Over the years, the CRMCA Technical Committee has developed many documents. These documents were created to assist in several different aspects of the concrete placement process. One specific document meant to assist the concrete industry to create open communication between team members on a project is the Pre-Construction Checklist. Many times, the Pre-Construction meeting does not occur and is overlooked. This article is meant to emphasize the importance of this step, in order to head off problems that can occur during the hectic construction process.
The checklist includes crucial steps ensure the proper preparation and execution of concrete placement:
- Mix Design Information – Concrete mix designs are specific to different aspects of a project structure. During the pre-construction meeting, these mixes should be identified and discussed to prepare for each aspect of the project.
- Quality Control/Acceptance Requirements and Responsibility – Communication between the project team, specifically the testing firm, producer, and contractor should be aware of what testing is required, the limits for the fresh properties testing, and the responsibility of the initial curing environment on the project. In addition, the discussion of acceptance of the concrete and who can make such decisions on-site should be made clearly.
- Testing Consistency Monitoring – concrete testing should be consistent on a project and between multiple testing technicians. Ideally, all testing should be done exactly the same. Realistically, this is not always the case. Concrete testing monitoring, such as the use of the CTAC tool can assist in open communication to improve the reliability of the test results and confidence in the concrete placed on a project.
- Storage, Access, and Transportation – Initial curing of concrete testing specimens is one of the most important factors to the confidence of strength results. Discussion on who is responsible for the facility setup, access, power, etc. must be shared and agreed upon to provide for consistent results. Transportation restrictions should also be evaluated for security and to minimize damage between the project and the laboratory.
- Results Acceptance – Ultimately, the results of the strength testing of concrete specimens determines the success of a concrete project. In order to have the confidence in the test results, the previous steps should be clarified and the results should be shared with all parties involved on a project. In addition, the evaluation of low strength results should be discussed during the pre-construction meeting to determine swift resolutions before issues occur.
In addition to the Pre-Construction Checklist, the CRMCA has developed the following documents for assistance throughout the concrete construction processes. These documents can assist during placement, finishing, as well as short and long-term care of the concrete surfaces. The documents developed can be found on the CRMCA Technical Resources webpage:
- Concrete in Colorado documents
- Pumping Safety
- Exterior Flatwork Best Practices (in English and Spanish)
- Homeowner’s Maintenance Guide
JT Mesite, P.E.
Program Manager
CRMCA
jt@coloradocaa.org
