Quality assurance standard needed, work continues

17th May 2013

By: Anine Kilian

Contributing Editor Online

  

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The Southern Africa Readymix Association (Sarma) is continuing its efforts to implement rules and regulations to protect the readymix industry, which is experiencing increased activity, from oversaturation and a lack of regulation.

Sarma director Nico Pienaar tells Engi- neering News that there is no legislation regulating the quality of readymix produced in South Africa and Sarma is working towards implementing rules and regulations to govern quality in the industry.

“Anyone can buy a plant, get sand and a truck and start making readymix – people think it is easy to do. Sarma is working on documenting standards through the South African Bureau of Standards to mitigate this,” he says.

Pienaar explains that Sarma has been working towards developing an industry quality standard for the past two years and that a Sarma-certified product ensures quality control.

He further explains that, for a company to get Sarma certification, a Sarma-accredited auditor must visit its production facility and conduct a thorough inspection.

“We are trying to get quality standards and quality systems implemented by recording information, so that if there is a problem later, we can go back and track the origin of the fault,” Pienaar says, adding that Sarma has had some success in implementing quality control.

“If one looks at the industry in South Africa, compared with the industry in Europe and the US, the country is lagging behind in quality because we allow people to make their own readymix instead of using a trusted provider,” he reiterates, adding that people believe it is cheaper to make their own ready- mix without looking at the bigger picture.

Pienaar notes that there are many challenges that need to be dealt with when making your own readymix and that additional factors, such as clean-up operations, can be costly.

“Readymix companies are professionals. They focus on the product and they know what they are doing. South Africa has not yet caught on in terms of using a professional readymix service. Some consulting engineers have encountered major problems because of this, which has led to Sarma having to certify various readymix plants,” he says.

Pienaar notes that these challenges, particularly, the lack of set rules and standards for producers in the industry, have led to an oversaturation of readymix suppliers, especially suppliers who are not professional.
He states that there are no rules requiring new readymix producers to comply with certain standards before being deemed credible.

Pienaar notes that Sarma also looks at health and safety, environmental challenges and the logistical aspects of the readymix industry.
Meanwhile, he explains that Sarma moni- tors the concrete-mixing trucks going from the readymix plants to the construction sites.

“We check the wheels, lights, seatbelts and licences. These trucks weigh 30 t; we have to ensure that they are not a danger to other vehicles on the road,” Pienaar says.

He notes that a new emerging trend in South Africa is the dry-mixing of concrete while it is on route to site.

“This trend comes from the US, where water is mixed in on site instead of on the way to the site. I believe that it makes more sense to add water to the mix while it is still in the truck, as it saves time if the truck is moving and mixing at once,” he says.

Meanwhile, Pienaar notes that one of Sarma’s main goals is to improve the sustainability of the readymix industry in an economic climate in which concrete’s environment-friendliness is at times questioned by competitor industries.

He states that concrete’s main competitors are steel and wood, and Sarma wants to promote concrete as the preferred material to those building materials.

“Concrete is stronger than wood and steel; it is also durable and sustainable, which means it lasts longer. It has been proven that concrete is one of the most reliable construction materials,” Pienaar concludes, adding that it is also the second most used substance in the world after water.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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