29 CFR Part 1926, Subpart Q

Subpart Q—Concrete and Masonry Construction

Authority: Sec. 107, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (Construction Safety Act) (40 U.S.C. 333); Secs. 4, 6 and 8 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, and 657); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), or 1-90 (55 FR 9033), as applicable; and 29 CFR part 1911.

Source: 53 FR 22643, June 16, 1988, unless otherwise noted.

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§1926.700   Scope, application, and definitions applicable to this subpart.

(a) Scope and application. This subpart sets forth requirements to protect all construction employees from the hazards associated with concrete and masonry construction operations performed in workplaces covered under 29 CFR part 1926. In addition to the requirements in subpart Q, other relevant provisions in parts 1910 and 1926 apply to concrete and masonry construction operations.

(b) Definitions applicable to this subpart. In addition to the definitions set forth in §1926.32, the following definitions apply to this subpart.

(1) Bull float means a tool used to spread out and smooth concrete.

(2) Formwork means the total system of support for freshly placed or partially cured concrete, including the mold or sheeting (form) that is in contact with the concrete as well as all supporting members including shores, reshores, hardware, braces, and related hardware.

(3) Lift slab means a method of concrete construction in which floor, and roof slabs are cast on or at ground level and, using jacks, lifted into position.

(4) Limited access zone means an area alongside a masonry wall, which is under construction, and which is clearly demarcated to limit access by employees.

(5) Precast concrete means concrete members (such as walls, panels, slabs, columns, and beams) which have been formed, cast, and cured prior to final placement in a structure.

(6) Reshoring means the construction operation in which shoring equipment (also called reshores or reshoring equipment) is placed, as the original forms and shores are removed, in order to support partially cured concrete and construction loads.

(7) Shore means a supporting member that resists a compressive force imposed by a load.

(8) Vertical slip forms means forms which are jacked vertically during the placement of concrete.

(9) Jacking operation means the task of lifting a slab (or group of slabs) vertically from one location to another (e.g., from the casting location to a temporary (parked) location, or from a temporary location to another temporary location, or to its final location in the structure), during the construction of a building/structure where the lift-slab process is being used.

[53 FR 22643, June 16, 1988, as amended at 55 FR 42328, Oct. 18, 1990]

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§1926.701   General requirements.

(a) Construction loads. No construction loads shall be placed on a concrete structure or portion of a concrete structure unless the employer determines, based on information received from a person who is qualified in structural design, that the structure or portion of the structure is capable of supporting the loads.

(b) Reinforcing steel. All protruding reinforcing steel, onto and into which employees could fall, shall be guarded to eliminate the hazard of impalement.

(c) Post-tensioning operations. (1) No employee (except those essential to the post-tensioning operations) shall be permitted to be behind the jack during tensioning operations.

(2) Signs and barriers shall be erected to limit employee access to the post-tensioning area during tensioning operations.

(d) Riding concrete buckets. No employee shall be permitted to ride concrete buckets.

(e) Working under loads. (1) No employee shall be permitted to work under concrete buckets while buckets are being elevated or lowered into position.

(2) To the extent practical, elevated concrete buckets shall be routed so that no employee, or the fewest number of employees, are exposed to the hazards associated with falling concrete buckets.

(f) Personal protective equipment. No employee shall be permitted to apply a cement, sand, and water mixture through a pneumatic hose unless the employee is wearing protective head and face equipment.

[53 FR 22643, June 16, 1988, as amended at 59 FR 40730, Aug. 9, 1994]

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§1926.702   Requirements for equipment and tools.

(a) Bulk cement storage. (1) Bulk storage bins, containers, and silos shall be equipped with the following:

(i) Conical or tapered bottoms; and

(ii) Mechanical or pneumatic means of starting the flow of material.

(2) No employee shall be permitted to enter storage facilities unless the ejection system has been shut down, locked out, and tagged to indicate that the ejection system is not to be operated.

(b) Concrete mixers. Concrete mixers with one cubic yard (.8 m³) or larger loading skips shall be equipped with the following:

(1) A mechanical device to clear the skip of materials; and

(2) Guardrails installed on each side of the skip.

(c) Power concrete trowels. Powered and rotating type concrete troweling machines that are manually guided shall be equipped with a control switch that will automatically shut off the power whenever the hands of the operator are removed from the equipment handles.

(d) Concrete buggies. Concrete buggy handles shall not extend beyond the wheels on either side of the buggy.

(e) Concrete pumping systems. (1) Concrete pumping systems using discharge pipes shall be provided with pipe supports designed for 100 percent overload.

(2) Compressed air hoses used on concrete pumping system shall be provided with positive fail-safe joint connectors to prevent separation of sections when pressurized.

(f) Concrete buckets. (1) Concrete buckets equipped with hydraulic or pneumatic gates shall have positive safety latches or similar safety devices installed to prevent premature or accidental dumping.

(2) Concrete buckets shall be designed to prevent concrete from hanging up on top and the sides.

(g) Tremies. Sections of tremies and similar concrete conveyances shall be secured with wire rope (or equivalent materials) in addition to the regular couplings or connections.

(h) Bull floats. Bull float handles, used where they might contact energized electrical conductors, shall be constructed of nonconductive material or insulated with a nonconductive sheath whose electrical and mechanical characteristics provide the equivalent protection of a handle constructed of nonconductive material.

(i) Masonry saws. (1) Masonry saws shall be guarded with a semicircular enclosure over the blade.

(2) A method for retaining blade fragments shall be incorporated in the design of the semicircular enclosure.

(j) Lockout/Tagout Procedures. (1) No employee shall be permitted to perform maintenance or repair activity on equipment (such as compressors, mixers, screens or pumps used for concrete and masonry construction activities) where the inadvertent operation of the equipment could occur and cause injury, unless all potentially hazardous energy sources have been locked out and tagged.

(2) Tags shall read Do Not Start or similar language to indicate that the equipment is not to be operated.

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§1926.703   Requirements for cast-in-place concrete.

(a) General requirements for formwork. (1) Formwork shall be designed, fabricated, erected, supported, braced and maintained so that it will be capable of supporting without failure all vertical and lateral loads that may reasonably be anticipated to be applied to the formwork. Formwork which is designed, fabricated, erected, supported, braced and maintained in conformance with the appendix to this section will be deemed to meet the requirements of this paragraph.

(2) Drawings or plans, including all revisions, for the jack layout, formwork (including shoring equipment), working decks, and scaffolds, shall be available at the jobsite.

(b) Shoring and reshoring. (1) All shoring equipment (including equipment used in reshoring operations) shall be inspected prior to erection to determine that the equipment meets the requirements specified in the formwork drawings.

(2) Shoring equipment found to be damaged such that its strength is reduced to less than that required by §1926.703(a)(1) shall not be used for shoring.

(3) Erected shoring equipment shall be inspected immediately prior to, during, and immediately after concrete placement.

(4) Shoring equipment that is found to be damaged or weakened after erection, such that its strength is reduced to less than that required by §1926.703(a)(1), shall be immediately reinforced.

(5) The sills for shoring shall be sound, rigid, and capable of carrying the maximum intended load.

(6) All base plates, shore heads, extension devices, and adjustment screws shall be in firm contact, and secured when necessary, with the foundation and the form.

(7) Eccentric loads on shore heads and similar members shall be prohibited unless these members have been designed for such loading.

(8) Whenever single post shores are used one on top of another (tiered), the employer shall comply with the following specific requirements in addition to the general requirements for formwork:

(i) The design of the shoring shall be prepared by a qualified designer and the erected shoring shall be inspected by an engineer qualified in structural design.

(ii) The single post shores shall be vertically aligned.

(iii) The single post shores shall be spliced to prevent misalignment.

(iv) The single post shores shall be adequately braced in two mutually perpendicular directions at the splice level. Each tier shall also be diagonally braced in the same two directions.

(9) Adjustment of single post shores to raise formwork shall not be made after the placement of concrete.

(10) Reshoring shall be erected, as the original forms and shores are removed, whenever the concrete is required to support loads in excess of its capacity.

(c) Vertical slip forms. (1) The steel rods or pipes on which jacks climb or by which the forms are lifted shall be—

(i) Specifically designed for that purpose; and

(ii) Adequately braced where not encased in concrete.

(2) Forms shall be designed to prevent excessive distortion of the structure during the jacking operation.

(3) All vertical slip forms shall be provided with scaffolds or work platforms where employees are required to work or pass.

(4) Jacks and vertical supports shall be positioned in such a manner that the loads do not exceed the rated capacity of the jacks.

(5) The jacks or other lifting devices shall be provided with mechanical dogs or other automatic holding devices to support the slip forms whenever failure of the power supply or lifting mechanism occurs.

(6) The form structure shall be maintained within all design tolerances specified for plumbness during the jacking operation.

(7) The predetermined safe rate of lift shall not be exceeded.

(d) Reinforcing steel. (1) Reinforcing steel for walls, piers, columns, and similar vertical structures shall be adequately supported to prevent overturning and to prevent collapse.

(2) Employers shall take measures to prevent unrolled wire mesh from recoiling. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, securing each end of the roll or turning over the roll.

(e) Removal of formwork. (1) Forms and shores (except those used for slabs on grade and slip forms) shall not be removed until the employer determines that the concrete has gained sufficient strength to support its weight and superimposed loads. Such determination shall be based on compliance with one of the following:

(i) The plans and specifications stipulate conditions for removal of forms and shores, and such conditions have been followed, or

(ii) The concrete has been properly tested with an appropriate ASTM standard test method designed to indicate the concrete compressive strength, and the test results indicate that the concrete has gained sufficient strength to support its weight and superimposed loads.

(2) Reshoring shall not be removed until the concrete being supported has attained adequate strength to support its weight and all loads in place upon it.

Appendix to §1926.703(a)(1)

General Requirements for Formwork

(This appendix is non-mandatory.)

This appendix serves as a non-mandatory guideline to assist employers in complying with the formwork requirements in §1926.703(a)(1). Formwork which has been designed, fabricated, erected, braced, supported and maintained in accordance with Sections 6 and 7 of the American National Standard for Construction and Demolition Operations—Concrete and Masonry Work, ANSI A10.9-1983, shall be deemed to be in compliance with the provision of §1926.703(a)(1).

[53 FR 22643, June 16, 1988, as amended at 61 FR 5510, Feb. 13, 1996]

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§1926.704   Requirements for precast concrete.

(a) Precast concrete wall units, structural framing, and tilt-up wall panels shall be adequately supported to prevent overturning and to prevent collapse until permanent connections are completed.

(b) Lifting inserts which are embedded or otherwise attached to tilt-up precast concrete members shall be capable of supporting at least two times the maximum intended load applied or transmitted to them.

(c) Lifting inserts which are embedded or otherwise attached to precast concrete members, other than the tilt-up members, shall be capable of supporting at least four times the maximum intended load applied or transmitted to them.

(d) Lifting hardware shall be capable of supporting at least five times the maximum intended load applied or transmitted to the lifting hardware.

(e) No employee shall be permitted under precast concrete members being lifted or tilted into position except those employees required for the erection of those members.

[53 FR 22643, June 16, 1988, as amended at 54 FR 41088, Oct. 5, 1989]

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§1926.705   Requirements for lift-slab construction operations.

(a) Lift-slab operations shall be designed and planned by a registered professional engineer who has experience in lift-slab construction. Such plans and designs shall be implemented by the employer and shall include detailed instructions and sketches indicating the prescribed method of erection. These plans and designs shall also include provisions for ensuring lateral stability of the building/structure during construction.

(b) Jacks/lifting units shall be marked to indicate their rated capacity as established by the manufacturer.

(c) Jacks/lifting units shall not be loaded beyond their rated capacity as established by the manufacturer.

(d) Jacking equipment shall be capable of supporting at least two and one-half times the load being lifted during jacking operations and the equipment shall not be overloaded. For the purpose of this provision, jacking equipment includes any load bearing component which is used to carry out the lifting operation(s). Such equipment includes, but is not limited, to the following: threaded rods, lifting attachments, lifting nuts, hook-up collars, T-caps, shearheads, columns, and footings.

(e) Jacks/lifting units shall be designed and installed so that they will neither lift nor continue to lift when they are loaded in excess of their rated capacity.

(f) Jacks/lifting units shall have a safety device installed which will cause the jacks/lifting units to support the load in any position in the event any jack/lifting unit malfunctions or loses its lifting ability.

(g) Jacking operations shall be synchronized in such a manner to ensure even and uniform lifting of the slab. During lifting, all points at which the slab is supported shall be kept within ¹⁄₂ inch of that needed to maintain the slab in a level position.

(h) If leveling is automatically controlled, a device shall be installed that will stop the operation when the ¹⁄₂ inch tolerance set forth in paragraph (g) of this section is exceeded or where there is a malfunction in the jacking (lifting) system.

(i) If leveling is maintained by manual controls, such controls shall be located in a central location and attended by a competent person while lifting is in progress. In addition to meeting the definition in §1926.32(f), the competent person must be experienced in the lifting operation and with the lifting equipment being used.

(j) The maximum number of manually controlled jacks/lifting units on one slab shall be limited to a number that will permit the operator to maintain the slab level within specified tolerances of paragraph (g) of this section, but in no case shall that number exceed 14.

(k)(1) No employee, except those essential to the jacking operation, shall be permitted in the building/structure while any jacking operation is taking place unless the building/structure has been reinforced sufficiently to ensure its integrity during erection. The phrase “reinforced sufficiently to ensure its integrity” used in this paragraph means that a registered professional engineer, independent of the engineer who designed and planned the lifting operation, has determined from the plans that if there is a loss of support at any jack location, that loss will be confined to that location and the structure as a whole will remain stable.

(2) Under no circumstances, shall any employee who is not essential to the jacking operation be permitted immediately beneath a slab while it is being lifted.

(3) For the purpose of paragraph (k) of this section, a jacking operation begins when a slab or group of slabs is lifted and ends when such slabs are secured (with either temporary connections or permanent connections).

(4) Employers who comply with appendix A to §1926.705 shall be considered to be in compliance with the provisions of paragraphs (k)(1) through (k)(3) of this section.

(l) When making temporary connections to support slabs, wedges shall be secured by tack welding, or an equivalent method of securing the wedges to prevent them from falling out of position. Lifting rods may not be released until the wedges at that column have been secured.

(m) All welding on temporary and permanent connections shall be performed by a certified welder, familiar with the welding requirements specified in the plans and specifications for the lift-slab operation.

(n) Load transfer from jacks/lifting units to building columns shall not be executed until the welds on the column shear plates (weld blocks) are cooled to air temperature.

(o) Jacks/lifting units shall be positively secured to building columns so that they do not become dislodged or dislocated.

(p) Equipment shall be designed and installed so that the lifting rods cannot slip out of position or the employer shall institute other measures, such as the use of locking or blocking devices, which will provide positive connection between the lifting rods and attachments and will prevent components from disengaging during lifting operations.

Appendix to §1926.705—Lift-Slab Operations

(This appendix is non-mandatory.)

In paragraph 1926.705(k), OSHA requires employees to be removed from the building/structure during jacking operations unless an independent registered professional engineer, other than the engineer who designed and planned the lifting operation, has determined that the building/structure has been sufficiently reinforced to insure the integrity of the building/structure. One method to comply with this provision is for the employer to ensure that continuous bottom steel is provided in every slab and in both directions through every wall or column head area. (Column head area means the distance between lines that are one and one half times the thickness of the slab or drop panel. These lines are located outside opposite faces of the outer edges of the shearhead sections—See Figure 1). The amount of bottom steel shall be established by assuming loss of support at a given lifting jack and then determining the steel necessary to carry, by catenary action over the span between surrounding supports, the slab service dead load plus any service dead and live loads likely to be acting on the slab during jacking. In addition, the surrounding supports must be capable of resisting any additional load transferred to them as a result of the loss of support at the lifting jack considered.

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[55 FR 42328, Oct. 18, 1990]

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§1926.706   Requirements for masonry construction.

(a) A limited access zone shall be established whenever a masonry wall is being constructed. The limited access zone shall conform to the following.

(1) The limited access zone shall be established prior to the start of construction of the wall.

(2) The limited access zone shall be equal to the height of the wall to be constructed plus four feet, and shall run the entire length of the wall.

(3) The limited access zone shall be established on the side of the wall which will be unscaffolded.

(4) The limited access zone shall be restricted to entry by employees actively engaged in constructing the wall. No other employees shall be permitted to enter the zone.

(5) The limited access zone shall remain in place until the wall is adequately supported to prevent overturning and to prevent collapse unless the height of wall is over eight feet, in which case, the limited access zone shall remain in place until the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section have been met.

(b) All masonry walls over eight feet in height shall be adequately braced to prevent overturning and to prevent collapse unless the wall is adequately supported so that it will not overturn or collapse. The bracing shall remain in place until permanent supporting elements of the structure are in place.

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Appendix A to Subpart Q of Part 1926—References to subpart Q of Part 1926

(This appendix is non-mandatory.)

The following non-mandatory references provide information which can be helpful in understanding and complying with the requirements contained in subpart Q.

•  Accident Prevention Manual for Industrial Operations; Eighth Edition; National Safety Council.

•  Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-83).

•  Formwork for Concrete (ACI SP-4).

•  Recommended Practice for Concrete Formwork (ACI 347-78).

•  Safety Requirements for Concrete and Masonry Work (ANSI A10.9-1983).

•  Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Cylindrical Concrete Specimens (ASTM C39-86).

•  Standard Test Method for Making and Curing Concrete Test Specimens in the Field (ASTM C31-85).

•  Standard Test Method for Penetration Resistance of Hardened Concrete (ASTM C803-82).

•  Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Concrete Cylinders Cast In-Place in Cylindrical Molds (ASTM C873-85).

•  Standard Method for Developing Early Age Compressive Test Values and Projecting Later Age Strengths (ASTM C918-80).

•  Recommended Practice for Inspection and Testing Agencies for Concrete, Steel and Bituminous Materials as Used in Construction (ASTM E329-77).

•  Method of Making and Curing Concrete Test Specimens in the Laboratory (ASTM C192-88).

•  Methods of Obtaining and Testing Drilled Cores and Sawed Beams of Concrete (ASTM C42-87).

•  Methods of Securing, Preparing and Testing Specimens from Hardened Lightweight Insulating Concrete for Compressive Strength (ASTM C513-86).

•  Test Method for Comprehensive Strength of Lightweight Insulating Concrete (ASTM C495-86).

•  Method of Making, Accelerating Curing, and Testing of Concrete Compression Test Specimens (ASTM C684-81).

•  Test Method for Compressive Strength of Concrete Using Portions of Beams Broken in Flexure (ASTM C116-68 (1980)).