Objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of compressive stress over non destructive assessment of field concrete using ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). Influence of compressive stress on UPV for different concrete grades (M25, M30 & M40) tested at laboratory and at in-situ M40 reinforced concrete (RC) columns of 42m height of a high bay building is discussed. It is found that there is an increase in pulse velocity for concretes stressed around 5 Mpa, in addition to the growth in velocity due to curing period tested using cubes after 7, 14, and 28 days water curing. In the field study, pulse velocity versus computed stress due to the transmitted load during construction stages of the RC columns prove that grow in velocity is significant with respect to acting stress, water to cement ratio and curing age. The results obtained from the study can be used as a reference for concrete ageing programs wherein pulse velocity based assessment is an important tool
