# Test matrix (v1, 12 Sep 2026)

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:

1. **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.
2. **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.
3. **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.
4. **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.
5. **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.