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

of 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

owned 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 ?