Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) Plants

Plant and field laboratory equipment for RMC producers — cube testing, workability, aggregate control and the mix design that has to hold on site.

The 28-day cube is the only number in this sector anyone argues about, and most of the arguments are not about the concrete. They are about how the sample was taken, whether the cube faces were plane enough to load evenly, and what temperature the curing tank actually sat at through May — IS 516 specifies 27 ± 2 °C, and an uncontrolled tank in an Indian summer is nowhere near it. A plant laboratory with a thermostatically controlled tank, a compression machine whose calibration is current and enough moulds that none are reused warm has removed most of its dispute risk before the first batch leaves the gate. The remainder sits in aggregate control, which is where a mix design quietly drifts.

Tests run here

  • Compressive strength of concrete cubes at 7 and 28 days
  • Slump, compacting factor and flow table for workability
  • Fresh concrete density, temperature and air content
  • Sieve analysis, silt content and moisture correction on aggregate
  • Specific gravity and water absorption of coarse and fine aggregate
  • Trial mixes and verification of mix proportions
  • Chloride content and pH of mixing water

Governed by

  • IS 4926 — Ready-mixed concrete, code of practice
  • IS 456 — Plain and reinforced concrete, code of practice
  • IS 516 — methods of tests for strength of concrete
  • IS 1199 — sampling and testing of fresh concrete
  • IS 10262 — concrete mix proportioning guidelines
  • IS 383 — coarse and fine aggregate for concrete
  • QCI Ready Mix Concrete Plant Certification Scheme (RMCPCS)
  • NABL accreditation under ISO/IEC 17025

What this sector draws on

Send us your test schedule for this laboratory.

We will map it to grades, pack sizes and instrument specifications, and flag anything that is over-specified for what you are actually measuring.