Image above: Photo by Noah Berger courtesy of UCSF https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2020/03/california-hospitals-coronavirus-shortage-ventilators-beds/

Temporary or Permanent? Increasing Hospital Capacity for the COVID-19 Crisis

In an effort to prepare for the projected number of patients who will need medical care during the COVID-19 crisis many hospitals are making rapid improvements to increase critical care capacity.  On March 17, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed emergency legislation providing $1.1B in additional state funds to increase hospital capacity, provide medical equipment, and implement other measures to address the outbreak.  According to current projections California is expected to face a shortfall of 4,000 to 20,000 hospital beds from …

TRU Compliance achieves accreditation from the International Accreditation Service (IAS) as a product certification body for seismic, wind, and blast/physical security performance of nonstructural components. In addition, according to the International Accreditation Service, we are the second company to be certified for Seismic performance of non-structural components. However, we are the first company to be certified for Wind and Blast/Physical Security performance.

Domestic and international manufacturers contract TRU Compliance to test products and equipment required to achieve high performance during and after earthquakes, high wind events, terrorist attacks, and accidental explosions.

TRU Compliance’s clients that are worldwide leaders in …

Whether it’s fair-trade coffee, sustainably harvested lumber, energy efficient appliances, or other certified products, consumers and companies look for products that have high standards of origin, production, and performance. Structural Integrity Associates’ TRU Compliance mark is no different. Our mark shows buyers a product has undergone rigorous assessment for seismic, wind, and blast performance to nationally recognized standards.

However, not all agencies conform to the internationally recognized set of standards that govern a product certification agency, allowing it to be impartial, objective, and accountable to the public. The standard ISO/IEC 17065 Conformity assessment — Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes …

Things change, that’s just a fact of life. But when it comes to engineering codes and standards, change can be confusing, frustrating and expensive. As it relates to seismic design and certification of equipment, it is beneficial to understand the impact of code changes early to begin incorporating requirements in new equipment design, product updates and in the certification process.

One of the main structural design codes used in the United States and abroad, American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) 7, undergoes revisions on a five-year cycle. These revisions are based on input from committee members, building officials, interested parties …

About TRU Compliance

TRU Compliance stands for safety and code compliance when failure is not an option.  Our clients manufacture cutting edge products that push the limits of operational performance and efficiency in many industries. We help them achieve continued performance during earthquakes, high wind events, explosions, and a host of other extreme events. We believe achieving code compliance in these areas should not be complicated. So, we continually invest in the development of innovative systems and approaches to simplify the lives of our clients and deliver efficient and transparent results, every time.

Product Certification Agency

We are a recognized …

Acquisition immediately boosts capabilities in advanced structural analysis and equipment certification

For Immediate Release
May 19, 2017

San Jose, CA, USA – Structural Integrity Associates, Inc., is expanding its engineering leadership through the acquisition of Tobolski Watkins Engineering, a leading engineering consulting firm based in San Diego, California, along with its product certification company, TRU Compliance, based in Bend, Oregon.

Since its founding in 2008, Tobolski Watkins Engineering (TWE) has earned the trust of a wide range of clients for their services in structural, earthquake, and blast engineering of critical systems and facilities. TWE has routinely developed creative and robust …

A Better Way: Blast Certification of Doors and Windows

The blast engineer faces a huge challenge when it comes to specifying blast products on a project.  Typical government buildings have multiple window and door types in multiple zones of blast intensity.   Since blast loads are specified with pressure and duration, no single parameter defines the performance criteria.  Door and window manufacturers work hard to market their products to government contractors, but are inconsistent in the way they present their blast rated products in a complicated web of static testing, dynamic testing, and engineering calculations that makes a contractor unsure the …

Requirements for seismic certification date back to the early 1970s with regulations for nuclear power generating facilities and the need to ensure safe shutdown of critical systems following strong ground shaking. The requirements came about because of the significant risk to the public in the event of a failsafe system malfunctioning leading to reactor failure.

Over the years, seismic certification requirements have seen their integration into building codes and standards such as IEEE 693 for power substations (aimed at protecting our utility grid) and UFC 3-310-04 for critical government and military applications (with the goal of operation of key national …