Activities of the Construction Materials Reference Laboratories Related to Laboratory Accreditation

Résumé du livre

A conference was held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly The National Bureau of Standards) in May 1986 to consider the status of existing evaluation and accreditation programs for construction materials testing laboratories and to determine the need for a coordinated national system. The conference attendees concluded that "there is a need for a coordinated national system for the accreditation of construction materials testing laboratories and its development should be initiated." This paper will discuss activities since the conference, including the work of a planning committee formed to define the goals, scope, format, and procedures of such a system. There will be particular emphasis on activities of CCRL and AMRL, which make up the Construction Materials Reference Laboratories. They are research associate programs at NIST sponsored by ASTM and AASHTO, respectively, and provide laboratory assessment and proficiency sample services, but do not accredit laboratories. However, the AASHTO Executive and Policy Committee approved the AASHTO Accreditation Program utilizing AMRL technical programs for implementation in mid-1988. The Executive Group of the Joint ASTM C1 /C9 Subcommittee on the CCRL is changing CCRL programs for concrete and concrete aggregates to comply with new ASTM laboratory evaluation standards.