Grouted and reinforced masonry, such as bond beams and lintels, is often placed on shoring. The concrete rules in 29 CFR 1926.703 govern that shoring and when it comes out.
Inspecting erected shoring
Under 1926.703(b)(3), erected shoring is inspected immediately prior to, during, and immediately after concrete placement: three checks tied to the placement, not a calendar.
- Only before placement leaves out the during and after checks.
- Only after placement, before the shores come out, leaves out the before and during checks.
- Once a day while in use is not what the rule states.
When forms and shores may come out
1926.703(e)(1): forms and shores stay until the employer determines the concrete has gained sufficient strength to support its weight and superimposed loads. The determination rests on one of two bases:
- the removal conditions in the plans and specifications, which were followed, or
- an appropriate ASTM compressive-strength test.
The regulation sets no fixed time. A 7-day or 28-day wait is not the rule, and a foreman's visual check that the surface is hard is neither basis.
Either basis is enough
The two bases are alternatives. If the specifications give removal conditions and the crew followed them, nothing more is needed: no ASTM test on top, no 28-day wait regardless of the specs, and no written OSHA approval. Requiring both treats alternatives as cumulative, which is the trap.
The exception
The (e)(1) rule excepts forms and shores used for slabs on grade and slip forms. Only those two are named. Forms for footings and grade beams, columns and piers, and bond beams and lintels are not in the exception, so they stay until the strength determination is made.