The Inspector Wants a Slump Test, Not a Visual Guess
"Looks like a 100mm slump to me," is the sentence that precedes a structural failure or a massive back-charge from the ready-mix supplier. In the world of commercial paving and structural concrete, "close enough" is a liability that stays buried in the slab for fifty years. When the core samples come back weak three weeks after the pour, and the engineer is looking for someone to blame, the only thing that protects the contractor is a rigorous, time-stamped testing log.
This template is a field-grade testing database built for the technician who has to stand next to the truck and make a "Reject Load" decision in sixty seconds.
Slump Initial vs. Final: The Re-Slump Reality
The "Slump Initial (mm)" field is a forced-choice dropdown from 5mm to 80mm. It removes the ambiguity of "wet" or "dry" and forces the tester to record the actual measurement from the slump cone. But the real power is in the "RE-SLUMP" multichoice and "Slump Final (mm)" fields.
If a load arrives too dry, the driver might add water on-site. That second test—the re-slump—is where the water-cement ratio is compromised. By tracking the delta between the initial and final slump, you're documenting exactly how much the mix was altered after it left the batch plant. If the "Hardened Cylinder Sample No." later fails a compression test, you pull the record and see that the slump jumped from 25mm to 75mm on-site. You don't have to guess why the concrete is weak; you have the evidence of the re-slump.
Temperature and Air: The Invisible Killers
"Air Temperature (C)" and "Concrete Temperature (C)" are two fields that most field technicians ignore until the concrete starts to flash-set in 35-degree heat. High concrete temperatures accelerate hydration, leading to thermal cracking and reduced long-term strength. By logging both the ambient and the mix temperature at the "Test Time", you can correlate placement issues with environmental spikes.
The "Air Content %" field captures the entrained air—the microscopic bubbles that protect concrete from freeze-thaw cycles. Too little air, and the pavement scales and spalls in the first winter. Too much, and you lose structural strength. This template allows you to filter your entire pour by Air Content, identifying the specific "Truck Unit Number" and "Load Number #" that might have been out of spec before the concrete even left the chute.
Docket Scans and the Chain of Custody
The "Docket Scan" field is the anchor. It captures the "Mix Code", "Load Size", and "Batch Time" directly from the delivery ticket. In a large pour with thirty trucks, the "Batch Time" is critical. If a truck has been sitting on-site for ninety minutes before the "Test Time", the concrete is already starting to hydrate in the drum.
By linking the "Hardened Cylinder Sample No." and "Hardened Flex Beam Sample No." to the specific truck docket, you create a perfect chain of custody. When the lab breaks those cylinders at 7, 28, and 56 days, the results are tied back to a specific "Job" and a specific load. You aren't just testing concrete; you're building a legal and technical defense for every cubic meter you place.
The Reject Decision: Notifying the Foreman
The "REJECT LOAD - NOTIFY ENG/FOREMAN" field is the most high-stakes button in the database. When the slump is out of spec and the "Testers Comments" indicate segregation or excessive heat, hitting "NOTIFIED" creates a permanent, time-stamped record of the rejection. It moves the responsibility from the technician’s verbal warning to a documented operational fact. In a dispute with the supplier over a rejected 10-cube load, that "NOTIFIED" timestamp is what determines who pays for the wasted material.