GNBS to implement new hollow block standard

In its attempt to provide quality products to the consuming public, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) would be undertaking a countrywide campaign aimed at assisting manufacturers of hollow blocks to provide consumers with products of a standardised high quality.
This was revealed by the GNBS on Monday when it announced that it had successfully passed the Concrete Hollow Block Standard. It has been indicated that manufacturers would be responsible for having their hollow blocks tested to ensure they possess the required PSI (pound per square inch) before being placed on the local and international markets.
Kenrick Singh, a laboratory technician of the GNBS, related that the GNBS is working towards having standard requirements which all manufacturers can follow.
“We’ve had the Hollow Blocks Standards passed, and we’re going to get all the manufacturers to register with us, so that they could manufacture to one specific PSI,” he said.
He noted that manufacturers are responsible for having their standards fully compliant with those of the GNBS, lest they be restricted from marketing their blocks to consumers. This will ensure that only superior materials are produced in Guyana.
In this case, the new standard that will be used in PSI readings is GYS 215:2002 for load-bearing blocks, and GYS 216:2002 for non-load-bearing blocks.
Singh noted that while the hollow block is first and foremost on the GNBS agenda, standards are currently being drafted for PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipes produced in Guyana. The standards being tested for will be GYS 99:2010, ASTM D 1785-06, also in PSI readings.
“For the PVC pipes, it’s the burst pressure, and this is a newly introduced testing which we’ve introduced for the testing of PVC pipes,” he explained.
“We will be testing the pipes and hollow blocks of all the manufacturers in the country, to see if they reach the standards that they say that they are,” Singh disclosed.
Consultations conducted in various regions of Guyana last year encouraged manufacturers to participate in discussions in relation to the drafts that would be made, in order to simplify the passing of the Concrete Hollow Block Standard. This decision flowed from the fact that many contractors and homeowners were raising concerns about the poor quality of concrete hollow blocks being sold by manufacturers.
In a few days’ time, tests will be conducted to ensure that the blocks are of the PSI touted by the manufacturers, and also to determine whether they surpass the new standards set by the GNBS. This goes with the bureau’s mission to improve the services and goods produced in Guyana through standardisation.