In the first stage of construction, the first test that shall be taken is the In-Situ Density test but I was a bit stock when the consultant asked about the frequency of various tests and in the compaction test of in-situ soil.
I made research immediately just within the contract project documents: specification, drawing, bill of quantity but most often it is written on the specification, sometimes it is also written in the general specification on the structural drawing.
I would try to post some frequencies of different tests for newbies or for those who have years of experience already to bookmark this page as your reference. So that it will be very easy for you to find out and come back again on this post.
Especially in the world of technologies today has a huge difference from the past, what I mean is if you have an android mobile or tablet with you when you are at the site you can use it to browse this post and see immediately “The Frequency Of Test” that you need of.
Here are the frequency of various tests and for soil.
| S/N | Description | Area | Test Frequency | Qty. of test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soil | |||
| 1.A | Compaction test | Under Footing | Every 200 square meter | One |
| Under Wall Footing | Every 30 linear meter | One | ||
| Under Slab on Grade | Every 1000 square meter | One | ||
| 1.B | CBR | Below pavement | Every 5000 cubic meter | One sample |
| 1.C | Proctor test | Soil Stockpile | Every new material | One sample |
| 1.D | Atterberg Limit: Liquid Limit Plasticity Index Plastic Limit | Soil Stockpile | Every new material | One sample |
| 1.E | Sieve Analysis | Soil Stockpile | Every new material | One sample |
Here are the frequency of tests for steel reinforcement or rebar.
| S/N | Description | Area | Test Frequency | Qty. of test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steel reinforcement | |||
| 1.A | Chemical Test | Concrete elements | Every 100 ton | 2 sample for each bar size |
| 1.B | Mechanical Test | Concrete elements | Every 100 ton | 2 sample for each bar size |
Here are the frequency of tests for concrete.
| S/N | Description | Area | Test Frequency | Qty. of Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Concrete | |||
| 1.A | Compression Test | Footing, Raft Foundation, Pile Foundation | every 100 cubic meter of concrete | 6 cubes (1 set) |
| Slab, Grade beam | every 50 cubic meter of concrete | 6 cubes (1 set) | ||
| Column | every 30 cubic meter of concrete | 6 cubes (1 set) | ||
| 1.B | Durability: RCP Absorption Test Permeability Test | Foundation | Bi-monthly or every 700 cubic meter | 3 cubes for RCP 3 cubes for Absorption 3 cubes for Permeability |
| 2 | Concrete Masonry Unit - CMU | |||
| 2.A | Compression test | External Walls and Internal partitions | Every new supplier | 3 samples of CMU |
| 2.B | Dimension check | External Walls and Internal partitions | Every new supplier | 3 samples of CMU |
Here are the frequency of tests for Aggregate in a concrete batching plant.
| S/N | Description | Test Frequency | Qty. of test |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aggregate | ||
| 1.A | Grading | Each two weeks or per 100 cubic meter whichever is more frequent | One |
| 1.B | Material Fines | Each two weeks or per 100 cubic meter whichever is more frequent | One |
| 1.C | Clay lumps and Friable Particles | Each two weeks or per 100 cubic meter whichever is more frequent | One |
| 1.D | Organic Impurities | Each month or 200 cubic meter whichever is more frequent | One |
| 1.E | Water absorption | Each month or 200 cubic meter whichever is more frequent | One |
| 1.F | Specific gravity | Each month or 200 cubic meter whichever is more frequent | One |
| 1.G | Shell content | Each 2 months or per 100 cubic meter | One |
| 1.H | Moisture variation in sand by moisture meter | Daily | Two |
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I am hoping that these frequencies of tests have helped the engineers in the number of test requirements for their respective projects but as I noticed the frequency of tests may vary and depending on the specification of the project so the engineers should go through their respective contract specification and verify the above frequencies but still these frequencies will serve you as a guide.
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Hello to all.
I would like to ask if someone can provide information in regards to covermeter checks on concrete surface as per BS 1881-204. Is there any references where I can check how often we need to check.
For example a precast of 4m W x 4m L x 0.25m thick . It will give us a total surface area of 36 square meters (all sides). It couldn’t be all but at least minimum. And if we cast 4 pcs of this precast then we are going to have 144 square meters.
Thanks in advance.
Gerald
Which codes following steel third-party test in nowadays?
Is it under BS code?
And ACI. Thanks for stopping by.
Which code using frequency of steels in nowadays?
engr. mades.
if the purpose is to enlighten the readers/end users, then the Code from which it is based should have been given; otherwise, these may be construed as mere shot in the dark. for all intents and purposes, different quality test guidelines are used in different countries, albeit they are based in whole or in part on the US or British Standards. all care must be taken when giving out technical information such as these. while these may be suitable in your place of work, it may seem outrageous if presented to the owner, designer or consultant in other countries. if your intention is to impart what you have learned as a quality engineer in UAE, then you should’ve stated so in the opening part of the presentation. sad, but true… the comments are correct.
Hi Reggie,
Firstly, thanks for stopping by.
There are some parts of the specification that do not include standard like what we had above. We cannot blame the writer of a specification as they are also human. Maybe the writer just decided not to include. If you can go through your specification you might as well notice that. I think it is our due diligence to select which spec suits with our location but the above spec might have taken from either BS and American Standard as these are what we used here in UAE.
Hi, can you tell based on which standard you fixed frequency of testing of soil?
Hello,
I got it from one of our project specifications.
Malim, have you found the standard of the frequency for the field density test?
Helpful data but can I see a described/detailed handbook which can refer to a construction site?
Could you give the standard spec. where you get your table?
Noel Mades I admire the help you have written but please specify what standards (ASTM, BS EN…etc) came from.
Which standard / specifications are being incorporated regarding frequency of test for reinforcement steel?
We could use either British or American Standard, but I would suggest read your spec. it might be written there.
However, the above sample was taken from our spec.
The frequencies of test indicated herein are fictitious because the author had not even mentioned what kind of specification or standard it came from.
I am not writing fictitious information here, rather I share my earned knowledge from almost 12 years experience in construction to concrete supplier. I did not write the standard or even project specification to prevent the violation of prohibiting release of project documents, but to tell you frankly, these information’s were extracted from one my previous company’s project specification. That is why I was not mentioning any project specification name, company name, consultant name, and what other name it may be?
Your purpose Mr. Medes is good. However. the presentation is making you a guilty of the copyright. The contents of any specification or standards have copyright and that using the copy righted documents for your own purpose of republishing is against the copyright law. You have not even mentioned the original source of the information. If I will copy your erroneous notes on this site and publish it as mine, then you will be accusing me of copy right. I an also a quality man and familiar of the frequencies of test. The information you had given are too far from the facts. Non even tangeable to the real values.
Yes, thank you Mr. Mason that is my real purpose to share the knowledge I have learnt. You were saying there is erroneous because you might be working right now in the place where the governing standards are different from UAE then therefore it looks there is erroneous from you, but I told you those frequencies are genuine :). I just don’t want to write the project specification name. You can copy but you have to follow this http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ and you can consider these as your guide.
May I know what standard are you using?
Dear etmasonjr,
TRY to appreciate every efforts put together by somebody and dont be quick to condemn or judge onto the negative part. we know your reason of stressing about copyright…. learn to share what you have gathered in the times past with others! life is short!!! to start to argue unnecessarily
good response Noel.