaint reaches back that far. A fraud or a false certificate has no time limit. The record never comes down: photos and records are kept for the life of the record.
• On termination, the contractor stops all use of the PSIP marks and removes all certification claims from its materials within ten days.

PART 6. WHAT PSIP CERTIFICATION MEANS

• PSIP certification attests that a documented record of the work exists, that it was captured under protocol conditions at the time of the work, and that it is complete against the protocol checklist for that job type.
• PSSG issues each PSIP certificate, in the contractor's legal entity name, carrying the contractor's attestation.
• PSIP does not assess the concrete, the materials, the workmanship or the work of any other trade, and makes no representation about performance or service life.

PART 7. HOW THESE STANDARDS ARE SET AND CHANGED

• PSSG adopts these standards and publishes them before they apply. Any change to them is published openly with the date of the change.
• PSSG authorizes use of the PSIP marks and the certification badge, and may suspend or revoke certification on the grounds in Part 5.
• Today, review decisions rest with PSSG, and each one is logged by name and date. PSSG reserves the right to seat a standards council.