Around 1,500 concrete manufacturer plants in Spain are required to obtain the production control certification in accordance with the stablished at Royal Decree 163/2019, which entered in force on July 1, 2019 and establishes the deadline for obtaining the aforementioned certificate by the manufacturers on March 31, 2021. “Otherwise, those plants that have not obtained this accreditation will not be able to commercialize concrete”, as underlined by the National Association of Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturers (Anefhop).
The Technical Instruction for the control of the concretes manufactured in the plant that compiles the RD163 is based on the current standard (EHE-08), which regulates the project, execution and control of concrete structures, both in building works as well as civil engineering, in order to achieve adequate safety of them, preserving it from the buildings that are supported by it and the users who use them.
As Anefhop sources recall, Royal Decree 163/2019 imposes as a requirement for concrete manufacturer plants the need to be audited by an accredited control authority and obtain this certificate. “This means complying with the EHE-08 normativity, carry out production control with objectives and corrective measures, implementing protocols for the control of volumes sold, and closed production software, guaranteed by the manufacturer and company general manager, among others things ”, point from the association.
According to the provisions of the RD, the production plants must undergo complete audits every four years, and documentary monitoring every two. The audit must be done by an entity accredited by ENAC (National Accreditation Entity). Aenor Internacional, Bureau Veritas Iberia and LGAI Technological Center (APPLUS) have been the first entities that have received this accreditation by the aforementioned organisation, according to the UNE-EN ISO 17065 standard, to act as a control auuthority in verifying the criteria concrete plants must comply with.
Anefhop has been working with its associates since the approval of the Royal Decree, in March 2019, to make it a reality in the concrete sector in Spain. The CEO, Carlos Peraíta, urges manufacturers to become certified as soon as possible, because “much of the 21-month deadline has already been used up and there is still much work to be done“. In his opinion, this RD will mean “a great change for the sector, to professionalize it and give value to the effort that many entrepreneurs have made for years, betting on quality.”
At the moment, there are 14 plants that have obtained certification and some more have already started the process. In Peraíta’s opinion, “these certifications are one more approach of the Spanish industry to the situation of the sector in other countries in our European environment”
Source: cicconstruccion.com
