The Need for Regulations For Private Labs Certification Waleed Khaled Eid, PhD Consultant, Sematco Soil and Engineering Material Testing Co. W.L.L.
Outline Current Practice in Kuwait Sematco Soil & Engineering Material Testing Co. WLL Certification & Accreditation of Sematco Take Away Key Messages
Current Practice in Kuwait All private labs are licensed through Ministry of Commerce. No inspection or accreditation is required. If private lab wishes to provide services to Kuwait Municipality, approval of Practicing Engineering Profession Committee is required. No inspection or accreditation is required.
Current Practice in Kuwait If private lab wishes to provide services to government agencies, it has to register in the ministry s approved list of contractors. Documents required are the license, lab profile and may be the financial sheet. No inspection or accreditation is required.
Current Practice in Kuwait If private lab wishes to provide services to oil sector companies and organizations, it has to go through the registration process and get on the list of approved contractors. No inspection or accreditation is required.
Current Practice in Kuwait Upon the request of the private lab, Ministry of Public Works, Government Testing Center, will issue a Lab Certification after sending an inspection team to the lab facility. This certificate is rarely used in the different projects.
Current Practice in Kuwait In short certification is not required to open a lab facility in the State of Kuwait, practice material testing and issue testing reports and act as a third party inspector in the construction projects.
Current Practice in Kuwait Additional Points: Most quality work contracts are done through the main contractor and not through the consultant, this might create friction and conflicts Many contracts require the contractor to set up on site lab for material quality control.
Sematco Soil & Engineering Material Testing Co. WLL SEMATCO was established in 1995 as a specialized company in the field of engineering services, consultation, third party inspection and material testing. Personnel includes PhD, M.Sc. and B.Sc. holders in the field of Engineering with experience reaching to 30 years Fully equipped labs with latest technology and field testing equipment
Vision Sematco Soil & Engineering Material Testing Co. WLL To become the leading company in offering engineering services (material testing, third party inspection, consultation and engineering support services) to the Kuwaiti construction market.
Mission Sematco Soil & Engineering Material Testing Co. WLL To offer quality engineering services to the Kuwaiti construction market, utilizing the latest technology in testing equipment that is operated by well trained personnel as per international standards.
Sematco Soil & Engineering Material Testing Co. WLL Major Fields of Services: 1. Soil Investigation and in-situ testing (on shore & off shore) 2. Material Sampling & Testing (soils, aggregates, concrete and water) 3. Technical & Engineering Support 4. Third Party Inspection 5. Surveying (buildings, topographic and bathymetric)
Sematco Soil & Engineering Material Testing Co. WLL Personnel Equipment Process
Quality Control Measures in Personnel Sematco 1. Qualified Technicians with continuous training (Kuwaiti market lacks good certified technicians) 2. Encourage staff to be certified from different agencies like ACI, PE 3. Have library of international standards (ASTM, AASHTO, BS) and manuals (ACI).
Quality Control Measures in Equipment Sematco 1. All testing equipments are computer controlled 2. All equipments have up to date calibration certificates
Process Quality Control Measures in Sematco 1. Developed Procedures Manual 2. All Reports are computer generated with data entry at testing point. 3. Reports are printed on none copy able papers 4. Usage of Job Tracking System (Lab Information System)
Quality Control Measures in Sematco Process 5. All reports are revised and issued to conform to international standards. 6. Register with all government and oil sector agencies. 7. Certified from MPW 8. Accredited lab for total management system with ISO 9001 9. Working currently to obtain ISO 17025 10.Member of International Societies ASTM, ILAC, ACI
Take Away Key Messages Laboratory market should be regulated. Regular certification process should be implemented by MPW or KSE. None certified labs should not be allowed into government projects and projects supervised by consultants offices. Material quality control contracts should be independent of the contractor.
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