Housing in Southern Africa October 2015

Industry Buzz, Events & Products

Groundbreaking year for SARMA

E xpect more from the ready- mix industry in the future was the message from the AGM. SARMA's hard work and planning has culminated in professionalising the industry, as well as the widespread adoption of certified readymix as the construction material of choice by the country’s most influential construction bodies. Simultaneously, the country’s main contracting firms, as well as government parastatal such as the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) and other state owned entities have also specified that only SARMA certified readymix concrete may be used on their sites. SARMA President, Deon Fourie explains, “This had the knock-on ef- fect of attracting a growing number of non-member readymix suppliers, who have begun working tirelessly to meet membership requirements to become part of the association. Waterproofing contracts a .b.e. Construction Chemicals’ VIP Polyurea coating was re- cently specified for the mini dam water feature at Number on Brae in TheWillows, Pretoria.The Ger- man Voelkel Industrie Produkte (VIP) range is licensed and distributed by a.b.e Construction Chemicals. Noel Abendroth from a.b.e. says that the VIP QuickSeal LP 65 was selected for the new water feature with a small windmill and mini-dam which adds a rural atmosphere of the venue.

Themessage from the South African Readymix Association’s (SARMA) Annual General Meeting is that 2015 will go down as the most groundbreaking year since the establishment of the organisation.

As a result membership has grown in leaps and bounds with growth of 11% in accredited member numbers during 2015.” He added, “This is good news for the local construction industry, as it ensures our construction projects have world-class concrete. It also ensures that acceptable minimum standards are maintained that will put an end to building collapses and ramshackle houses as a result of in- ferior products being used.” Speaking at the recent event, he concluded that these developments mark a watershed as the construc- tion industry embraces quality over price. “SARMA certified members comply with the regulations and The main contractor, C&M Projects, Pretoria specified “Quickseal LP 65 is a modified polyurea elastomer especially designed for easy, lowpres- sure waterproofing applications. The product contains no solvents or VOCs and provides an economical lining for awide range of applications requiring robust, durable, flexible water-tight membranes.” VIP Polyureawas speci- fied bymain contractor Deco Systems for the Protea Hotel in Sea Point to seal leaks on the existing parking deck. Thermoseal was applied to the 1 220m² area and VIP Polyurea Quick- seal MP 250, amodified Polyurea, was used for this project with an Aliphatic polyurethane topcoat. At the Fury

had often been undercut by non- compliant readymix suppliers. This not only jeopardised the integrity of the structure but also led to unfair competition,” said Fourie. He thanked SARMA’s General Man- ager, Johan van Wyk for increasing the number of organisations that will only use accredited readymix and slowly winning the fight to profes- sionalise readymix concrete in South Africa. “Under his leadership the Asso- ciation is also throwing its weight behind adopting new standards for readymix, as well as pushing for higher standards from the country’s laboratories when it comes to dealing with concrete.” ■ Fordmotor dealership inWoodmead, Johannesburg, Custom Linings ap- plied VIP Quickseal PP 350 on sealing expansion joints on the parking ramp to ensure that water did not leak into the shops below. “VIP QuickSeal PP 350 is a spray-applied, instant curing flexiblemembrane that canbe built to any thickness in one application. Very cold, very hot or even very humid en- vironments do not affect curing time or physical performance of the prod- uct which provides flexible, seamless, hard-wearing substrate protection. Its rapid spray application and instant curing characteristics results in short- er shutdown times than traditional systems,” says Abendroth. ■

October 2015