(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Plans are afoot to make sure that independent laboratories test the quality of construction materials being used in public and private projects in the country.
New standard specifications for construction materials in line with international benchmarks are ready for implementation, a senior official said yesterday.
Materials could be used in construction only after an independent laboratory has issued a certificate of quality.
The laboratories are not affiliated with the producer, nor with the user of the item being tested so there are no chances of commercial bias or use of low quality of materials in construction.
Plans to have new specifications in place and test construction materials by laboratories were disclosed by Khalid Mohamed Al Emadi, head of safety and quality department at Ashghal (Public Works Department), in remarks to Al Sharq yesterday.
Al Emadi is also head of the National Committee for Qatar's Construction Industry's Standards and Specifications. Set up in 2011, the committee has 50 experts as its members. Standards and specifications for construction and materials are being amended in an extensive way. Four amendments have already come.
The Fifth Amendment was approved by the State Cabinet in April this year and these rules are to be unveiled during a conference on Qatar's construction specifications to be held on the 26th and 27th of this month, Al Emadi said.
This will be a conference-cum-exhibition to be held in collaboration with Ashghal.
The conference is in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the aim is to transform Qatar into an advanced country by 2030 which is capable of sustaining its own development, and with Standardization Strategy 2010-2020 which aims to promote commitment to implementing standards and quality in building and construction projects.
According to Al Emadi, the Fifth Amendment of the standards and specifications does not only talk of benchmarks for the quality of construction and the materials used but also about the rights of workers, contractors and the owner.
For example, the new specifications talk of paying installments to the contractor on time as they also refer to protecting the rights of the workers engaged in the construction work and its owner.
So in a way, the new benchmarks are a gist of laws as well as rules that set the standards for quality, said Al Emadi. It, in fact, takes care of all aspects of the construction industry.
Al Emadi said that both locally made as well as imported construction materials such as asphalt and 'readymix', for example, will have to be tested for quality before they are used in a project.
The new rules will also cover the qualifications of engineers and technicians and others involved with the construction industry. Their educational qualifications and experience will be specified in detail by the new standards and specifications, he said.
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