The road ready for binder, the certificate nowhere
Your gang has trimmed and compacted the formation for an estate road and laid the sub-base. The engineer's specification calls for testing before the next layer. The testing firm came out, did plate bearing tests at several points and emailed a certificate to the office, describing the locations in its own words. Two weeks later the main contractor wants the test results for road B before it agrees the next stage.
Your office finds three certificates from that week and is not sure which relates to road B.
Why test certificates go missing
Tests are booked when the gang is ready, often by phone. The tester records locations in its own way, and certificates come back to whoever booked. Nobody links them to the area on the site plan. On a big site there are many tests, for formation, sub-base, slab bases and trench backfill, and the certificates pile up.
- Tests are booked by phone without a location reference.
- Certificates describe locations in the tester's own words.
- Certificates arrive by email to whoever booked the test.
- Nobody checks results against the specified value.
- Producing the tests for one area means searching emails.
What scattered certificates cost
Next layers held up while certificates are found. Tests repeated because the original certificate cannot be matched to an area. Awkward questions at adoption or handover about areas with no test record. And a result below what was specified that nobody noticed at the time, because nobody compared it.
The test log we build
- The site plan is loaded with roads, slabs and plots divided into the areas you test.
- Each test is booked against an area from a phone, with the test type and the layer, and the request goes to your testing firm with the location reference.
- When the certificate arrives, it is read for the test type, points, values and date, and filed against the area. A person checks the match.
- Each result is compared with the value you set from the specification for that area and layer, and anything below it is flagged.
- Areas needing a test before the next layer show as waiting, so the gang knows what is outstanding.
- Retests, if needed, are linked to the original test.
- A pack per road, slab or plot, with every test and certificate, is produced for the engineer, main contractor or adopting authority.
| Area | Layer | Test | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road A, chainage start to mid | Formation | Plate bearing | Certificate filed, above value |
| Road B, full length | Sub-base | Plate bearing | Certificate awaited |
| Slab, block C | Sub-base | Compaction | Below value, flagged |
| Plot 30 drive | Sub-base | Not required | N/A |
Which tests are required and what values are acceptable are set by the engineer's specification and the adopting authority. We track against what you set; we do not advise on testing.
Tests that are where you expect them
Every test has a location on the plan and a certificate filed against it. Next layers go ahead when the test is in, not when someone finds it. A low result is seen the day the certificate arrives. And when anyone asks for the tests on an area, the pack is ready in minutes.
The same log also shows your testing firm's turnaround over time, which helps when you plan the gangs around tests.
Are your test certificates scattered?
- Tests are booked by phone with no location reference.
- Certificates sit in emails, unmatched to areas.
- Results are not checked against specified values.
- Next layers wait while certificates are found.
- Tests have been repeated because the original could not be matched.