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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
OCTOBER
2015
READYMIX
The year 2015 will go down as the
most ground breaking year since the
establishment of the Southern Africa
Readymix Association (Sarma) more than a
decade ago, as industry organisations repre-
senting engineers, contractors and building
professionals accept Sarma certification as
the criteria for all readymix supplied to their
members’ construction sites.
Simultaneously, the country’s main
contracting firms, as well as parastatal organ-
isations including the South African National
Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and other
Government entities have also specified that
only Sarma certified readymix concrete may be
used on their sites.
Growing support
“This had the knock-on effect of attracting a
growing number of non-member readymix
suppliers who have begun working tirelessly to
meet membership requirements and become
part of the association. As a result membership
has grown in leaps and bounds with growth of
11% in accreditedmember numbers during 2015.
“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 main-
tained that will put an end to building collapses
and ramshackle houses as a result of inferior
products being used,” says Sarma president,
Deon Fourie.
Speaking at the association’s annual general
meeting recently, he said that these develop-
ments mark a watershed as the construction
industry embraces necessary quality over
price. Sarma certified members cannot cut
corners and had sometimes been undercut by
non-compliant readymix suppliers. This not only
jeopardised the integrity of the structure but also
led to unfair competition.
Ongoing initiative
“Thanks to the efforts of general manager, Johan
van Wyk’s role-players across the country and
increasing amount of organisations are seeing
the benefits of using only accredited readymix
and he is slowly winning the fight to profession-
alise readymix concrete in South Africa.
BEST YEAR EVER
Expect more from the readymix industry in future as years of hard
work and planning culminate in the professionalisation of the
industry and the widespread adoption of certified readymix as the
construction material of choice by the country’s most influential
construction bodies.
“Under his leadership the association is also
throwing its weight behind the setting up and
adoption of new modern-day standards for
readymix, as well as pushing for higher stan-
dards of testing from the country’s laboratories
when it comes to dealing with concrete. In
addition, there are also moves afoot to start a
cleanup squad to remove concrete spills from
our roadways, as well as new training initiatives
to improve the skills of concrete workers and
professionals,” Fourie summarised.
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Sarma Chairman, Deon Fourie.