Concretes constituent materials and concrete in the fresh and hardened state can be subjected to a variety of tests to ascertain physical, chemical and mechanical properties. The majority of test methods are standardised so that a material can be characterised and compared with other like materials.

Guidance on various tests may be found in Concrete Society Technical Report 32, Analysis of hardened concrete: A guide to testing procedures and interpretation of results and Technical Report 71, Concrete petrography: An introductory guide for the non-specialist.

The United Kingdom Accreditation Scheme (UKAS) provides accreditation for testing and calibration laboratories. This enables test results between laboratories to be reproducable and compared.