Three samples of rebar, collected from the site of the collapsed State Audit Office (SAO) building, have been tested by the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand and found to be substandard.
Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen, spokesman for the Industry Ministry, said today that the samples of 12mm, 20mm and 32mm rebar failed to pass the rigorous tests.
He said that more samples were taken from the site on April 11th. The 40 sections of eight sizes of rebar were sent to the same institute for testing on Monday, to determine whether they meet the standards set by the Thailand Industrial Standard Institute (TISI).
Pongpol explained that the testing process is straightforward and, if it is discovered that any type or brand of the rebar is substandard, the manufacturers would be held accountable. This would mean that their production licenses would be revoked and their production plants closed down.
It was reported earlier that some of the rebar used in the SAO building construction, produced by Xin Ke Yuan, a Chinese company based in Thailand, have been found to be below the TISI standard.
