AGREMENT SOUTH AFRICA innovative construction products assessment

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AGREMENT SOUTH AFRICAinnovative construction
products assessment
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What is Agrément?

• The word Agrément is French and it means
  consent or approval. The Board of AGREMENT SOUTH
  AFRICA was established in 1969 as an objective,
  independent agency which evaluates the
  fitness-for-purpose of non-standardised
  construction products.

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Structure of Agrément

• Board of Agrément South Africa
• Technical Agency Technical Committee
• Experts

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Why Agrément?

• Specialises in non-standard products (more than
  30 years of experience)
• More than 350 certificates
• Complements SABS
• International links with WFTAO

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Certification/Specification/Guarantee

• Certificate
• What can it do
• Specification
• How to do it
• Guarantee
• It will work for a certain period,
• otherwise you may be compensated

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Why certification?

• Facilitates acceptance of new products and saves
  selling time
• Supports innovation and promotional drives
• Assures customers that a QA system is implemented
• Technical evaluation may lead to product
  improvements

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Certification Process
Product submitted to Agrément SA
Owner of Product
Quality Management System developed ito ISO
9000 requirements
Evaluation committee formed

Submitted to SABS for adjudication

• Planning of evaluation
• programme
• product classification
• selection of tests
• special considerations

Feedback and reporting

• Materials testing
• material preparation
• ageing/conditioning
• performance testing

• Feedback reporting
• discussion of results
• technical report
• technical summary

Preparation of certificate by Agrément South
Africa agency
If satisfactory, certificate submitted to Board
for approval
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Checks and Balances

• Initial screening by Agency
• Evaluation by experts
• CSIR and others
• Different experts for different aspects
• SABS
• Review by Agency
• Technical Committee
• Board

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Quality

• Credibility
• Manufacturing
• On site

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Agrément Appraisal

• Based on more than a single test result
• Takes into account many factors, including
  quality management
• Results in certificate of fitness-for-purpose
  that enables specifiers to make informed decisions

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Approach to performance evaluation

• Relative rather than absolute evaluation
• Performance is compared to that of standard
  products
• Relies on benchmarking and expert evaluation
• Challenge Cooperation

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Why avoid absolute performance evaluation?

• Requires a validated and quantified relationship
  between performance and test indicators
• Indicator-performance relationships are not well
  validated at present

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Relative performance evaluation

• Provides evaluation of performance relative to
  standard products
• Identifies product strengths and weaknesses
• Facilitates judgement re engineering and economic
  advantages/life cycle costing

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Progress to date(bituminous products)

• Performance criteria established
• Test methods and indicators proposed
• Reviewed by local and international peers
• Applications invited for pilot projects
• Inertia/reluctance in the market

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Current status

• Invited applications for bituminous products
• Developing criteria for bridge deck joints
• Examining possibility of introducing
  certification system for road stabilisers used on
  unpaved roads

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The way ahead

• Pilot bituminous product evaluations
• Authorities insist on Agrément certification for
  innovative and non-standardised products
• Clauses in tender documentation/project
  specification
• Cooperation between Agrément South Africa and
  Road Pavements Forum
• Regular feedback to Forum
• Information sharing on products tested
• Technical Committees

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WFTAO

• 25 members from 21 countries
• Facilitates transfer of national products to the
  global market place
• Assessments accepted by all WFTAO members - but
  criteria might differ
• Co-operation and exchange of information

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Test Report vs Appraisal

• Test report - single aspect
• Agrément appraisal - comprehensive

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