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                                                                   Exhibit 31.1

                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

            Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Stephen R. Morrey, certify that:

        1.      I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Dayton
                Superior Corporation;

        2.      Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain
                any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
                material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of
                the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
                misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly
                report;

        3.      Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
                financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly
                present in all material respects the financial condition,
                results of operations and cash flows of Dayton Superior
                Corporation as of, and for, the periods presented in this
                quarterly report;

        4.      Dayton Superior Corporation's other certifying officer and I are
                responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls
                and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
                15d-15(e)) for Dayton Superior Corporation and we have:

                a)      designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                        caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                        designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
                        information relating to Dayton Superior Corporation,
                        including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
                        to us by others within those entities, particularly
                        during the period in which this quarterly report is
                        being prepared;

                b)      evaluated the effectiveness of Dayton Superior
                        Corporation's disclosure controls and procedures and
                        presented in this report our conclusions about the
                        effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,
                        as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly
                        report based on such evaluation; and

                c)      disclosed in this quarterly report any change in Dayton
                        Superior Corporation's internal control over financial
                        reporting that occurred during Dayton Superior
                        Corporation's most recent fiscal quarter that has
                        materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
                        materially affect, Dayton Superior Corporation's
                        internal control over financial reporting; and

        5.      Dayton Superior Corporation's other certifying officer and I
                have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
                control over financial reporting, to Dayton Superior
                Corporation's auditors and the audit committee of Dayton
                Superior Corporation's board of directors:


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                a)      all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
                        the design or operation of internal control over
                        financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
                        adversely affect Dayton Superior Corporation's ability
                        to record, process, summarize and report financial
                        information; and

                b)      any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                        management or other employees who have a significant
                        role in Dayton Superior Corporation's internal control
                        over financial reporting.



December 10, 2003              /s/ Stephen R. Morrey
                               ---------------------

                                          Stephen R. Morrey
                                          President and Chief Executive Officer

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