NCQ-Center of Certification and Quality 

Under coordination by DQN, created in 2009

Internal service

Establish and maintain the quality management systems: As  LECM is an organization providing reliable testing for construction  materials of Macau and technical assistance to public and private  sector in the field of civil engineering, to ensure the conforming  product will only be used in construction project, and provide a  trustable backup to public or private section of Macau society  in civil engineering field, it is necessary to establish a quality  management system which is applicable for LECM, NCQ of  DQN is responsible for establishing and maintaining the quality  management system and ensuring its’ effective implementation 

Coordinate the 3rd party accreditation activities: For the quality  management system which is being implemented, NCQ is  responsible for coordination of ISO 9001 certification, ISO  17025 and ISO 17020 accreditation, ensuring the effective implementation of such  management systems through certification/accreditation and regular  assessment conducted by 3rd parties 

External service

Conduct product certification and factory production control system certification

The norm such as concrete and cement which are formulated by LECM, is based on the cooperation scheme with DSSOPT, in order  to effectively implement such norm and also to enhance the overall  quality of construction materials in Macau market, according to 56/ SATOP/98, LECM is authorized by Macau government, to perform  the following types of certification based on current norm and  standard: 

1. Product certification

2. Production control system certification

Introducing certification to product or production control system  of factory, ensure the regular evaluation on quality management  system and its product’s quality. Furthermore, it will benefit to other  departments or centers when making a technical advice and analysis  on the use of relevant manufacturers and its products. 

Introduction of NCQ’s services

Internal services

Establishment and Implementation of ISO 9001, ISO 17025 and ISO 17020 For more than 35 years since the establishment, LECM has  developed the internationally applicable quality management system  (ISO 9001), management system for testing and calibration  laboratory (ISO 17025) as well as the management system for inspection body (ISO 17020).  

3rd parties ISO 9001 certification ,ISO 17025 and ISO 17020 accreditation

LECM has been successfully certified and by China Quality  certification Centre (CQC) for ISO 9001 since 2006 and accredited  by China National Accreditation Service for Conformity  Assessment (CNAS) for ISO 17025 since 2007. Besides, NMT of  DQN is accredited by IPAC since 2000 regarding accreditation on  calibration laboratory (ISO 17025). Recently, LECM has been accredited by CNAS for ISO 17020 since 2023. 

Internal Quality Management System Training

Other than the service of product and factory production control  system certification, NCQ is also responsible for providing the  training to laboratory’s staff regarding the quality management  system and requirement of management system for testing  and calibration laboratory, to enhance the awareness of such  management system for integrating into laboratory’s operation and  service provided. 

Internal work forecast 

• Maintain the effective implementation of current management  system, commence the establishment of management systems for  ISO 14000 (Environmental Management System) and other fields of certification and audit.
  

• Cooperate with other certification body, explore the certification project cooperated with Portuguese speaking countries.

External services

NCQ of DQN is responsible for coordination and implementation of certifi cation activities.

• Certifi cation of factory production control systems 

• Certifi cation of products for the construction fi eld 

Certifi cation of products 

Certification of construction materials that used in Macau market according to the relevant Macau Standard;

It guarantees that the supplied products are in conformity with their  specific standards. LECM certificates of cement and concrete are in  accordance with the Cement Standard and the Concrete Standard of  Macau, respectively. Besides, according to the dispatch from DSOP,  LECM is authorized as a certification body for PHC pile product. 

Certification of factory production control systems 

It guarantees the producer’s capacity to supply products satisfying  their specific standards, based on the ISO 9000 standard. 

 Construction materials and components from certified producers are  subject to lighter rules of reception on the construction sites. Besides of the quality management system, the technical part of  the certification work (including the certification of ready-mixed  concrete, cement, PHC pile, certification of factory production  control system for precast concrete pipes and manhole elements) is  collaborated with DMC of LECM. 

Product certification---Ready-mixed concrete

LECM is authorized by Macau government as a certification body  for ready-mix concrete and established the “Certification Rules for  Ready-Mix Concrete”. Up to end of 2013, there are 6 local batching  plants are certified by LECM. 

The recent established Macau ready-mixed concrete Association is  composed by six LECM-certified concrete companies. Requiring  LECM’s certification of concrete is taken into consideration for the  entry requirements for the association.

The concrete with 100 year durability used in construction of Macau Light Rail Transit, are certified by LECM.

In 2012, LECM is commissioned by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau  Bridge Authority, as a certifi cation body for certifying concrete used  for the bridge. As of now, the concrete of the main construction  including all batching plants used in Immersed Tunnel and Bridge  structure have been certifi ed by LECM.   

For the certified factory, LECM will conduct the quality  management system audit , type test and conformity verifi cation in  regular basis, in order to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of  the implementation of quality management system and stability of  quality of concrete product. 

The onshore batching plants certified by LECM includes the  local batching plants, batching stations in mainland used for  Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, batching stations for precast  elements for Macau LRT project 

Audit to offshore concrete batching ship, the quality management  system audit is not only located on the ship, but also includes  other supporting unit(or department) onshore. 

Check the identification of the raw materials, and trace back to  supplier, method of purchase and record of logistics through the  information shown, in order to check whether the factory fulfi l the  internal requirement in terms of control of raw materials. 

Inspection to maintenance work and its record for batching plant during the audit, to confirm whether the factory implement the internal requirement effectively

Checking on weighting accuracy, previous production record,  input parameter and output results of concrete batching system,  to verify the compliance with certifi cation and factory’s internal  control requirements, during the quality management system  audit. 

meeting with factory reporting the audit result

Product certifi cation --- Cement

LECM provides the product certification activities to cement  manufacturer for cement products, based on the Macau  government’s approved rules of scheme for certifi cation of cement.  For the certified cement factory, LECM will conduct the regular  surveillance audit, and perform sampling in factory, depot (if use),  local market, in order to continuously evaluate the stability of  cement quality. 

As of now, the certified cement manufacturers located in Guangdong, Guangxi and as far away as Japan.

Audit the quality management system implemented in cement depot 

Certifi cate for cement

Product Certifi cation---Pre-stressed High strength Concrete (PHC) Pile

LECM is authorized by Macau government as a certifi cation body  for pre-stressed high strength Concrete pile product, and established  the “Certifi cation Rules for PHC piles”. Until end of 2013, 6 PHC  pile manufacturers all located in Guangdong are certifi ed by LECM.  For the certifi ed PHC pile factory, LECM will conduct surveillance  audit to the factory regularly, which includes the evaluation of  effectiveness of the implementation of factory quality management  system, the stability of quality of PHC pile product and its raw  materials. Besides, LECM will perform sampling in factory, local  market or construction site. 

Inspection to moulding, check the compliance between the workmanship and the internal requirement for moulding

Audit to control system of centrifugation for PHC piles

Audit to control system of steam curing, check the compliance between the parameters (i.e. temperature and time) and internal work instruction of factory.

With reference to GB 13476-2009 <<Pretensioned spun concrete  piles>>, bending test is also required in LECM <<Certification  rules for PHC piles>>. 

Factory Production Control system certifi cation---Precast concrete pipe and precast manhole element

LECM Provide Certification of factory production control of  construction materials that used in Macau market according to the  relevant Macau Standard, including, concrete pipe and manhole  fittings. For the certified factory, LECM will conduct regularly  the audit to the factory production control system, to evaluate  comprehensively whether the factory can consistently fulfil the  quality assurance requirement and relevant product specification.  As of now, there are two factories certifi ed by LECM for the factory  production control system. 

Perform mechanical test on precast concrete pipes, based on  the requirements in BS 5911 Part 100:1988 during the audit to  factory’s production control system 

Perform Hydrostatic test on precast concrete pipe, based on the  requirements in BS 5911: Part 100: 1988 during the audit to  factory’s production control system 

Perform mechanical test on precast concrete manholes, based on  the requirements in BS 5911 Part 200:1989 during the audit to  factory’s production control system 

External work forecast

NCQ will focus on develop the extension of product certifi cation to other construction materials