Quality Control in Ready Mix Concrete Production

Quality is integral to concrete production, and an essential part of ensuring project safety, strength, durability and compliance.

Quality control is required at all steps in the concrete process – everything from mixing to curing. At iMix Concrete, we are a team of highly skilled, fully qualified concrete specialists, with years of experience in the industry.

This – coupled with our commitment to using the latest industry equipment – ensures we achieve the highest quality standards in all of our projects.

Below, we have outlined our approach to quality control, and the importance of quality control in concrete production.

The Importance of Quality Control in Concrete Production

The role that quality control plays in concrete production is of extreme importance.

Quality control shapes almost every key quality of the concrete, including everything from safety to durability.

Above is an image of the testing bay at our batching plant – we use the best equipment and software to analyse and test our concrete batches, before it goes out for use.

The reasons quality control is so vital in concrete production include:

• Maximising the building’s safety standards
• Ensuring the building meets the required specifications and standards
• Ensuring the building is fully legally compliant
• Securing consistent structural integrity (and minimising the risk of structural failure)
• Maximising the building’s durability, and predicted lifespan
• Ensuring high levels of resistance to weather and extreme temperatures
• Reducing the rate of cracking, shrinkage, corrosion and degradation
• Minimising maintenance costs over time
• Ensuring there are no ‘weak zones’ in the structure
• Keeps performance standards universally high

How iMix Concrete Ensures Quality Control in Concrete Production

At iMix Concrete, our skilled team uses the very latest technologies, to ensure the highest quality standards across all of our concrete production.

Once we have combined the materials for our concrete batch, our team test a sample to ensure it meets our high standards, and with our concrete compression testing machine, we can ensure the batch is the correct strength for the project in question.

Above is an image of our team testing a sample with our high-tech concrete compression testing machine.

Throughout the mixing process, our team has full visibility – and control the full mix process.

Above is an image of our team checking the operations of our batching plant, ensuring that each concrete mixture is to the highest standards, and the highest quality. Our software and skilled team allow us to monitor every step of the mixing process.

BS Accreditations & Quality Standards

iMix Concrete is also accredited with BS EN 206 & BS 8500.

These accreditations are designed to make it easy for consumers to see whether a concrete supplier is attaining the highest quality standards.

The BSI Kitemark is one of the industry’s most trusted and reputable third-party certification marks. In fact, the British Standards Institution (BSI) has been awarding these accreditations for over 120 years.

As a result, the BSI Kitemark is used as a hallmark for products and services of outstanding quality, safety and reliability.

iMix Concrete’s BSI accreditations certify quality standards for the following areas:

BS EN 206

This standard tests the concrete that is used for the following structures:

• Precast structures
• Structures that are cast in-situ
• Structural precast products that are used in building construction
• Ready mixed concrete
• Concrete that is mixed on-site

BS 8500

The BS 8500 accreditation also applies to concrete, but this standard specifically certifies the quality of low carbon concrete. It is a hallmark that is designed to give consumers confidence in the performance of the low carbon concrete variety.

To achieve these BSI accreditations (as with any BSI accreditation) our concrete has undergone repeated tests, which are conducted by independent experts. These tests also extend to the manufacturing environments, to ensure iMix Concrete is fully compliant with all relevant industry standards.

The assessments don’t stop there, either. To retain the BSI Kitemark accreditation, our concrete and manufacturing environments have to undergo ongoing assessments by BSI, and continue to adhere to these stringent standards.

The Concrete Cube Test

One common example of a test for ready mix concrete quality is the cube test.

The concrete cube test involves taking a concrete sample, allowing it to cure, and then using a specialist machine to test its compressive strength.

Then, you can test whether this matches up with the compressive strength that the concrete should have achieved, and thereby determine the quality of the concrete (before it is used at scale in a project).

The concrete test allows suppliers to guarantee the concrete’s quality.

At iMix Concrete, we are dedicated to attaining the highest quality standards, across all our concrete types and services.

To learn more about our approach to quality control, or to enlist our specialists to support your upcoming project, speak to our team today.