Jul 26, 2016

How MOU partners around the world use ASTM standards.

MOU partners are using our standards to improve construction product quality and increase energy independence.

Construction Materials

In El Salvador, ASTM standards in areas such as steel are helping encourage business growth. For example, Ribelino Santos, quality and environment chief at Ternium Central America, says that his company has found an El Salvadoran standard based on ASTM standards to be very useful. Specifically, the standard for continuous galvanizing steel sheets has helped define the product for manufacturing; it also demonstrates to customers that "the specifications of the products defined for the Salvadoran market are based on internationally recognized standards like ASTM." Santos is a member of the Building Materials – Alloy Sheets Committee of the Organismo Salvadoreño de Normalizacion.

The Guyana Bureau of Standards reports that ASTM plastic pipe standards have been useful to companies in that country. For example, Guyana Thermoplastic Ltd. produces pipe that adheres to ASTM specifications, according to Roxan P. Bourne, senior information officer for the Guyana National Bureau of Standards. "ASTM is widely known for establishing high quality standards for manufacturers and suppliers globally," Bourne says. Notably, she says, the standards provide confidence in the manufacturing process, and they help companies reduce waste while improving manufacturing times. In addition, ASTM standards help manufacturers adjust the fabrication process to enhance quality.

Officials from Haiti's standards body (Bureau Haitien de Normalisation) participated in an ASTM cement and concrete standards workshop in Haiti. There, they talked with representatives from cement company CINA and from Build Change, a group helping to build disaster-resistant buildings, about using ASTM standards. BHN plans to adopt several ASTM standards, including specifications for ready mixed concrete, various types of cement, aggregate, concrete building brick and steel bars for concrete reinforcement.

Super plasticizers used in concrete help produce materials with high strength, fluidity and durability. The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority has developed a national standard based on an ASTM standard: Specification for Chemical Admixtures for Use in Producing Flowing Concrete (C1017). Pakistan also adopted ASTM standards for mineral admixtures (C1240, Specification for Silica Fume Used in Cementitious Mixtures, and C618, Specification for Coal Fly Ash and Raw or Calcined Natural Pozzolan for Use in Concrete). With these standards, conforming materials help ensure their successful application.

Energy Independence

Uruguay is working to lower its dependence on imported oil and make the most of renewable and local forms of energy. The use of biofuels is one pillar of this policy, and that use must be backed by technical specifications. The Uruguay government has asked its national standards body (Instituto Uruguayo de Normas Técnicas) to develop relevant standards. In particular, it has asked that ethanol standards follow ASTM standards such as the Specification for Ethanol Fuel Blends for Flexible-Fuel Automotive Spark-Ignition Engines (D5798).

ASTM has 92 MOUs with developing countries worldwide. Learn more about the ASTM MOU program.