ACI 302.1R
Guide to Concrete Floor and Slab Construction
How concrete floors and slabs are actually built: subgrade and vapor retarder decisions, mix selection for flatwork, placing, finishing, jointing, curing, and flatness.
Who needs it
Flatwork and industrial floor contractors, floor designers, flooring installers, and owners writing a floor specification.
What the test involves
It classifies floors by their intended use and service conditions and then works through the construction decisions that determine whether the finished floor performs: base preparation, whether the vapor retarder is in direct contact with the slab, joint spacing and layout, finishing methods appropriate to the exposure, and curing. It also addresses flatness and levelness measurement, surface defects such as curling and delamination, and moisture considerations for floor coverings. It is the reference most often cited when a floor disappoints and someone asks why.
Common misconceptions
- Flatness and levelness are two different measured properties, and a floor can pass one while failing the other.
- Most floor complaints — curling, cracking, delamination, moisture failures under flooring — trace back to base preparation, jointing, and curing decisions made before anyone reached for a trowel.
- It is a guide, not a specification. Contract documents that want its recommendations enforced have to say so explicitly.
Official source
We summarize scope and purpose only. The full text belongs to the issuing body — read it at the official source. American Concrete Institute