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From the beginning of twentieth century, cement concrete and cement mortar based on ordinary Portland cement have been accepted as the main building materials for the construction of buildings and the infrastructures, considering the ease, speed and the strength they offer. But this new building material, which is the ordinary Portland cement, suffered from some initial drawbacks such as shrinkage cracks and leakages when compared to the then existed lime concrete and lime mortar. So this product needed some modifications to get over its inherent weaknesses, which was achieved by use of some chemicals.
With the increase in demand for bigger, higher and stronger structures in various environmental conditions, the ordinary concrete required further modifications to perform as per the expectations and deliver the end strengths in various climatic and critical conditions. This was again achieved through addition of chemicals to modify the behavior of cement concrete to give the desired end results. With time the performance demands on concrete increased and research and development of chemicals for modification of concrete became a regular industry which is now known as construction chemicals industry.
To keep with the pace of developments, construction chemicals industry took upon itself to develop products which not only make construction of modern structures possible by imparting easy workability, better strength development characteristics and expected performance in extreme environmental conditions and also to maintain structures through various climates extending their life. Now a concrete admixture has become an essential fifth ingredient of concrete and construction and completion of a new structure cannot be imagined without the use of construction chemicals at various stages of construction.
Construction chemicals
Starting from water proofing compounds, construction chemicals have expanded range to ease the workmanship in demanding situations at various stages of construction. Today each full-fledged construction chemicals manufacturer manufactures fifty to hundred various construction chemicals. These construction chemicals can be generally divided into the following groups:
- Waterproofing compounds
- Tile fixing adhesives and joint fillers
- Repair and renovation products
- Admixtures for concrete and mortars
- Coating and protection products
- Construction and workmanship aids
As Portland cement was developed in Europe so also the construction chemicals. Suitable codes and guidelines were also framed there to take the full advantage of these new developments in the advancing civil engineering industry. In India, we adopted the use of Portland cement very fast and our government recognised the cement industry as the one essential in nation building, and supported the industry by easing the norms in its classification in excise and its treatment in sales tax, etc in the beginning of the twentieth century itself.
This industry grew rapidly. But after independence, the construction practices and the building technology did not develop with the same speed leaving our own civil engineering codes and practices far behind when compared with the developed nations. Because of this reason construction chemicals were very slow to enter our market, and did not get the due recognition they deserved. Now, generally construction chemicals are thought of when the structure is leaking or in distress or in situations when some extraordinary requirements are expected out of structural member such as very high strength bridge girder or superior industrial floor etc.
For creating safe healthy structures for mankind we need to revise our age old meaningless building codes and civil engineering practices and over haul the civil engineering syllabus in the engineering colleges to incorporate the latest technology and available materials. We not only need to create new codes for civil engineering but also for construction chemicals so that wrong materials do not enter the construction arena putting the structures to risk.
Evolving Indian construction chemicals market
With the increase in demand for RCC structures and the government taking up large infrastructural projects, the need based scope for various construction chemicals opened up in India in later part of 1980s. Practicing engineers, then, were not aware of the construction chemicals. It was the construction chemicals industry, which had to first introduce itself and then discuss the utility and the necessity of the construction chemicals in their project. Since the construction chemicals were not specified, they were not reflected in the bill of quantities and hence not quoted for. This became an unavoidable necessity at an extra cost to the civil contractor, who would look for the most economic alternative on this extra item for which he is not going to be paid for.
The knowledge about the use of right type of admixture in concrete for the required end result comes from understanding of the concrete in depth with respect to available raw materials ingredients, type of cement used, strength and placement requirements and site condition apart from thorough knowledge of the chemistry of admixtures. Since the admixtures were not specified, the construction chemicals industry took upon itself the strenuous task of training engineering professionals into this discipline of understanding and using specific chemicals in civil construction.
Today a construction chemicals professional is a practical civil engineer and a chemical engineer rolled into one irrespective of his academic qualifications. Nowadays, we see constructions chemicals executives moving on various sites providing solutions through their knowledge irrespective of whether they have been able to sell some product of their company or not. They help in fine tuning the concrete mix designs for achieving desired workability and strength and suggesting the precautionary measures to be exercised in achieving end results in various aspects.
Industry needs due recognition
Construction chemicals industry is knowledge based industry which has got to go on evolving itself with new products, technologies and specifications to keep the construction industry going. The relationship of construction chemicals to the civil engineering industry is exactly like that of a pharmaceutical industry to human body. Spurious and duplicate medicines are threat to the pharmaceutical industry, as well as to human life, so is the case with construction chemicals industry also. Absence of specifications, reluctance of consultants to specify construction chemicals, absence of a regulating body similar to FDA and the human tendency of the contractor to pick up the most economical product available has encouraged the unorganised sector jump into this business.
Today, spurious integral waterproofing compounds and tile adhesives and tile joint fillers are being manufactured sold in the market by the unorganised sector in such quantities that the organised sector can hardly catch up. Unfortunately this industry is without any support from civil engineering fraternity, architects, specifiers and the government. Because of non-recognition and lack of knowledge about the importance of this industry, every manufacturer is fighting his own battle with the Central Excise or sales tax departments, to explain the classification of his product, which is not easy anyway even for an engineer to understand. The time and energy which is thus wasted could be harnessed for constructive developmental works. The role of construction chemicals industry is close to that of a doctor in providing solutions to the civil engineering industry to get healthy and long lasting structures which last for years without any risk and fear.
Formation of CCMA
In an effort to safeguards their interest construction chemicals manufacturers have finally been able to form an association which is Construction Chemicals Manufacturers Association (CCMA). This association under the able leadership of its current president is in touch with various organisations like FICCI, BIS, Architects Associations, Civil engineering Associations etc to get a deserved status for this industry from the government, removing mindless bureaucratic hurdles faced by this industry in its classification under excise/sale-tax and to get the requisite specifications incorporated through codes and relevant specification documents. The sensitiveness of this industry, its utility in the construction and nation building, demands that it be treated slightly differently with other manufacturers and the government needs to simply support it.
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M A Waheed is the Director of Perma Construction Aids Pvt Ltd, www.permaindia.net
For details, contact at info@permaindia.com
