Position Statement #4

Minimum Cement Content Specifications

The practice of specifying minimum cement contents is a Prescriptive Specification as defined by CSA A23.1 and the owner shall be solely responsible for the concrete performance as delivered. With the Prescriptive Concrete Specification, the concrete producers only responsibility is to ensure that the plant, equipment and all materials used in the concrete comply with CSA A23.1 and the contract specifications. These requirements will be achieved through the utilization of RMCAOs Plant Certification Program. The concrete industry offers no comment regarding performance or durability of the prescriptive requirements to meet the owners concrete requirements. The concrete producer assumes no responsibility for issues related to compressive strength, concrete durability or performance since the owner has selected a prescriptive method of concrete specification. The owner is also responsible for indicating mix design modifications to address any concrete quality concerns raised by the concrete testing program or workability concerns raised by the contractor. The concrete producer will revise their material supply quotation based upon these modifications. We would like to point out that minimum cement contents, as currently specified in OPSS 1350 and various ACI standards, only guarantee the minimum amount of cement in the mix and not the minimum durability of the concrete. These specifications, in most cases, are also quite dated and do not reflect the current state of the art in the concrete industry. The concrete industry would prefer that concrete be specified using the CSA A23.1 performance option by specifying the class of exposure, the maximum w/cm, the minimum compressive strength [at age] and air entrainment requirements. For Class N concrete the owner/designer should specify the maximum w/cm ratio and minimum strength. Please note that w/cm ratio and strength are interrelated and specifications that include concrete requirements such as 0.45 w/cm ratio and a 20 MPa strength lead to contractor ordering problems when 20 MPa concrete is ordered at time of placement rather than the 0.45 w/cm ratio concrete specified. Quality Product, Total Performance and Customer Satisfaction are very important to the RMCAO. We would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

905-507-1122 905-890-8122 Fax info@rmcao.org www.rmcao.org

Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario
112003-4