CRSI |
ENGINEERING
DATA REPORT NUMBER 36 |
FIELD INSPECTION OF REBAR |
 A
SERVICE OF THE CONCRETE REINFORCING STEEL INSTITUTE
933 N. Plum Grove Rd., Schaumburg, Illinois 60173-4758 |
INTRODUCTION
In a perfect or utopian world, quality control or inspection to assure
compliance with project drawings, project specifications, material standards, and building
codes would not be necessary since the project drawings and specifications would be
complete without errors or omissions, the materials would be manufactured exactly to the
material standards, and the field workmanship would be precise. However, in the present
day real world, quality control programs are recommended with inspection usually mandated
to ensure compliance with a regulatory agency's policies. Why is this necessary?
Project drawings are not always complete due to an owner's desire for a
rapid start and completion of a project. Materials may vary from the standards due to
imperfections in the raw material or the manufacturing process. Workmanship is not always
correct due to improper training, inadequate experience, or careless supervision. Thus,
there is recognition by owners, builders, architects, engineers, and regulating agencies
that programs for quality control and inspection are necessary to ensure compliance with
the construction documents, material standards, and the building code applicable to the
project under construction.
The benefits of a quality control program and mandated inspection are
mainly monetary, but they also ensure structural safety and architectural aesthetic
compliance. The owners, private and governmental, benefit with lower total costs, on-time
construction schedules, and quicker occupancy. The design professionals benefit in the
knowledge that the building will conform to their design intent, with (perhaps) a lowering
of their liability insurance premiums. The contractor, his subcontractors and suppliers,
and all their employees will benefit in a similar manner. The public, as the ultimate
consumer and user of the building, benefits in the knowledge that the structure has been
built according to the design drawings.
INSPECTOR QUALIFICATIONS
Inspectors are individuals qualified to perform the
inspection tasks. They should by education, training, and experience have the ability to
read and understand project specifications, material standards, project drawings, and
building code requirements. In the event of field problems, they must work with the
contractor and make decisions on improvised details if the design professional is
unavailable to provide direction. An inspector must project confidence in his decisions.
He should be meticulous, correct, fair, and firm, along with the ability to compromise
when faced with a dispute regarding a conflict in the construction documents and/or actual
field conditions.
INSPECTION GOALS
The goal of any inspection or quality control program
is to ensure that the intent of the construction documents is met and that the
requirements of the building code are followed. Inspection and testing by themselves do
not add quality to the product being inspected, but only confirm whether or not what is
being inspected meets the criteria established by the project drawings, project
specifications, and building code. Quality during the construction process is achieved
almost entirely by the builder's quality assurance program, which depends on and involves
all workers and field supervisors. The contractor's inspectors are his employees and are
separate from the inspectors mandated by the owner or local building department. The
quality control inspection by the contractor helps assure that the finished construction
meets the owner's requirements, while a similar program by the material producer and
supplier assures that the product being supplied will meet the specific requirements of
the material standards.
The final in-place acceptance inspection is a formalized procedure that
provides the owner and regulatory agency with an acceptable degree of assurance that the
contractor has satisfied his obligations as described in the contract documents and by the
building code. To accomplish this end, the inspector must familiarize himself with the
project specifications and project drawings, have reasonable knowledge of the building
code requirements, have access to material standards and reference codes, and have
available industry manuals and reports. See references.
At the start of a construction project, whether small, medium or large,
it is recommended that the inspector establish an inspection program. This can be
established at a pre-construction conference with the general contractor's superintendent,
the supplier's representative, the ironworker foreman, and other interested parties such
as the architect, engineer or the engineer's inspector. This meeting should establish a
checklist procedure and minimum requirements for inspection acceptance.
CHECKLIST
The checklist should cover but not be limited to, the following:
a. Construction Schedule ... A
construction schedule from the general contractor is important and necessary so that the
inspector can follow the placing crew and carry out his inspection of the in-place rebar
prior to the scheduled placing and finishing of the concrete.
b. Certified Mill Test and/or Bar Coating Reports
... The reports may accompany the shipments of material to the job site, and thus
are available to the inspector. In the event the reports are sent to the contractor's
office rather than to the job site, arrangements should be made to make them available to
the inspector.
© Copyright 1998 by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute
