SEDL / STP / STP1378-EB / STP13932S

Certification and Accreditation Programs: A Contractor's Perspective

West, RC
Director and materials engineer, APAC, Inc., Materials Services, Smyrna, GA

Lynn, TA
Director and materials engineer, APAC, Inc., Materials Services, Smyrna, GA

Pages: 6    Published: Jan 1999

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Abstract

In recent years, the highway paving community has made notable strides to improve the quality of asphalt pavements that we all trust will ultimately result in longer lasting roads. The most conspicuous of these improvements is Superpave which has ushered in better asphalt binder characterization and mix design procedures. Coupled with Quality Control/Quality Assurance (QC/QA) programs it has also created a need for education and reeducation that will likely have as much of a positive impact on the HMA industry as the new test methods. All of these developments make technician certification and laboratory accreditation programs indispensable. This paper provides a contractor's perspective of certification and accreditation. The need for standardized certification and accreditation programs is presented and discussed.