31 March 2016

Costain’s on-site materials testing laboratories have successfully maintained their ISO 17025 accreditation for another year for a wide range of activities.

The accreditation, the gold standard for all testing and calibration labs, was awarded by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the Government-backed national accreditation body. Its auditors inspected all six of Costain’s on-site labs earlier this year.

Costain is one of the few organisations to have been granted Flexible Scope of Accreditation by UKAS, enabling it to quickly set up a lab on site at a project and obtain accreditation as soon as the lab is operational.

It currently has labs at the Heysham to M6 Link Road; Bond Street (LUL); A556 Knutsford; Ainley Top; Felixstowe; and A465 Heads of Valley, with more planned to support a growing portfolio of projects. Their skilled teams test concrete, aggregates, soils, and fills and earthwork materials and, because they are integrated within the site teams, can provide rapid turnaround and on-the-spot interpretation of test results. As well as standard tests, they can also carry out specialist tests not available on the open market.

The teams also contribute to the project strategic planning adding value. As Richard Helme, Project Manager at the Heysham to M6 Link Road commented: “Having the onsite UKAS accredited lab has enabled the project to benefit by efficiently integrating the testing requirements into the complex production schedule. This collaborative approach has helped us to fully understand the projects needs and adds real time value.”

Summed up Bhavika Ramrakhyani, Costain Group Lab Quality Manager: “Having fully audited, UKAS accredited systems shows our customers that we offer complete assurance and confidence in our on-site operations.”

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