Quality Assurance & Control
streamlined & superior quality control
streamlined & superior quality control
The best design will fail if not properly implemented.
Our experienced project managers, supervisors, factory personnel, glaziers, ironworkers, crane operators and similar professionals in the manufacturing process are all needed for a successful project, regardless of the type of curtain wall and installation method.
Even with highly qualified contractors and sub-contractors, factory and field quality assurance and quality control are often not sufficiently planned or implemented.
Assemble a qualified team:
Project executives should review the credentials of the people who will perform the work, including those constructing the modules in the factory and those erecting the wall at the site. Experience shows that the factory and field foremen are some of the most critical members of the contractor’s workforce, if not the single most critical members. The speed of curtain wall erection makes prompt, sound decision-making by the contractors’ and architect’s field teams crucial to the performance of the building.
The prime responsibility for QA/QC of construction materials lies with the fabricators and contractors.
It is important that designers and owners require demonstrated proof of QA/QC measures. Require the curtain wall manufacturer and installer to each develop QA/QC manuals to help standardize and streamline the quality control process. These manuals should include checklists of quality control and inspection points to be reviewed for every assembly fabricated and installed.
To be effective, each prefabricated assembly should be given an identification number and its own individual QA/QC checklist. These checklists should be reviewed by the architect or his/her representative during factory visits and discussed with the manufacturer’s designated QC manager.
Copies of the QA/QC checklists should be submitted as part of the project record. In the field, the QA/QC checklist should include similar points for review and should note each panel’s final resting place, or its unique address, on the building. Not only will this help with the establishment of reviewable procedures, but it will force the manufacturer and the panel erector to implement and maintain rigorous self-inspection practices.
We recommend periodic factory visits by a qualified curtain-wall consultant engaged by the owner or architect for any modular curtain wall project and for stick-built projects where significant assembly is performed in the shop. While field visits by architects and engineers are not uncommon in the industry, factory visits are not performed on many projects. We find that factory visits by a qualified professional can help identify problems before substantial areas of curtain wall are manufactured and installed, before considerable reconstruction becomes the only feasible fix.
Ask a manufacturer for its quality control manual for fabrication procedures for a specific curtain wall system, and you might be met with a blank stare. Experience shows that many manufacturers and subcontractors have poorly managed and often ineffective or non-existent quality control procedures. Rarely have we encountered designated quality control personnel whose sole responsibility is to ensure that all aspects of the required design are implemented. “Fly by” and “hit-or-miss” quality control procedures seem to be more the norm than the exception.
We have established strategic supply arrangements with our Suppliers providing timely cost effective supply of quality componentry.
All solutions are designed in house, pretested certified with a range of experienced off shore manufactures meeting Australian Standards.
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