Standards Development

Scope

This document gives recommendations on and describes the principles of operation of electromagnetic devices that may be used for estimating the position, depth and size of reinforcement buried in concrete. It also describes their methods of use and applications, the accuracy to be expected and the factors which may influence the results.

Electromagnetic covermeters can be used for:

a) quality control, to ensure correct location and cover to reinforcing bars after concrete placement;

b) investigation of concrete members for which records are not available or need to be checked;

c) location of reinforcement as a preliminary to some other form of testing in which reinforcement should be avoided or its nature considered, e.g. extraction of cores, ultrasonic pulse velocity measurement or “near-to-surface” methods;

d) location of buried ferromagnetic objects other than reinforcement, e.g. water pipes, steel joists, lighting conduits.

NOTE Some devices may also detect non-ferromagnetic metal objects. Such use is outside the scope of this Standard and reference should be made to manufacturers’ publications.