Pretreatment processes on rice husk ash (RHA) influence its properties and in turn, the performance of concrete. However, most of the available literature captures only the influence of the RHA usage in concrete without focusing on the systematic pretreatment process and optimization of RHA dosage on physical and chemical perspective. Further, the replacements were done on weight basis, leading to higher binder volume and inaccuracies in the performance evaluation. The main objective of the present study is to adopt adequate pretreatment process and to systematically optimize the RHA dosage (vol. %) towards better strength and durability properties. Hence, the current study focuses on understanding the nature of RHA through characterization, followed by suitable pretreatment processes for enhancing the properties of RHA. The enhancement in the chemical activity of the treated RHA was assessed through pozzolanic activity tests (strength activity index, lime consumption test and soluble silica). Based on the physical properties (particle size, surface area and packing density), chemical characteristics (strength activity index) and the energy required, the grinding time (30 min) was optimized rationally. The optimized dosage of RHA (20% by vol.) was evaluated for its performance through fresh, mechanical and durability properties. From the results, it is evident that adequate pretreatment, along with systematically optimized RHA dosage yields enhanced performance in concrete properties. © 2020 fib. International Federation for Structural Concrete