News Detail

Dedicated to Concrete Repair

11/27/2013

Why the concrete industry needs ACI 562-13 “Code Requirements for Evaluation, Repair, and Rehabilitation of Concrete Buildings and Commentary”

Concrete is a long-lasting, durable material that can last up to 200 years or more when properly maintained and repaired. ACI’s new educational resources and concrete repair code provide guidance on the design, construction, and material selection involved in repairing concrete…

Why concrete requires repair

Concrete deteriorates when subjected to many environments -- concrete exposed to freezing-and-thawing cycles may experience disintegration; chloride penetration from deicing salts or sea water, carbonation of the concrete, and inadequate concrete cover depths results in reinforcement corrosion; and the resulting expansion due to corrosion byproducts can cause cracking and delamination of the concrete. Fire, earthquakes, chemical spills, overloading, impact, or foundation settlement will often result in spalling, disintegration, cracking, or failure of the concrete element or structure. Defects caused by improper detailing or design, construction practices, or faulty materials can result in inadequate structural capacity, premature deterioration, or aesthetic issues

The growth of the concrete repair industry in the past 25 years has resulted in the need for many improvements in materials, design practice, installation procedures, contracting processes, quality control/quality assurance procedures, and education.

The concrete repair, protection, and strengthening industry is driven by deterioration of, damage to, and defects in concrete structures, along with changes in use and code requirements. Concrete has variations in both design and performance and will eventually begin to deteriorate. The concrete repair industry was in need of a set of rules for better repair performance and to provide direction for building officials to achieve the highest quality concrete repair possible.

Controlled density fill removal.

Why write ACI 562?

While concrete is a long-lasting, durable material that can last up to 200 years or more; however, not all concrete repairs are performing satisfactorily due to design, construction, and material selection choices. Each concrete structure is repaired differently, by different people, in different circumstances. And, until now, there has been no codified direction for repair practice. ACI 562 “Code Requirements for Evaluation, Repair, and Rehabilitation of Concrete Buildings and Commentary” establishes the required minimum repair practice conditions, and achieves protections, quality assurance, and safety for building structures.

ACI 562 “Code Requirements for Evaluation, Repair, and Rehabilitation of Concrete Buildings and Commentary” was written to establish rules for better performance and emphasizes performance-based rather than prescriptive requirements. It encourages creativity and flexibility, promotes innovation and new materials, establishes responsibilities, enhances life safety, and provides sustainable and economic alternatives. This code document helps to determine the design basis for repairs; create a preliminary evaluation of substantial structural damage, analysis, design, and durability; and promote quality assurance, maintenance, and monitoring.

ACI 562 is applicable to existing concrete buildings; superstructures, foundations, and precast elements; composite members; and nonbuilding structures (when required). Its impact will provide cost savings for repair in the billions of dollars. These requirements will lead to clear specifications, increased quality, and safer structures.

Grout injection

Educational resources

ACI’s Profession Development team has partnered with the International Concrete Repair Institute on a free webinar on ACI 562. The webinar includes an overview of the contents, reasons for and motivation behind the development of the Repair Code, the overall philosophy and organization of the material, and the future direction of the Repair Code and related educational material development. You can also download a PDF of the presentation slides. A PDF of questions and responses given during the presentation can be found here.

ACI also provides continuing education credit through our Online CEU program here. The title of the course is "Introduction to the Concrete Repair Code (ACI 562)." It is $25 to take the course, but ACI members can use one of their 8 free CEU tokens they receive each membership year to take the course for free.

For more information or to order a copy of ACI 562-13, please visit the ACI store.

The International Concrete Repair Institute is also a valuable resource for concrete repair. Please visit their website at http://www.icri.org/.