What we would have to test to make each claim, what the specimen is, what passing looks like, and what each pass buys us. Costs are "quote": get a number from the lab, do not guess. Order-of-magnitude words only: lab day (cylinders, small specimens, a day or a few), panel test (one or a few production panels on a lab frame), full-scale assembly (a built wall or a whole unit, days to weeks, the expensive class).
Priority: Now (before or with the first casts), After first casts (needs real panels out of the bed), Later (when a claim or a customer asks for it).
Model values referenced: public/config/wall.config.json keys in backticks; the takeoffs in docs/takeoff.json and docs/showerhouse-takeoff.json; the standards in docs/engineering/standards-register.md.
| Claim we want to make | Test standard | Specimen (size, count, from production or lab) | What passes | What it unlocks | Priority | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 35 pcf mix has a known compressive strength at 7 and 28 days | ASTM C495/C495M (3" x 6" cylinders for lightweight insulating concrete); C513 for cores cut from a cast panel later | lab batches at the target 35 pcf and the 30 pcf fill: at least 3 cylinders per age per mix, 7 and 28 days; repeat from the first plant pours | a strength the PE can write into the design basis; consistency between lab and plant batches | everything in Route 2; the fill spec (pe-package Q4); the PE's willingness to credit the skin at all | Now | quote (lab day) |
| The cast density is what the model uses for weight | ASTM C138/C138M fresh density at the mixer and at the pump discharge; ASTM C567/C567M equilibrium and oven-dry density on hardened specimens | every batch (fresh); the C495 cylinders (hardened) | fresh density within a band around concrete.densityPcf 35 and concrete.fillDensityPcf 30 that the PE sets; hardened density that confirms the dead loads in pe-package §c | the dead loads and the transport weight (33,366 lb reference unit) stay true; the plant QC number | Now, then routine | quote (lab day for C567; C138 is a plant tool) |
| The skin and cladding will not crack from drying shrinkage at this density | ASTM C157/C157M length change | 3 prisms per mix from the lab batches; relevant because low-density cellular concrete shrinks more than normal concrete and the 2" skin is the finish face | a shrinkage figure the PE accepts, and a decision on whether the mesh spacing or a curing rule changes | the bare-cladding decision (pe-package Q5); the cure schedule (concrete.cureDaysBeforeSet 7) | Now, with the mix work | quote (lab day, 28 to 90 day wait) |
| The foaming agent works with our cement and water | ASTM C796/C796M (foam agent test with the cement in hand); buy to ASTM C869 | one qualification per agent and per cement source, done by the agent supplier's lab or ours | foam stability, and cellular concrete at the target density and strength from that foam | the mix itself; a change of cement source repeats this | Now | quote (lab day; the agent supplier may do it free) |
| A panel carries transverse load (wind and the fill pressure) as a composite | ASTM E72 (transverse load, section on wall panels) | production wall panels, 48" x 120" as cast (panel.width, panel.height), 3 panels each of: skin pour only; skin + cladding + fill (the finished wall); with and without the 8-screw joint to a neighbour if the lab frame allows | a load-deflection curve, a failure mode, and a capacity the PE compares to the Route 1 calculation; a pass is "the composite is stiffer and stronger than the bare stud" by a margin the PE names | Route 2: composite credit, a lighter stud gauge (pe-package Q1), a marketing statement | After first casts | quote (panel test) |
| A wall resists racking (shear) with the panels screwed together | ASTM E72 (racking load) | a 2-panel (8' x 10') or 3-panel assembly, joined with the joint screws and anchored as the base detail says (pe-package Q2, Q3); 2 assemblies | a racking strength and a stiffness for the PE's lateral design; a defined failure (screws, track, concrete) | seismic and wind lateral design without a separate shear-wall system; the corner detail decision | After first casts | quote (full-scale assembly) |
| The wall stands up to a design wind pressure as a system | ASTM E330 (static air pressure on a wall assembly) | one 2-panel assembly with a window opening (the 40" x 72" window at sill 24" of the house, building.openings), pressure and suction | no failure and a deflection under the PE's limit at the design pressure times the standard's factor | the wind claim for any site; the jamb and header design (Q6); the clerestory band (Q9) | After first casts | quote (full-scale assembly) |
| A lifting insert holds in 35 pcf concrete | ASTM E488/E488M (anchors in concrete) run on our concrete, with PCI Design Handbook factors applied by the PE | the insert the roof will use, cast in 6.5"-deep 35 pcf slabs (the ground-pour depth, roof.concrete.groundPourDepth), 5 pull-outs at 7 days and 5 at 28 days, plus 5 at the shear angle the sling makes; the 24 house-roof inserts and the 16 shower-house inserts depend on this | an ultimate pull-out that gives the PE's safety factor over the per-insert share of the 10,617 lb strip pick (8 picks per strip, roof.picks) | the roof pick, the floor panel pick (5,510 lb), and a decision on inserts vs boom straps for the 879 lb wall-A panel (Q10) | After first casts (can use the first cylinders' slabs) | quote (lab day to panel test) |
| The screws carry the joint, the channel and the cladding | published values (ICC-ES report of the screw bought; AISI S100 Chapter J) first; AISI S100 connection tests only if the published values do not cover 54 mil to 54 mil at the pattern the PE wants | if tested: 10 single-screw shear specimens per connection type (stud-to-stud, channel-to-stud, cladding-screw pull-through in 2" cellular concrete) | a per-screw capacity; the cladding pull-through in cellular concrete is the one no published value covers | the joint pattern (Q2), the cladding attachment (12 screws per panel is a takeoff assumption) | After first casts (only the cladding pull-through is real testing) | quote (lab day) |
| The wall is a fire-resistance-rated assembly | ASTM E119 / UL 263 | one full wall assembly (the lab's frame size, typically 10' x 10') built from production panels with fill and cladding | the hourly rating claimed (1 hour is the useful target) with the hose stream | occupancies that require a rating; a selling point; not required for a one-family house under the IRC | Later | quote (full-scale assembly, the most expensive row) |
| The cellular concrete skin is noncombustible | ASTM E136 | small specimens from a production panel or cylinders | classification as noncombustible | the building official's construction-type question answered cheaply; removes E84 for the bare skin | After first casts | quote (lab day) |
| Applied finishes have acceptable flame spread | ASTM E84 / UL 723 | the Eco Finish roof membrane and the spray-in-place shower coating as applied over our concrete; the bare skin and cladding do not need this if E136 passes | Class A / B / C per IBC Chapter 8 for the interior coating; the membrane per the roofing class the PE names | the shower-house interior finish choice (sh.showerFinish spray); usually the product maker already has this report | Later, or take the product maker's report | quote (lab day) |
| The wall has a known thermal resistance | ASTM C518 | see docs/engineering/thermal-evaluation.md (written separately) | see that file | IECC compliance path | see that file | see that file |
| The bare cladding survives Montana freeze-thaw | ASTM C666/C666M (rapid freezing and thawing of concrete, Procedure A in water) is the method for a cast concrete product; ASTM C1262 is the method for manufactured masonry and segmental units and is the closer fit if the cladding is treated as a cast unit rather than a slab. Ask the PE which one the building official will accept; C666 is the default | 3 prisms cut from production cladding sheets (2" thick, panel.cladding) and 3 from the skin, at 28 days | a durability factor the PE accepts (C666) or a mass-loss limit (C1262) | the bare-exterior decision (Q5); without a pass the cladding needs a coating or a finish | After first casts | quote (lab day; C666 runs for weeks) |
| The cladding does not soak up water | ASTM C642 (density, absorption and voids in hardened concrete) | 3 specimens from the same cladding sheets | an absorption percentage the PE accepts for a weather face | the bare-exterior decision (Q5); with the freeze-thaw row | After first casts | quote (lab day) |
| The wall has a sound rating (STC) | ASTM E90 (lab transmission loss), rated per ASTM E413 | one full wall assembly on a lab wall | an STC number | a marketing number for the house and the demising wall between shower rooms; optional | Later | quote (full-scale assembly) |
| The shower-house skid lugs and pockets are proven | proof load of the four lugs together and each pair of pockets, per ASME B30.20 / BTH-1 practice as the PE specifies (typically a proof load above the rated 10,000 lb per lug skid.lugRatedLb, held, then inspected); weld inspection to AWS D1.1 visual and magnetic-particle on the lug welds | the first production skid, empty, then the first finished unit at its 35,034 lb pick weight with the crane on site | no yield, no crack at the lug weld, deflection of the runners under the PE's limit; the finished-unit pick is level on the four lugs with the spreader bar | the crane pick and the forklift move; the delivery claim; the permit hauler's tie-downs (Q12, Q13, Q15) | After first casts (first skid) | quote (a welder-inspector day plus the crane time) |
What to test first and why#
The chosen route is calculation first, with the concrete carried as dead load and the studs doing the work (pe-package §b). That means the first tests are the ones that make the dead loads and the plant true, not the ones that prove composite action:
- Mix qualification now: C796 with the agent and our cement, then C495 cylinders at 7 and 28 days, C138 / C567 density, and C157 shrinkage prisms from the same batches. These take a lab day to set up and a month to read, they cost the least, and every later row depends on them. They also give the PE a strength number to write down even though Route 1 does not use it.
- With the first panels out of the bed: insert pull-out (E488) because the roof pick is the first big lift and 10,617 lb per strip is not a number to guess at; E136 because it is cheap and it settles the construction-type question; freeze-thaw and absorption on the cladding because the bare-exterior decision (Q5) is a design decision that needs data before the first house, not after.
- Then the composite tests (E72 transverse and racking, E330) on production panels, in parallel with the PE's Route 1 design, so that when the Route 1 stamp exists we already have the data to ask for a lighter stud on the second run. These are the panel and full-scale rows and they are the ones to get quotes on early because the lab lead time is long.
- Skid proof load when the first skid is welded and again on the first finished unit with the crane already booked for delivery; it costs almost nothing extra on that day.
- E119, E84 and E90 later, only when a customer or an occupancy asks; none of them is on the path to the first permit for a house or a campground shower house.