Civil contractors are urged to be vigilant about all aspects of materials testing following advice from Transport for NSW that it had identified missing, incorrect or fraudulent materials testing results on some road infrastructure projects.
The concerns cover on-site testing practices and lab testing processes, and there are indications the issue sits across several parts of the testing chain.
Following discussions with a range of industry and government representatives, CCF NSW believes ICAC may become involved, if not already.
Industry has also become aware of the following serious elements of the issue:
- This appears to be a widespread issue with both the field-based testing of road products, and the testing of road construction progress.
- It is not just the testing of materials that appears to be of concern, but also the quality of construction and how this quality is tested on site.
- The affected testing is mainly under the control of contractors who must ensure they have rigorous oversight of testing work, and especially subcontractors’ use of testing processes.
- The testing issues appear to arise from a range of serious misconduct, including apparent falsification of effort (i.e. whether works are completed or not), possible falsification of whether sampling of testing was done (at all), right through to possible falsification of laboratory testing that is obviously incorrect but not being checked by contractors or subcontractors.
- There is a sense that testing across the chain has become slack or worse, leading to risks of external (i.e. ICAC) investigation, and concerns that lack of testing oversight may mean warranties made by contractors risk being on the basis of falsified testing.
Transport wants to see an overhaul of the testing culture, and they expect contractors to have full oversight of all testing undertaken on any TFNSW project (at any level, including testing commissioned by subcontractors).
What this means for members
- Civil contractors engaged on TfNSW projects must prioritise, review, and strengthen their approach to managing materials testing, especially ensuring it is occurring correctly at the subcontractor level.
- Ensure you have materials testing protocols and oversight, and document them and be ready to communicate them to Transport for NSW and government clients.
- This includes documenting the ongoing actions you are undertaking to plan, verify, and audit testing activities to make sure they comply with regulatory requirements and standards.
- There are serious risks to warranties if testing is not being conducted correctly.
- NSW civil contractors must ensure they have full line of sight in relation to all testing conducted on their projects.
- Contractors are reminded to report any suspected wrongdoing in relation to materials testing directly to Transport for NSW.
Civil contractors working on TfNSW projects will also be asked to communicate how they will undertake and improve the quality of material testing on Transport projects. This will likely to extend to projects for other NSW Government agencies.
For more information, please see the following alert on the Transport Infrastructure Industry Portal.