Programs of quality assurance or quality control are often not well defined or enforced. One of the first steps in assuring quality concrete and safe structures is to provide the means of checking that the concrete delivered to the job meets the specifications. This can only be done if it is sampled and tested by a competent person. The field concrete technician is a person whose job is to ensure that the potential properties and quality of plastic concrete as it arrives at the site are in accord with job specifications. A candidate is accredited after passing and Massachusetts Construction Industry Board examination on certain American Society for Testing and Materials standards such as sampling fresh concrete, making and curing concrete test specimens in the field, and testing for air content of freshly mixed concrete by the pressure method. Over 900 candidates have been accredited by MCIB as field concrete technicians and most of them hold the Class A state licenses. The program has produced many benefits: Massachusetts now has a standard to ensure that those who test concrete have the knowledge and capability to perform the tests correctly. The technician's license number is often required on job reports, the morale of the technician is higher than if he were not licensed, any licensee who does not comply with standard procedures is subject to being reported to the Code Commission and may lose his or her license and chosen livelihood, and more people in the construction industry are aware of the nature and meaning of the test to be performed, have a greater appreciation of the test results and limitations, and understand that proper testing eventually benefits everybody.