Habib bin Mustafa Zain Al-Abideen, deputy minister for Municipal and Rural Affairs and supervisor of the Central Management of Development Projects, said that Saudi laboratories have detected in the past few years counterfeit and fraud in construction materials.

“Thorough inspections have revealed that some of the shipments of reinforced steel coming from Europe are in fact manufactured in Asian countries and have poor specifications,” Al-Abideen said.

During a conference held at the ministry’s headquarters, the deputy minister stated that all construction materials, including those for pilgrim’s camps were subject to tests at the Central Laboratory in Riyadh, which was established 35 years ago.

“The laboratory is equipped with the most advanced technologies to conduct all types of tests, including examinations for constructional projects such as bridges and buildings,” he added, pointing out that there are even specialized laboratories within the premises of the Central Laboratories for soil and chemical testing.

The conference was an introductory session for the symposium and exhibition of “Quality Laboratories in Constructional Projects” to be inaugurated in Riyadh on Monday. The symposium is organized by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs under the umbrella of the ministerial meetings of Municipal Ministers of GCC, and will be held over three days.

“The wise leadership of this country felt the compelling need to establish advanced laboratories to control quality at constructional projects, to support development programs and plans,” Al-Abideen said.

Confirming that the symposium on quality laboratories for construction projects and the accompanying exhibition represented a major step forward, Al-Abideen said, “More than 600 local and international experts in the construction and materials sectors are participating in this event.”

He said the symposium is in line with the recommendations of the GCC Municipal Ministries meetings to discuss the role of the government and private sector laboratories in controlling the quality of construction projects. The preparatory committee for the symposium received a large number of scientific studies from experts and academics specialized in the field.

“All submitted research has been evaluated by a group of international arbitrators,” he said. “However, only 71 scientific papers were chosen to be discussed during the scientific sessions of the symposium.”

Experts from scientific institutes in the field of laboratories of quality construction projects, such as the American Section of the International Association for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the British Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing will be participating in the symposium.

“This will greatly contribute to the transfer of expertise, and raise the quality of construction projects in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States,” Al-Abideen said.

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs cooperates with a number of universities in the Kingdom, such as King Abdul-Aziz University, as well as other scientific institutes to boost mechanisms of quality controls.