Documents & records
Test report
Also called: test result, lab report, test certificate
A test report is the written result of a test — a concrete cylinder break, a soil compaction density, a pressure test, a weld examination, a coating holiday test. It records what was tested, the method, the conditions, the measured result, and a pass or fail against the acceptance criteria. It is the evidence half of quality: where an inspection observes, a test measures, and the report is what turns that measurement into something a closeout package and an AHJ can rely on.
Why it matters
Performance requirements cannot be signed off by eye — strength, compaction, pressure integrity and coating continuity are only known once they are tested, and only defensible once the result is on paper. The test report is what lets a builder show that a system held, a slab made strength, or a weld passed, instead of asserting it.
A failing report is as important as a passing one. A break below strength or a pressure test that will not hold becomes a nonconformance with a disposition, and the report is the trigger and the record for that whole loop.
How it shows up on site
Reports from the testing agency and the trades — cylinder breaks, compaction, pressure and NDT results — logged against the location and the pour or run they cover, checked against the acceptance criteria, and carried into the turnover package as the test record.
Standards it's verified against
Checklists that put test report to work
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related terms
- Non-destructive testing (NDT)Testing that checks the soundness of installed work without cutting, breaking or otherwise damaging it.
- Acceptance criteriaThe stated, measurable conditions installed work has to meet before it can pass — the yardstick an inspection judges against.
- Functional performance testA scripted test that drives a system through its operating modes to prove it responds the way the sequence of operations requires.
- Field reportA dated record of what was observed on site on a given visit — the work seen, conditions found, and any items that need action.
- Punch listThe running list of incomplete or defective work a contractor has to fix before an area is accepted and closed out.
- Nonconformance report (NCR)A formal record raised when installed work does not meet the drawings, specs or an accepted standard, and the plan to resolve it.
Knowing the term is step one. Proving it is the job.
RTI holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and the photos are attached, then chains the record so it can be proven untouched later.