Steel identification
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Verification of deliveries
Recently, extremely alarming cases of counterfeiting by dishonest suppliers of control documents for reinforcing steel have been frequently reported. The products that are delivered for construction in such cases, most often come from other manufacturers and have different properties than those declared in the documents.
Regarding these materials, there is a high risk that they have not been placed on the market in accordance with the provisions of Polish law, and their quality is lower than declared. The consequences associated with their purchase may be extremely severe, in particular for construction contractors, therefore it is recommended to take decisive and quick steps to train employees responsible for deliveries of reinforcing steel on the construction site in the recognition of the authenticity of documents and the material itself.
Control documents
In Poland, the control document issued by the reinforcing steel manufacturer for the purposes of a specific order is "acceptance certificate typ. 3.1 ", prepared based on the PN-EN 10204 standard. This document should contain mainly the following information:
- the name and address of the manufacturer,
- the name and address of the orderer, the buyer of steel directly from the manufacturer,
- description of the product - name of the species, diameters, lengths of rods, number of beams, etc.,
- control data - in the case of acceptance certificates 3.1, the manufacturer should provide the results of control tests carried out on samples forming part of the contract. The document should show the results of the tensile test, chemical analysis and other tests required by the reference document,
- producer's statement that the product complies with the terms of the order or reference documents referred to in the document,
- the "B" mark certifying compliance with the relevant Polish Standard or the National Technical Assessment (Technical Approval), authorizing the product to be placed on the market.
An acceptance certificate should be provided for each order. Any irregularities, such as the lack of ordering data (or stamp in this place), the lack of some results of check tests, very low quality copies of the document or the price of the product much lower than the market, may indicate falsification - in this case you must verify the certificate producer's.
Permanent marking of rods
Delivery control of reinforcing steel should, in addition to completing and checking the documentation, also rely on the verification of the material itself by inspecting the surface of the bars. The reinforcing steel is marked permanently by:
- unique ribbing pattern, typical for a given steel grade,
- producer's number,
- other voluntary permanent marking (e.g. EPSTAL inscription).
Because together with the forged construction control document, material of unknown origin is supplied, usually with properties other than those declared, it is extremely important to be able to recognize the type and origin of reinforcing steel on the basis of its surface. The pattern of ribbing varies depending on the type of steel - all guidelines can be found in the appropriate reference document.
The information about the plant in which it was produced should also be coded on each rod. This marking, in accordance with the requirements of the PN-EN 10080 standard, takes place by thickening the appropriate ribs, which gives the opportunity to read the manufacturer's number - each manufacturer has its own unique number. The beginning of the marking is marked by two successive thickened ribs. The number of the producer concerned is read as the number of non-thick ribs between the thickened ribs.
An undeniable impediment for falsifiers is the permanent marking of products with an additional sign or number, the best example of which is the marking of EPSTAL steel. It would be very difficult and expensive to make a falsification of such marking. That is why this steel is the safest on the market - seeing EPSTAL on the rod you can be sure about the grade and properties of the product. For the sake of their safety, contractors should prefer the purchase of permanently marked reinforcing steel. In addition, the big advantage is the fact that EPSTAL steel, due to its properties, can replace all other common steel reinforcement grades in Poland. Permanent marking of EPSTAL steel with the inscription has been approved by the Building Research Institute in tests of adhesion of concrete steel (see more).
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