ENSURING THE QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS BY ALLAN MAYNARD - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ENSURING THE QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

BY ALLAN MAYNARD – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Outline

• About CCIL
• Quality Management
• QC and QA in construction
• Importance of certification
• CCIL certification programs
• Summary

CCIL

• Federally incorporated / non-profit
• Representing independent, tax-paying professional

laboratory firms

• Ensure standards of excellence and high business

ethics

Main Divisions / Members

• Geotechnical / Construction Materials
• Environmental / Life Sciences
• Conformity assessment
• Over 300 lab locations
• Non-voting associate members - suppliers / other associations

What We Do

• Advocacy - high standards of laboratory services
• certification requirements
• fair and practical regulations
• benefits of private sector laboratories
• Certification programs
• Involvement in certification standards
• Technical leadership
• Communication
• Other business services to members

MORE ON CCIL

• www.ccil.com

Quality Management

• Definition – varied
• Mainly – Quality planning, control (QC),

assurance (QA) and improvement

• Overall quality of service or product
• AND – the means to achieve it
• Also called TQM

QM IS CRITICAL

• Longevity of the asset – this is key
• Safety
• Cost effective delivery
• Part of a quality culture – for all aspects
• f a municipality’s operations
• To avoid unwanted headlines

UNWANTED HEADLINES

• Contractors reinforce newly built

highway retaining wall – Vancouver Sun

Collapsed retaining wall snarls Kelowna traffic” – CBC News

Experts inspect collapsed Montreal tunnel” – CBC News

Road deteriorates early

UNWANTED HEADLINES

• CBC series “The Big Fix”
• ******* “Claims regarding faulty concrete

foundations” – presented in Cape Town – this year

TROIS RIVIERES CASE

• Over 600 claims – concrete

deterioration (2004 to 2007)

• 80 to 250K per claim to repair (over

100M)

• Cause – improper aggregate ( reacted

with the concrete)

QC AND QA IN CONSTRUCTION

• QC
• process control –

responsibility of contractor (or the contractor’s supplier)

• QA
• independent audit function

required by the owner (eg – a municipality)

CONTRACT LANGUAGE

• MUST – detail the specifications
• MUST – identify roles and

responsibilities

• QA – independent consulting

engineering firm – P Eng oversight

• Testing – number of tests // and

certified & (for QA) independent

WHY INDEPENDENT

• No vested interest in the project
• Not affiliated with the product, the

contractor, owner, government, etc

• THUS – fully arms length

IMPORTANCE OF CERTIFICATION

• Uniformity of methods
• Up to date with standards
• Demonstrated proficiency
• Qualified staff
• Equipment to specification
• QA and QC of testing

Importance - continued

• Increases confidence
• Decreases disputes on job site

WHAT IS CERTIFICATION

Defined as – “The procedure by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition that an organization or a person is competent to carry out specific tests” Globally – based on ISO Most testing – certification or accreditation is required – food, env, products, etc

WHAT IS INVOLVED

• Laboratory audits (inspections)
• Technician evaluation (tests,

inspections)

• Proficiency testing
• Follow-up
• Forums for continuous improvement

WHAT IS EVALUATED?

• Personnel
• Equipment – calibration, maintenance
• Methods
• Lab QA & QC
• Record keeping and reporting
• Quality manual
• Management oversight

CCIL PROGRAMS

• Asphalt lab and technician certification
• Aggregate lab and technician

certification

• Concrete lab and technician certification
• Labs include private sector, contractor
• wned and government owned

Certification Program Asphalt and Aggregate

• Certification standards developed by CCIL
• Methods based on ASTM
• Laboratory Inspections/Audits (once per 2

years)

• Quality Manual & internal audit process
• Technician certification
• Proficiency testing and follow-up (annual)

Concrete Lab Certification

• CCIL acquired from CSA
• 250 labs throughout Canada
• To the CSA283 standard
• Technician certification
• Laboratory audits – once per year

Certification Program – admistration

committees CPACs

• BC, AB, Ont - establishing, reviewing and revising,

as necessary, the technical criteria for the core elements of the program (asphalt and aggregate)

• For concrete – national CPAC
• Participation in Program Advisory Committee by all

stakeholders i.e. testing labs, contractor firms, provincial and municipal authorities, etc

NUMBERS OF LABS - CANADA

• Asphalt labs – 170
• Aggregate labs – 270
• Concrete labs – 250
• DETAILS – www.ccil.ca

NUMBER OF LABS IN BC

• Asphalt labs – 25
• Aggregate labs – 28
• Concrete labs – 43
• IMPORTANT - see web site to get

details concerning what the lab is certified for

REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION

• BC – MOT - for referee labs (roads)
• Concrete – all work should be by a

certified lab (CCIL to CSA standard)

• Municipalities – growing interest – CCIL

is on MMCD web site

• BUT – profile needs to be enhanced

CCIL POSITION

• All contracts – especially for QA should

specify certified labs

• A definite requirement for all other lab

work – public health, environment, products, food, etc –

• So – why NOT for construction projects

Benefits of Program

• Uniformity in test procedures and

performance – and we can show data

• Improvement in laboratory test standards

and quality control

• Increased confidence in test results
• Reduced potential for disputes
• Encourages technician training and

certification

Questions ?