Position Statement #4
Minimum Cement Content Specifications
The practice of specifying minimum cement
contents is a Prescriptive Specification as
defined by CSA A23.1 and the owner shall
be solely responsible for the concrete
performance “as delivered”.
With the Prescriptive Concrete Specification,
the concrete producer’s only responsibility is
to ensure that the plant, equipment and all
materials used in the concrete comply with
CSA A23.1 and the contract specifications.
These requirements will be achieved through
the utilization of RMCAO’s Plant Certification
Program.
The concrete industry offers no comment
regarding performance or durability of the
prescriptive requirements to meet the
owner’s concrete requirements.
The concrete producer assumes no
responsibility for issues related to
compressive strength, concrete durability
or performance since the owner has selected
a prescriptive method of concrete
specification.
The owner is also responsible for indicating
mix design modifications to address any
concrete quality concerns raised by the
concrete testing program or workability
concerns raised by the contractor. The
concrete producer will revise their material
supply quotation based upon these
modifications.
We would like to point out that minimum
cement contents, as currently specified in
OPSS 1350 and various ACI standards, only
guarantee the minimum amount of cement in
the mix and not the minimum durability of the
concrete. These specifications, in most cases,
are also quite dated and do not reflect the
current state of the art in the concrete
industry.
The concrete industry would prefer that
concrete be specified using the CSA A23.1
performance option by specifying the class of
exposure, the maximum w/cm, the minimum
compressive strength [at age] and air
entrainment requirements. For Class N
concrete the owner/designer should specify
the maximum w/cm ratio and minimum
strength.
Please note that w/cm ratio and strength are
interrelated and specifications that include
concrete requirements such as 0.45 w/cm
ratio and a 20 MPa strength lead to contractor
ordering problems when 20 MPa concrete is
ordered at time of placement rather than the
0.45 w/cm ratio concrete specified.
Quality Product, Total Performance and
Customer Satisfaction are very important to
the RMCAO.
We would be pleased to answer any
questions you may have.
905-507-1122
905-890-8122 Fax
info@rmcao.org
www.rmcao.org
Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario
112003-4