In Canada, material standards for construction materials are largely developed through the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). These standards are updated over multi-year renewal schedules to reflect modern best practices and utilize a balanced committee structure of industry producers, raw material suppliers, academia and general interest representatives, service professionals, and users (i.e., government agencies) to achieve consensus and maximize standard use and adoption.
The most relevant standards to the cement and concrete industry are highlighted below.
CSA Standards for Cement
All cement used in concrete construction in Canada is manufactured to meet the requirements of the CSA A3000 compendium of cement standards. The standards that make up the compendium are as follows:
- CSA A3001 – Cementitious materials for use in concrete
- CSA A3002 – Masonry and mortar cement
- CSA A3003 – Chemical test methods for cementitious materials for use in concrete and masonry
- CSA A3004 – Test methods and standard practices for cementitious materials for use in concrete and masonry
- CSA A3005 – Test equipment and materials for cementitious materials for use in concrete and masonry
CSA Standards for Concrete
The majority of concrete structures in Canada conform to the requirements of the following standards:
- CSA A23.1 – Concrete materials and methods of concrete construction
- CSA A23.2 – Test methods and standard practices for concrete
- CSA A23.3 – Design of concrete structures CSA A23.4 – Precast concrete – Materials and construction
- CSA S269.1 – Falsework and formwork
- CSA S413 – Parking Structures
- CSA S6 – Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code
- CSA S806 – Design and construction of building structures with fibre-reinforced polymers
CSA Standards for Masonry
Most masonry structures in Canada conform to the requirements of the following standards:
- CSA A165.1 – Concrete block masonry units
- CSA A165.2 – Concrete brick masonry units
- CSA A165.3 – Prefaced concrete masonry units
- CSA A179 – Mortar and grout for unit masonry
- CSA A370 – Connectors for masonry
- CSA A371 – Masonry construction for buildings
- CSA S304 – Design of masonry structures
The above-noted standards can be purchased directly from the Canadian Standards Association.