Is anyone familiar with this agency and is certification from them adequate for metal studs. They claim to meet or exceed standards from SSMA.
I’ve been to their lab in Maryland for an AIA Codes and Standards Committee tour. HIL has an agreement with ICC-ES for testing in support of Evaluation Service Reports, and I believe they are an accredited lab through IAS.
The code acceptance of metal studs is not determined by ICC-ES or SSMA, rather acceptance is addressed by the standards adopted by the building code.
ICC-ES is paid by manufacturers to find that their product complies. This creates a bias. ICC-ES staff are dependent on the information provided by the manufacturer and in many cases the ICC-ES Staff may not have the expertise to really evaluate the product.