FACT: A 3rd Party Processor Certificate guarantees the quality of processed steel reinforcement

By Scott Munter, Executive Director 

I was presenting to a group of engineers about the importance of 3^rd party PROCESSOR certification to guarantee the quality of steel reinforcement. After my presentation, an engineer came up to me and said:

Unfortunately, the engineer was not alone. Builders, engineers, architects and surveyors are incorrectly relying on mill certificates to prove the reo conforms to Australian Standards.  

The mechanical properties of steel reinforcement changes when a bar is bent or straightened from a feed coil (most small-diameter bar sizes up to 20mm are supplied by coil). Similarly, when bars are welded together to make a sheet of mesh the mechanical properties have changed.  

Once the bar is processed or welded, a mill certificate can no longer be used to verify product conformance. 

That’s why we support 3^rd party certification for Processors of steel reinforcement. An independent JAS-ANZ accredited organisation, such as the Australian Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steel (ACRS), has assessed the conformance of processed bar and/or welded mesh and certified that it meets Australian Standards.

To help engineers, architects, builders and surveyors specify steel reinforcement that conforms to AS/NZS 4671 – Steel reinforcing materials, AS 3600 – Concrete structures, AS 5100.5 – Bridge design – Concrete, and AS 2870 – Residential slabs and footings, we recommend inserting the following sentence in your drawings:

Non – conforming building products endanger Australia’s building industry. Don’t take the risk. Insert the above steel reinforcement specification in your drawings.

Download a list of SRIA members who have 3rd party processor certification.

For more information, please contact Scott Munter, Executive Director of the Steel Reinforcement Institute of Australia on 02 9144 2602 or scott.munter@sria.com.au