The agency reviews the plan, decides if it is acceptable, and makes any necessary changes. If he doesn't want to do that, he still has the option to pretest the asphalt. The HMA producer has to follow the supplier's recommendations in the QC plan. The agency checks to make sure the asphalt is delivered as requested. The agency takes field samples and can take split samples with the supplier or HMA producer if he chooses.
Initial certification is kind of difficult under certain circumstances.
Sometimes we have to certify an asphalt we are not producing commercially. For that purpose, many states are allowing lab blends of asphalt to be used for at least some of the samples for initial certification. Then, checking the commercial batch with the lab tests confirms the results. This practice eliminates some of the redundancy of testing and certifying. The main thing producers must do is follow the supplier's plan for handling the asphalt, including such issues as in-line blending for a polymer concentrate, or the use of solid additives.