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Canadian Infrastructure Technology Assessment Centre - proving product performance
Baker, T.H.W.
A version of this paper is published in / Une version de ce document se trouve dans: Milestones, v. 2,no. 1, Feb. 2002, pp. 16-17
www.nrc.ca/irc/ircpubs NRCC-45373
CANADIAN INFRASTRUCTURE
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
CENTRE:
Proving Product Performance
By Harry Baker
The value of Ontario’s infrastructure is worth,
according to a 1997 estimate, a staggering $200 billion – about $17,000 for every man, woman and child in the province. And the figure keeps growing. In 2000, the provincial government alone invested over $7.7 billion in infrastructure, $2 billion of which was in provincial and municipal roads.
Every day provincial and municipal employees face tough decisions on not just protecting but
enhancing the enormous investment in infrastructure. Their challenge is to make those decisions as
effectively and economically as possible.
Easier said than done. Governments, whether provincial or municipal, have an overwhelming range of products and services from which to select and clearly their staff cannot be expected to be familiar with everything on offer. Suppliers, on the other hand, have to cope with an equally bewildering spectrum of specifications and requirements depending on which jurisdiction is specifying the work.
Government agencies and suppliers alike need help to make those infrastructure decisions - decisions that can only be made with sound advice based on experience and solid laboratory testing and field performance evaluation.
In 1997, the National Research Council established the Canadian Infrastructure Technology Assessment Centre to provide just such advice: technically sound, objective evaluations of new and innovative infrastructure technologies.
Objective Evaluation: A Much Needed Service: The Canadian Infrastructure Technology Assessment
Centre is not the first of the National Research Council’s independent evaluation centres. The Canadian Construction Materials Centre, under whose umbrella CITAC operates, has been supporting innovation and technology transfer for building products since 1988.
CCMC now has an on-line registry for more than 500 products. Using the CCMC Registry on-line, building professionals can access technical data and assessments for materials,
IN
SIGHT
Established: 1997
Organization: CITAC operates under the umbrella of the Canadian
Construction Materials Centre as part of the National Research Council of Canada
Objective: CITAC evaluates new technology for infrastructure construction and maintenance products and services
• Helping provincial ministries and municipalities evaluate and select new technology
• Helping manufacturers gain product acceptance
A CITAC Assessment:
• Provides the regulators and purchasers with a independent, reliable technical opinion
• Ensures product compliance with requirements across Canada
• Eliminates the need for new product demonstrations or assessments in every province, territory municipality;
• Helps proponents of new technologies get early market acceptance
Website:
products and construction systems and use this invaluable tool at every stage of the building process to check plans, assess the acceptability of products and review their installation.
The Centre for Canadian Infrastructure Technology Assessment Centre will play a similar role in infrastructure design and maintenance, building on CCMC’s established and highly regarded model of product evaluation.
CITAC provided an independent assessment of new infrastructure technologies based on constructability, product performance, quality, durability and environmental characteristics. Once a product or service has been evaluated and shown to meet performance requirements, CITAC publishes an evaluation report to encourage the use of the new technology.
This process benefits both suppliers and agencies. Manufacturers and suppliers gain more than just a verification of the quality of their products and services. They also gain exposure to the multi-billion dollar infrastructure market.
Owners and operators, on the other hand, no longer have to bear the cost or take the time to do their own product evaluations. They also gain a marked degree of comfort by specifying and using CITAC evaluated products. They can become technological leaders knowing that they are specifying products with a proven record – in other words, the reward for innovation with far less risk.
The Evaluation Process
In order to maintain credibility both for itself and for the products and services that it evaluates, CITAC has established a strict evaluation process.
The manufacturer or supplier starts the process by applying for an evaluation. If the product or service meets eligibility requirements, CITAC develops a scope and evaluation plan. Its evaluation officers survey municipalities and provincial departments to find out what their performance requirements and concerns are and then, armed with a practical guide to
performance parameters, develop an initial testing schedule.
At the conclusion of this technical scan, a manufacturer can choose to either proceed with a full evaluation or withdraw and make modifications. Indeed, some manufacturers use this as an opportunity to determine the evaluation requirements while their products are still under
development.
If the decision is made to proceed, CITAC then develops a technical guide that includes the testing methodology and performance criteria.
“Developing the evaluation criteria is crucial at this point in the process,” explains Dr. Arthur Carty, President of the National Research Council. “We want to evaluate these products against real-life requirements and expectations. Is the product easy to use? Does it perform as is claimed? What are its life-cycle costs? What are the quality control and maintenance
requirements? How does the product address health, safety and environmental issues?” “We rely on advice from the best available technical experts within the National Research Council’s Institute for Research in Construction, universities and specialized
consultants throughout Canada with guidance from provincial and municipal technical resources to tell us exactly what sort of performance is needed.”
With the methodology established, CITAC gives the technical guide back to the manufacturer since it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to arrange for the testing and performance measurement.
CITAC also provides the manufacturer with a list of recommended testing agencies. While NRC has considerable expertise in testing and evaluation of infrastructure products and services, there is no specific requirement that its services are used. Testing can be performed with equal validity by independent laboratories or universities if that is where the technical expertise resides.
If the test results show that the product or service meets all the evaluation criteria, CITAC then writes its evaluation report. It also assigns a CCMC number to identify the product. The manufacturer can use this number on its packaging and in its literature to identify that it has completed a successful evaluation. The number also links to the evaluation report in the registry.
An evaluation process typically takes a year to complete, but the time is highly dependent complexity of the product or process.
Growing Support:
CITAC has been growing steadily and there is now wide support across Canada for its service. To date, nine provincial transportation ministries and eight major municipalities have expressed their strong support for the service.
As Alan McRae, Executive Director, Specialized Support Services, Nova Scotia
Department of Transportation and Public Works, noted, “... the independent assessments done by CITAC (are) a useful tool in determining the suitability of products for our use.”
CITAC has also developed an alliance with the Ontario Good Road Association’s internet-based product information services, The Road Authority and The Infra Authority
through which CITAC will provide third party evaluation for products profiled on these sites and seeking "acceptance for use" MTO and Ontario municipalities. (See sidebar below: CITAC, OGRA and TRA).
Currently, CITAC has received 14 applications for evaluations including products for pavement rehabilitation, on-site wastewater treatment equipment, and trenchless technology. Harry Baker is an Evaluation Officer with CITAC. He has a B. Sc. and M. Sc. degree in civil engineering from Queen’s University. He has been with the National Research Council since 1973.
CITAC, OGRA and TRA
A New Way to Evaluate Products
In June 1999, the Canadian Infrastructure Technology Assessment Centre and OGRA announced the new working relationship between CITAC and The Road Authority.
The Road Authority is OGRA’s internet-based information resource that stores, manages and classifies infrastructure products, services and technical solutions for the Ontario
transportation and municipal public works sectors.
As the manager of "Designated Source for Materials" profiles for Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and for a number of municipalities, TRA uses a province-wide product
management committee to classify its product listings.
As Guy Cautillo, Senior Manager, Materials Engineering and Research Office, Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, explains “The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario and The
Ontario Good Roads Association use TRA as the entry point for requests for acceptance of new products. A Product Management Committee classifies the products but for a product to receive the highest classification (a top level requiring acceptance and use in some jurisdictions) it must be evaluated by a recognized third party assessment agency such as CITAC.”
CITAC will provide evaluation services to TRA’s manufacturing and services clients and will help TRA promote its web service on a national level.
TRA will provide access through its web site to CITAC’s evaluation reports.
