No matter how you look at it, substandard materials equals shoddy work, and if the culture of substandard has already become so ingrained in our culture that in Bacolod, only a few suppliers can give you honest to goodness measurements of steel bars, where 10mm is 10mm, then its no wonder why our country is lagging behind its neighbors.

You know your country is in deep manure when you ask around for the prices and specifications of an essential construction material and you discover that most of the stores you contact admit that they do not carry the "standard" stuff. In this particular rant, the particular item I am referring to are deformed steel bars, an essential component in any construction project.

A quick explanation for those who have heard of the word deformed steel bars, or rebars, only now: Most of us see only the concrete parts of a building, but most of the support comes from steel, not the concrete. The term reinforced concrete means concrete, which is a mixture of cement, aggregate, and water; that has been reinforced with steel, usually deformed steel bars. Deformed bars are different from regular steel bars because they are not smooth and have ridges that allow the steel to bond better with the concrete. Rebars are critical in most floors, columns, and beams.

Architects and civil engineers design their structures based on calculations on how much load a structure can safely take. This is the primary reason why we pay them so much. Their calculations are based on theory and formulae, as well as real world experience. So, if your architect or structural engineer tells you that the columns of the house or room you are building need a certain amount of rebars that are a certain diameter, say 10mm, it is not because they want you to spend more, its because that is the safest way your house can be built. Those specifications make sure that your home will remain standing through most earthquakes, typhoons, other natural calamities as well as the occasional invasion of in-laws.

If most of the hardware stores sell us substandard structural materials, then the designs of our architect and engineers have already been compromised. It will certainly come out cheaper when they give you 8mm bars when you ask for 10mm, but whatever savings you made by scrimping on materials will definitely come back to bite you during those rare and unfortunate occasions that will test the sturdiness of your home.

Defenders of this twisted mentality of misdeclaring measurements of steel bars will say that most local architects and engineers have already taken this into consideration in their designs, so there is actually no compromise. Others will say that most designs have a generous safety factor built in, and the tiny discrepancy between the diameters of the steel bars you want and the undersized steel bars you will get are within the allowable tolerances of the design. They have a point, but it is mind boggling how we have just accepted the culture of substandardness without even giving up a fight. Have we become that mediocre that measurements don't matter anymore?

I just cannot not understand how 10mm can be 8mm. After all, since the last time I checked, measurements are absolute. Why can't they just sell 8mm as 8mm and 10mm as 10mm? Do we have to go through this mental juggling every time we ask for steel bars? I do not understand how we have allowed our standards to slip so badly that we hardly even blink when the hardware shop tells us that their 10mm bars are actually 8mm if you take the time to measure them. Does this mean nobody will complain if I tell them I'm 6'5" instead of my real height? Or can I now go around bragging that I have a 12" penis? After all, it already looks like that a few millimeters has already been considered insignificant, so shaving or adding a few more surely couldn't hurt anymore.

If we have accepted the fact that substandard materials are ok, then its now wonder our country is mired in corruption. Aside from the "commission" of the government officials involved in the big construction projects, the contractors already have a ready excuse for using substandard materials. After all, the contractors can always blame the local hardware for giving them undersized bars anyway.

No matter how you look at it, substandard materials equals shoddy work, and if the culture of substandard has already become so ingrained in our culture that in Bacolod, only a few suppliers can give you honest to goodness measurements of steel bars, where 10mm is 10mm, then its no wonder why our country is lagging behind its neighbors.