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Standards & Best Practices

A full library of resources that are specific to concrete standards & best practices.

Industry Standards

Best Practices Guidelines

  • The Power Within: 10 Steps to Concrete Cylinder Care
  • SITE SAFE – Best Practice Guide for Concrete Supply

    The purpose of this “SITE SAFE” Best Practice Guide for Concrete Supply is to outline our commitment and expectations to safety of our employees and our construction partners. The policies and procedures outlined in this document are designed to promote a safe and healthy work environment for all parties.

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  • Recommended Guidelines for Environmental Practices for Canadian Ready Mixed Concrete Industry

    This document outlines environmental management practices that should be practical for the ready-mixed concrete industry with the intention of minimizing or reducing the potential environmental impacts resulting from plant operations. Ready mixed concrete producers may use this information as a guideline for constructing new plants or for the expansion and upgrade of existing plants. This document has no binding legal or regulatory status.

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  • Ready Mixed Concrete Driver Pump Safety Guidelines

    Concrete pumping is a very common and practical method used by contractors to place large volumes of concrete in an efficient and effective manner throughout North America. At a most basic level, a concrete pump is a piece of construction equipment that consists of the following key items: A receiving hopper that holds the concrete prior to pumping, a concrete pump that pressurizes the concrete to push it to the desired location over significant distances and discharge lines that are used to transport the concrete to its final point of discharge

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  • Pervious Concrete Specifiers Guidelines

    This sample guideline provides suggested wording for the construction of pervious concrete pavements including: materials, preparation, forming, placing, finishing, jointing, curing, and quality control. It also provides guidelines for testing, evaluation, and acceptance of pervious concrete pavement systems.

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  • Pervious Concrete Pavement Maintenance Guide (T-046)

    Pervious concrete pavement is a permeable pavement surface, typically with an underlying stone reservoir that temporarily stores surface runoff before it infiltrates into the subsoil. As such, a pervious concrete pavement is an intricate part of a designed storm water management system. Therefore, pervious concrete pavement requires specific maintenance compared with other practices. In addition to owners not being aware of pervious pavement on a site, not performing these maintenance activities is the chief reason for failure of the pervious pavement/storm water system.

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  • Municipal Concrete Technical Specification: Concrete Sidewalks, Curbs and Gutters

    The construction of concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutters is a daily occurrence in the province of Ontario, and very detailed specifications must be followed to provide municipalities with a durable, long-term product. Contractors and concrete suppliers must work collectively to provide exterior concrete flatwork that is both beautiful and durable when the optimal concrete performance mix is ordered, handled, placed, finished, cured and protected meeting the municipalities’ specifications. Every aspect of the project must be carefully planned to ensure the concrete, in its hardened state, will be resilient and visually appealing.

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  • Guideline for Delivering to Concrete Pumps

    Guideline for Delivering to Concrete Pumps has been developed by the Health and Safety Committee of the Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario (RMCAO) for its members.

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  • From Pour to Perfect Flatwork Brochure 2023
  • Employee Guidelines to Health & Safety

    Concrete Ontario is fully committed to establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment throughout the operations of its members that will meet/or exceed all legislative requirements according to Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations. Concrete Ontario will operate in an environment where “doing a job right is the safe way” and will strive to cultivate a proactive consciousness in all members and a sense of personal responsibility in the efforts to prevent accidental loss and maintain a healthy environment.

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  • Concrete Producer Guidelines for MTO Concrete Projects

    The purpose of this document is to identify key differences between MTO projects and Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) Sector projects. The document is intended for use by the concrete producer supplying concrete to an MTO project. This document attempts to identify what concrete producers may specifically encounter when supplying concrete to MTO projects, with the primary objective being to ensure that the concrete producer is aware of the potential benefits (and risks) associated with this type of work. The comments included in this document relate to MTO projects only and while Ontario municipalities use the OPSS documents as well, the MTO concrete acceptance methods are specific to MTO projects.

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  • Cold Stress Guideline for the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry

    During the winter months (October- March), workers in the ready mixed concrete management industry can face dangerously low temperatures, wet conditions and wind-chill exposure in the workplace. Excessive cold exposure may result in workers developing cold-related illnesses. Cold Environments and the Human Body A cold environment is defined as an environment under which greater than normal heat losses are anticipated and compensatory thermoregulatory actions are required.

    Cold is a physical hazard in many construction workplaces. When the body is unable to warm itself, serious cold-related illnesses and injuries may occur, leading to permanent tissue damage and even death. In a cold environment, the human body tries to maintain an internal (core) temperature within a narrow internal temperature range of 36 to 38 degrees Celsius (°C) by reducing heat loss and increasing heat production. When exposed to very cold temperatures, the most serious health concern is developing hypothermia or dangerous overcooling of the body. Another dangerous effect of exposure to cold temperatures is frostbite or freezing of extremities, such as the fingers, nose or ear lobes. Without immediate medical attention, these conditions could be fatal.

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  • Best Practices Guidelines for Concrete Construction

    The Best Practices Guidelines for Concrete Construction has been developed by the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) and the Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario (RMCAO) with the assistance of industry stakeholders.

    The purpose of this document is to recommend standard procedures and guidelines to the industry, including suppliers, manufacturers, general contractors and sub-contractors involved in the use of ready mixed concrete. By using these methods it is the goal of the Guideline to increase communication between all parties and reduce or minimize potential problems. OGCA and RMCAO both strongly recommend that participants use these procedures in the construction process.

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  • Best Practices Guideline for Self-Consolidating Concrete

    Self-Consolidating Concrete (SCC), also referred to as selfcompacting concrete, is able to flow and consolidate on its own. At the same time it is cohesive enough to fill spaces of almost any size and shape without segregation or bleeding. This makes SCC particularly useful wherever placing is difficult, such as in heavily reinforced concrete members or in complicated formwork. This technology, developed in Japan in the 1980s, is based on increasing the amount of fine material without changing the water content compared to conventional concrete. This changes the rheological behaviour of the concrete and produces the outstanding flow characteristics that are required for production.

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  • Best Management Practices for Municipal Concrete Infrastructure

    It is the intention of this guide to provide a resource for municipal staff, consultants, contractors and ready-mix concrete producers for municipal projects and to have a single resource for information on municipal concrete infrastructure across the province of Ontario. The Committee recognized the need to have a guide that summarizes the best practices across the province in order to provide consistency for contractors, consultants and ready-mix producers. Having everyone on the same page, no matter where they work, should reduce problems and improve communication on municipal infrastructure projects. Every effort has been made to address the known issues facing our industry today; however, this manual is only a synopsis of best practices available in the market and may not entirely address some of the issues encountered on municipal concrete projects. For further information, participants should continue to work with their local engineering professionals and industry partners to develop solutions for project specific issues.

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Ontario-Wide Municipal Concrete Mix Designs

  • Position Statement #7 Ontario-Wide Municipal Concrete Mix Designs

    Concrete Ontario members (legally Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario) will no longer issue concrete mix design submissions which are non-compliant to OPSS.MUNI 1350 (Nov. ’17) and CSA A23.1-19. This change will take effect for tenders closing on or after February 1, 2020. The concrete industry fully supports the Performance Alternative as is outlined in CSA A23.1-19 Table 5. Like any other industry, it is important that the concrete industry conducts product research and innovation and is aligned with all current CSA requirements and standards which reflect the latest material performance characteristics and limitations. Concrete Ontario recognizes that this means a change in some Municipal concrete specifications currently used.

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  • Ontario-Wide Concrete Mix Design Fillable

    Ontario-Wide Municipal Concrete Mix Design Submission – Municipal Exterior Flatwork Applications

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  • Municipal Concrete Technical Specification 2019

    The construction of concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutters is a daily occurrence in the province of Ontario, and very detailed specifications must be followed to provide municipalities with a durable, long-term product. Contractors and concrete suppliers must work collectively to provide exterior concrete flatwork that is both beautiful and durable when the optimal concrete performance mix is ordered, handled, placed, finished, cured and protected meeting the municipalities’ specifications. Every aspect of the project must be carefully planned to ensure the concrete, in its hardened state, will be resilient and visually appealing.

    Get the resource

Other Resources

applications

Applications

A full library of resources that are specific to concrete application.

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sustainability

Sustainability

A full library of resources that are specific to concrete sustainability.  

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safety

Safety

A full library of resources that are specific to safety within the concrete industry.

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transportation

Transportation

A full library of resources that are specific to concrete transportation.

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