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Fees

Plant Certification Fee (every 2 years)

(Please Note: NRMCA reserves the right to charge an administrative fee up to 25% of the expected fees for review and processing certification requests cancelled by the party requesting certification.)

Truck Certification Fee (every 14 months)

(14-month allows for some grace period on an intended annual truck inspection)

The turnaround time for processing a correctly completed Plant Certification Check List is two weeks and can sometimes extend to four weeks. Requests for certification are processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Requests to expedite processing can be accommodated for an additional fee of $50. This applies to each plant or each set of trucks submitted separate from plants.

The turnaround time for expedited service is three working business days from the date NRMCA receives the overnight package. If you would like to request expedited service, you must call NRMCA (301) 587-1400 to notify us of your request; then send the request via overnight service.

These fees are for NRMCA to provide and process the plant or truck certification request. The fee must accompany the completed checklist when it is returned to NRMCA. If the plant or truck certification paperwork is sent in without payment then processing will be delayed until payment has been received. NRMCA accepts the following for payments: credit card (American Express, MasterCard or Visa) or checks made payable to NRMCA.

Background

Concrete is a manufactured product, the quality and uniformity of which depends on the control over its manufacture. It must be produced with suitable ingredients accurately combined to specific proportions. These must be thoroughly blended and the finished product delivered according to the requirements of the purchaser. Although success depends upon several factors, a vital prerequisite is the availability of proper, well-maintained equipment and an efficient production facility.

NRMCA certification of concrete production facilities provides a system for establishing that production facilities of ready mixed concrete plants are satisfactory. It reflects and, in many cases exceeds, the requirements of standard specifications for ready mixed concrete, such as ASTM C 94 and AASHTO M 157 and the Concrete Plant Standards of the Concrete Plant Manufacturers Bureau, CPMB 100. A certified plant is permitted to display a Certificate of Conformance that assures the purchaser that the facility is physically capable of furnishing good quality concrete.

Certification may be obtained by any producer of ready mixed concrete with the procedures and limitations addressed in the Check List document. Certification is issued only when the facility complies with all the pertinent requirements in the Check List.

The following process is in place to ensure that the NRMCA certification program maintains a high level of credibility and is of value to the company’s customer:

· A plant certification task group comprised of members of the industry meets at least twice a year to ensure that the requirements comply with current standards.

· Revisions are balloted and passed by the NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards Committee.

· Policies to the program and revisions to the checklist are approved by the NRMCA Board of Directors.

· The production facility is inspected by a NRMCA approved inspector who is knowledgeable on concrete production facilities and of the requirements of this certification program.

· The check list is signed by a licensed professional engineer who stakes his professional reputation that the inspection was objective and thorough and that the facility met the requirements when it was inspected.

· An official of the company signs an agreement to maintain the equipment in compliance for the duration of the certification.

· NRMCA staff reviews the completed check list to ensure that all the requirements have been met prior to issuing a Certificate of Conformance.

· A valid Certificate of Conformance should include the signature and seal of the inspecting engineer and be signed by the company’s principal executive.

Certification of production facilities is valid for two years from the date of inspection. Certification of delivery vehicles is valid for 14 months from the date of inspection. NRMCA certifies 1,000 plants every year; 1,800 concrete plants hold valid certification currently. NRMCA also has about 20,000 trucks certified through its program. The certification is required (or recognized) by several state highway agencies and engineering firms that write specifications for a wide variety of construction projects. It is also recognized in reference specification documents published by the American Institute of Architects and the American Concrete Institute. Quality conscious concrete producers use certification as an audit of their concrete production facilities, even if specifications in that area do not need the certification.

The Need

In the early 1960’s numerous failures of concrete, were hurting the reputation of concrete as a building material. A national joint committee representing American Concrete Institute, American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Civil Engineers was established to outline in detail the specific responsibilities of all the principals in concrete construction.

Even before this initiative, the formulation of a plant certification system by the NRMCA had began. NRMCA’s initiative was intended to establish a fair and equitable system, and to set forth the quality standard of the physical facilities used to produce concrete.

History

The NRMCA Checklist for Ready Mixed Concrete Production Facilities was approved at the 1965 Annual meeting of the NRMCA Board of Directors. The program was put into operation in 1966, initially for members only, but then extended to non-members of NRMCA to facilitate adoption of the program by specifying agencies. NRMCA’s Plant Certification Program has evolved over the years and has seen greater acceptance by concrete producers and specifying agencies.

Sections Addressed in the Check List

· Material Storage and Handling, including cement, aggregates, water and admixtures

·Batching Equipment including scales, weigh batchers, volumetric batching devices for water, dispensers for liquid admixtures, accuracy of plant batching, batching systems, and recorders

·Central Mixer Ticketing System (which is required to qualify for Certification)

·Delivery Fleet, including truck mixers, agitators, non-agitating units and a summary of fleet condition in which over 90% must be acceptable to qualify for certification.

Certification of Production Facilities

Obtain three copies of the current version of the NRMCA Plant Certification Check list (QC Manual Section 3) from the NRMCA’s Publication Department or download it from the NRMCA Web site for each plant requiring certification.

Engage a licensed professional engineer to conduct or direct the inspection and attest to the plant’s conformance with the check list requirements. The licensed engineer conducting the inspection and executing the check list may be an employee of the company owning the plant. It should be noted in this connection that inspecting engineers, in signing the certificate, stake their professional reputation on the evaluation having been objective and thorough. A policy approved by the NRMCA Board of Directors in 2004 requires that the inspecting engineer have a current license from the licensing authority in the state or jurisdiction where the plant is located. The licensed engineer can use an assistant under his employ to perform the inspection provided the final request is signed off by him/her. The assistant has to have been through the NRMCA qualification process.

NRMCA does not establish fees charged by the engineer for the inspection. A list of NRMCA approved engineers who have previously inspected plants in various states is available. The inspecting engineer (or an assistant under their employ) conducts the inspection and completes the Check list. Items that do not comply should be rectified and an acceptable indication noted on the Check list.

An official of the ready mixed concrete company signs the agreement to regularly verify accuracy of scales, volumetric batching devices, dispensers and, if used, devices for automated aggregate moisture measurement attesting that the equipment will be maintained within the requirements of the Check list. The company official pledges to maintain the accuracy of the scales and the batching accuracy of all-volumetric admixture dispensers and water batching devices and will promptly correct any deficiencies for the duration of the certification.

Submit one completed original copy of the Check List to NRMCA. The submitted copy should be signed and sealed by the engineer and the company official. NRMCA reserves the right to accept electronic copies of completed check lists when the identity of the submitting entity can be verified. The two additional copies are for the inspecting engineer and the company official.

Upon confirming that the plant meets the Check list requirements, a Certificate of Conformance is issued to the plant. (Please note - the certificate is sent to the inspecting engineer who should sign and seal it. The company official should also sign the certificate.)

It takes two weeks and can sometimes extend to four weeks to process a request and issue a certificate. Requests to expedite processing can be accommodated for an additional fee.

Certification of Delivery Vehicles

The new revision requires inspection and certification of delivery vehicles on an annual basis. NRMCA will issue Delivery Fleet Certification card for each vehicle meeting the requirements. This has evolved due to requests from producers and specifies. The process, described in Section 5 of the Check list, provides two options:

Option A – In-house inspection of delivery fleet and review of records and procedures by the inspecting engineer. The company official bears the responsibility for supervision of the inspection of the delivery fleet.

For both options the period of certification for the delivery vehicle is nominally one year (14 months from the date of inspection). Plant certification remains on a two-year cycle. A request for NRMCA certification cards is required even if the state DOT inspects and approves delivery vehicles or if the company uses rental units.

The following points are to be noted for Option A (more details are in Section 5 of the Check list):

· Identify maintenance personnel who will be conducting the vehicle inspection for the required items in the Check list.

· Ensure that they are familiar with the requirements of the vehicle inspection. A company manager should periodically supervise the inspection.

· Maintain on file a statement of qualifications of these personnel and have these available for the inspecting engineer when the plant is inspected.

· Make a request for a Delivery Fleet certification card using the Fleet Inspection Reporting Spreadsheet. (The person inspecting the vehicle and the company official should complete this request.)

· NRMCA will issue a card with a unique vehicle ID and an expiration date. The card shall be applied to the driver side windshield or door of the delivery unit (some companies do not permit items on the vehicle’s windshield).

· Maintain a record of inspection and certification on file (Section 5.7) for review by the inspecting engineer.

· When the engineer inspects the plants, he or she will interview the maintenance personnel who performed the vehicle inspection and audit their inspection, as well as your records of certification.

· Plant certification requires that more than 90% of trucks operating from the plant have a current certification.

For Option B, the inspecting engineer inspects all the delivery vehicles, completes the required information in Section 5.7 and makes the request for certification cards. These vehicles must be inspected annually.

For technical or policy questions, please contact Colin Lobo, senior vice president of engineering, ext. 1160.

For certification status or other non-technical questions, please contact the engineering assistants Nina Stedman, ext. 1162 or Karen Bean, ext. 1168.