What Is an ICC-ES Evaluation Report? What It Covers and What to Ask a Factory For

An ICC-ES evaluation report (ESR) is a document that presents the findings of a technical evaluation of a building product against building code requirements. This article sets out what ICC-ES itself says an ESR is and is not, what sits behind one, how long it stays valid, and what to ask a factory to show before you accept an ESR number in a quotation.

Everything below was read on ICC-ES’s own website on 13 November 2026: its Evaluation Reports Program page, its Australia and New Zealand page, its Acceptance Criteria page, its Rules of Procedure for Evaluation Reports (revised 3 April 2026) and a sample draft report. We did not read the International Building Code text, so the article says nothing about when a particular building official asks for an ESR.

What ICC-ES Says an Evaluation Report Is

ICC-ES describes an ESR on its Evaluation Reports Program page as “a document that presents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations from a technical evaluation of a building product.” It says these reports verify that new and innovative products comply with applicable building code requirements, such as those in the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC). ICC Evaluation Service, LLC (ICC-ES) is a subsidiary of the International Code Council.

The same page says an ESR also outlines which code provisions or acceptance criteria were used in the evaluation, and includes product identification, installation guidelines and conditions of use. The product groups it lists as evaluated include fasteners, concrete anchors, manufactured wood, plastic lumber, doors and windows, cladding, wall coverings, roof materials, wall systems, and flooring and deck systems.

What an Evaluation Report Does Not Say

The Rules of Procedure for Evaluation Reports open with the purpose. ICC-ES evaluation reports, they say, “assist those enforcing model codes in determining whether a given subject complies with those codes.” A report “is not to be construed as representing a judgment about aesthetics or any other attributes not specifically addressed in the report, nor as an endorsement or recommendation for use of the subject of the report.” And: “Approval for use is the prerogative and responsibility of the Code Official.”

Two points follow for a buyer. A report covers the product, the uses and the conditions written into it, not the brand as a whole. And holding a report is not itself approval on your project: the rules leave approval with the code official.

The rules also limit how the ICC-ES mark and report number can be used. The mark may be used only on or in connection with products covered in currently valid evaluation reports. Report holders are prohibited from using the ICC-ES name, mark or report number “to claim or imply product recognition beyond what is specified in the evaluation report,” and use of or reference to a report after cancellation is also prohibited.

What Is Inside a Report

ICC-ES publishes a sample draft report, dated 20 August 2010 and headed “ES Report: Proposed Draft”, that shows the layout. Its headings are Report Holder, Evaluation Subject, then numbered sections: 1.0 Evaluation Scope, 2.0 Uses, 3.0 Description, 4.0 Design and Installation, 5.0 Conditions of Use, 6.0 Evidence Submitted and 7.0 Identification. The sample concerns structural fibreboard wall sheathing. It dates from 2010, so read it as an illustration of the kinds of content a report carries, not as the current layout.

What the sample shows under those headings:

• Evaluation scope. The codes the product complies with (in the sample, the 2009 IBC and 2009 IRC) and the properties evaluated (in the sample, structural).
• Uses. The sample limits the product to exterior, aboveground walls of Type V-B construction and structures built under the IRC.
• Design and installation. The sample says that where the manufacturer’s installation instructions conflict with the report, the report governs.
• Conditions of use. A numbered list of conditions. The sample includes a moisture content limit at installation and a requirement that the sheathing be covered by a water-resistive barrier.
• Evidence submitted. In the sample: installation instructions, reports of testing to a named ASTM standard, and quality control documentation.
• Identification. How the product is marked, including the evaluation report number.

ICC-ES’s Australia and New Zealand page gives a shorter version of the same content: a description of the building product and its intended uses, the code provisions used to evaluate it, instructions identifying the requirements for proper installation, and a list of the data used, including test reports and analysis.

What Sits Behind a Report

The Rules of Procedure set out what an applicant has to put in front of ICC-ES. Read in order:

• Application data. One complete set of plans, details, calculations and other supporting data, together with details of the applicant’s quality control program, which must show that the manufacturer’s quality system ensures the product “will not change from the product described in the original qualifying data.”
• Laboratory tests. Tests are performed at the applicant’s expense by a laboratory complying with ISO/IEC 17025 and accredited by a body that signed the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, with the accreditation scope covering the type of test. Reports from non-accredited laboratories can be accepted for a specific report only on evidence that includes an on-site assessment by an authorised ICC-ES representative.
• The manufacturer’s own test facility. An applicant may submit data from it. In most cases the testing has to be done under the supervision of an accredited laboratory, which issues the test report with a declaration that the integrity of the test specimens was maintained.
• Quality documentation. Detailed quality documentation, meeting ICC-ES requirements, for the product and for the manufacturer’s plant.
• A factory inspection before issue. For initial applications, and when new products or new manufacturing facilities are added, a report is issued only after an ICC-ES representative has performed a qualifying inspection of the facilities designated to manufacture the products. After that, either ongoing follow-up or annual inspections are required. The rules say inspections are by ICC-ES representatives, and any agency acting for ICC-ES must have a contract with it and be accredited to ISO/IEC 17020.

The rules give the purpose of the qualifying inspection as determining whether the manufacturer’s quality system has been successfully implemented, and providing assurance that the manufactured product will not change from the product described in the report. The rules put inspection charges on the applicant.

How Acceptance Criteria Fit In

An ESR can cite ICC-ES acceptance criteria. ICC-ES’s Acceptance Criteria page says the criteria are developed by ICC-ES technical staff in consultation with the report applicant and with input from interested parties. New criteria and revisions are approved by the Evaluation Committee, made up entirely of code officials, at open public hearings or, in selected instances, through an alternate process involving public comment on the ICC-ES website. The Rules of Procedure add that evaluation is based on published editions of model codes and on applicable acceptance criteria.

For one example of an acceptance criterion cited in a project context, see how AC156 (seismic qualification by shake-table testing) appears in factory test reports vs accredited lab testing.

How Long a Report Stays Valid, and How It Can End

Under the rules, a new evaluation report is valid for one year from the date of issue. Each year a fee is assessed to renew the report for one or two years, as the report holder decides. The report holder may request a revision at any time, and ICC-ES can require one, giving prior notice and a date by which the report must be reissued.

A report can also end or be paused. ICC-ES may revoke or modify a report for cause, including repeated failure of the product to conform to the specifications the report was based on, any misstatement in the application or supporting data, and failure to comply with acceptance criteria; the report holder gets notice and a chance to appeal first. A report can be cancelled at the holder’s written request. Without notice or a hearing, a report can be suspended for up to 90 days, revoked or cancelled for stated reasons that include unpaid fees, failure to maintain a current quality control program, and denial of ICC-ES access to the manufacturing facilities.

So a PDF copy of a report only tells you what the report said on the day it was saved. ICC-ES points readers to its Reports Directory to find certified reports; look the number up there.

Whose Name Is on the Report

The rules say an application may be filed only by the entity having rights to the materials, products or methods of construction concerned. Other companies are dealt with in two ways:

• Listees. Where products covered by a report are distributed or manufactured by other companies and are labelled with the report number or otherwise represented as covered by it, those companies’ names “shall appear on the evaluation report as listees.”
• Private label. The report holder may authorise a separate report under a distributor’s name. The rules say the private label report is “inextricably linked” to the master report holder’s report and has the same renewal date.

That is why, on a China-sourced item, it matters whose name the report carries. If the company quoting is neither the report holder nor a listee, ask how the report applies to the goods it will ship.

Where ICC-ES Reports Meet Other Codes and Markets

ICC-ES’s program page describes a Supplement Report as an optional add-on to an ESR. The primary report shows compliance with model codes such as the IBC or IRC; a supplement addresses additional state and local requirements, and the page names the Florida Building Code, Los Angeles Building Code and Chicago Building Code.

For Australia and New Zealand, ICC-ES says an ESR can represent an evaluation of how a product meets the New Zealand Building Code and the National Construction Code Volumes One and Two. It says the ES Mark Scheme has been endorsed by JASANZ, and that ICC-ES is accredited by JASANZ as a conformity assessment body under the CodeMark scheme, which the page describes as a voluntary scheme demonstrating compliance with the Building Code of Australia. For how CodeMark certificates are changing for imported products, see CodeMark certificates and NCC 2025.

What to Ask the Factory to Show

These are requests we suggest you put in writing before you accept a quotation; they are not a checklist drawn from ICC-ES.

• the evaluation report number, which you then look up yourself in the ICC-ES Reports Directory rather than relying on a copy;
• the name on the report: report holder or listee, and whether it matches the company quoting or its brand;
• the model, series or product description in the report matched line by line to the item quoted;
• the codes and editions named in the evaluation scope, the properties evaluated, and the uses and conditions of use, compared with your project’s requirements;
• the date and revision of the report and its status in the directory;
• the identification the report requires on the product or packaging, so the delivered goods can be checked against it;
• if no evaluation report exists, the test reports instead and the laboratory that issued each one.

The last item is the subject of factory test reports vs accredited lab testing, and the wider question of which reports to bring to a sourcing agent is in test reports and certificates before a China quotation. For a product group where the evidence is a different scheme, see NFRC ratings for windows on US projects and tile test reports for US and Australian projects.

What FBM Sourcing’s Guide Says About Compliance and Inspection

FBM Sourcing’s client guide answers “Who is responsible for compliance in our market?” with a general rule: its main markets are North America and Australia, where every product must meet local codes, so the first step in choosing a factory is checking that it holds the test reports or certifications for that specific product, “confirmed before we quote”. The guide’s examples are NFRC and Florida hurricane approvals and AS 2047 for aluminium windows and doors, cUPC and WaterMark for sanitary ware, and UL for fire-rated steel and wood doors and for solar systems. It does not name ICC-ES, so this article claims nothing about FBM Sourcing sourcing ICC-ES-evaluated products.

On inspection, the guide says FBM Sourcing’s own QC team checks quantities, dimensions, finish, hardware and packing against the signed-off specification before shipment, that you receive the report with photos and video, and that your own project team is welcome to attend. An evaluation report and a pre-shipment inspection answer different questions: the first says what the evaluation found for the described product and conditions of use, the second says what is in the boxes against the specification you signed off.

What This Article Does Not Cover

• The text of the International Building Code, and when a building official asks for an evaluation report. We did not read it.
• Which products need an evaluation report on a given project, or what a code official will accept in place of one.
• Fees, application timelines, and the content of any specific acceptance criterion.
• Any specific evaluation report number or report holder.
• Everything attributed to ICC-ES is as read on 13 November 2026 (Rules of Procedure revised 3 April 2026) and can change.

Questions About ICC-ES Evaluation Reports

What is an ICC-ES evaluation report?

ICC-ES describes it as a document that presents the findings, conclusions and recommendations from a technical evaluation of a building product. It says these reports verify that new and innovative products comply with applicable building code requirements, such as those in the IBC and IRC, and they outline the code provisions or acceptance criteria used, product identification, installation guidelines and conditions of use.

Does an ICC-ES evaluation report mean the product is approved for my project?

No. ICC-ES’s Rules of Procedure say a report is not an endorsement or recommendation for use of the product and that approval for use is the prerogative and responsibility of the Code Official.

How long is an ICC-ES evaluation report valid?

Under the rules a new report is valid for one year from the date of issue and is then renewed each year for one or two years, as the report holder decides. Reports can also be revised, suspended, revoked or cancelled, so check the number in the ICC-ES Reports Directory.

Who is named on a report when a factory makes the product?

The report holder is the entity that applied. Other companies that manufacture or distribute products labelled with the report number must appear on the report as listees, and a distributor can hold a separate private label report linked to the master report.

Does ICC-ES inspect the factory?

The rules say that for initial applications, and when new products or facilities are added, a report is issued only after an ICC-ES representative has performed a qualifying inspection of the manufacturing facilities. After that, either ongoing follow-up or annual inspections are required.

Do ICC-ES evaluation reports apply in Australia and New Zealand?

ICC-ES says an ESR can represent an evaluation against the New Zealand Building Code and the National Construction Code Volumes One and Two, and that it is accredited by JASANZ under the CodeMark scheme. Which evidence your project accepts is set by your specification and the authority for your location.

How does FBM Sourcing charge for this?

For suppliers you nominate, we charge a 5% commission; for products we source for you, we quote a direct price. Our own team performs one inspection after bulk production is complete and before shipment, and the client’s project team is welcome to attend.

FBM Sourcing manages the entire China procurement package for overseas construction projects. We work with Developers · General Contractors · Builders · Commercial Project Owners · Interior Design & Construction Companies · FF&E Solution Providers.