Construction Material Quality Control Centre Slated

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Laos and China have agreed to cooperate in the construction sector, aiming to guarantee and improve of quality of construction materials in Laos.

An agreement to build the new laboratory and quality control centre for construction materials was signed recently in Vientiane between acting Director General of the Department of Standardisation and Metrology under the Ministry of Sciences and Technology, Mr Viengthong Vongthavilay and the President of Lao Chengjian Quality and Technology Services Co., Ltd, Mr Zhang Qiao Quan

The quality of construction is of paramount importance for the safety of the public and for the proper stewardship of the revenue expended for infrastructure construction and maintenance, officials said

The cooperation agreement ceremony was attended by Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Dr Boviengkham Vongdara.

The new laboratory will open in 2017 monitoring construction materials coming into the country at the immigration and customs stations at borders in the north, central and southern parts of Laos.

Mr Viengthong said several years ago, the ministry had placed a priority on developing its human resources in the field of standards so they could conduct more quality inspections and present standards certificates to businesses nationwide that had met the required benchmarks.

Another goal is to seek cooperation with regional and international bodies for assistance with funding and personnel exchanges on standards to guarantee and improve the quality of all sectors because we lack good quality employees compared with neighbouring countries including China, Mr Viengthong said.

The centre will serve as a hub for resource development and facilitate cooperation between Lao and Chinese technicians in regards to laboratory services and field research, he added .

I think that the laboratory will play an important role in assurance quality in the construction materials sector, Mr Viengthong said.

The construction materials laboratory will have modern laboratory equipment and highly qualified staff, who can ensure consistently high product quality, he said.

The new laboratory will be able to monitor all construction materials imported from neighbouring countries, he stressed. This will include new products and applications as well as concrete formulas.

According to the ministry, standards certificates have now been presented to over 100 businesses in food and construction including table salt, cassava powder and other foods plus timber used in the construction sector and a Savannakhet cement manufacturer Oulayphanith Company Ltd which had complied with ISO 9001 certification.

 

Source: Vientiane Times