CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING

Materials Quality Control and Its Significance

A. Definitions

QUALITY - is a judgment by the costumers or users of a product or service, it is the

extent which the costumes or users feel the product or service passes their needs and
expectations.

The term QUALITY is that characteristic of a product that provides a level of

performance in terms of service and life. “Quality” does not mean “perfect”.

Quality Control Work is the responsibility of contractor

Quality control work consists of all work elements carried out by the manager or by those
in his organization, which contribute to the quality of the output of the organization

Quality Assurance Work

Quality assurance work consists of all work elements carried out by the manager or by
those in his organization, which contribute to the quality of the output of some other
organization.

-J.R. Taylor
Quality Control System

B. Purpose

The purpose of materials quality control is to insure the highest quality of work and
extend the service life of any structure by constructing according to the prescribed plans
and specifications. The plans indicate the specific type of the structure and the
specifications present the characteristic in which it is to be built, as well as the materials
that are to be incorporated into the work.

Other purposes are to check and regulate the use of construction materials, and to
economize on the cost of construction. Fulfilling these, requires adequate control of
materials prior to and after placing to their final position in the structure. The extent of
controlling the required materials depends on the nature and limits of the work, the
specification requirements and local conditions. Normally, every material should be
subjected to testing, inspection and verification before acceptance.

C. Quality Control Procedures

1. Selection of Materials

Information regarding the location of materials sources that will be

incorporated into the work may be represented by the following:

a. Raw materials such as soil, sand and bank or river gravel (with little or no
processing).

b. Materials that are processed without basically changing their properties, such
as washed/ manufactured sand, crushed rock and gravel, and etc.

c. Manufactured materials such as bituminous materials, cement, paint,

structural and reinforcing steel.

d. Combination of materials that may be partly or totally manufactured, such as

bituminous and Portland cement concrete.

Materials to be postured or obtained from selected portions of any are of

materials sources such as mentioned above should be known in advance so
that the required tests can be made or arrangement for testing the materials
involved may be done to avoid unnecessary delays in construction due to
rejection of unacceptable quality of materials.

2. Handling and storage of materials

Handling and storage of delivered construction materials should be carefully
and properly planned to avoid damage and maintain the desired quality. It should
be placed or deposited in a safe place protected from contamination or the action
of weather. The proposed source of materials to be used should be accessible to
the project.

Conditions for Acceptance of Materials

a. No materials shall be incorporated into the work until tested and found
satisfactory.

b. The approval of preliminary samples shall not be considered as a guarantee

of acceptance of all materials from the same source, as to the quality and
quantity of such materials.

c. Any materials which had been sampled and passed as satisfactory may be
resampled and retested any time before, during and after incorporation into
the work.

3. Sampling and Testing of Materials

 Quality control is checking for conformity to the requirements. That is,
conformance to materials specifications and methods of construction, or
workmanship. Quality control therefore, includes all procedures which are
necessary to insure that the materials used and workmanship employed conform
to the standard of quality specified.

a. Quality control program (QCP)

To facilitate quality control, a program of quality control works to be
complied by the contractor is prepared by the DPWH. The plan include
provisions on how the work and materials should be inspected and the
nature and amount of testing to be done. An example of a quality control
program is shown in Annex A.
Likewise, the DPWH provides a team to monitor the quality control
activities in the project, like: sampling, testing, laboratory procedures,
equipment calibration and quality control reporting

b. Minimum Testing Requirements- are prescribed in each project based on

estimated quantities. The requirements specify the kind and number of tests
for each item of work.

Testing is done as the materials are being incorporated into the work.
It should be emphasized that what are specified are the minimum number of
testing only. The owner can therefore, can require more test if he is in doubt
of the quality of materials or the finished structure.

c. Pretesting of manufactured materials such as cement, asphalt, and steel bar.

Samples are obtained at the factory and tested at the laboratories. Upon
verification, the pretested materials are ready for use upon delivery at the
jobsite.

4. Proper Construction methods/procedures

a. Establish a working quality control organization with responsibility for
supervision and inspection at all levels of work.
b. Construction method should be done according to each item of work
indicated in the design.
c. To see to it that materials used pass the required specification prior to
incorporation to the project