WITH BESPOKE HAND MADE PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED FROM A COMPLEX COMPOSITE THINGS CAN GO WRONG
We operate a full consultancy support service to assist all stakeholders achieve quick and wherever possible cost effective solutions in any instance where problems arise either pre or post practical completion.
These issues would generally involve either acceptance of appearance matters such as colour variation, crazing etc. or more concerning issues such as elements being potentially structurally compromised.
FACADE INSPECTIONS
All facades should be inspected on a regular basis and although well produced high quality GRC/GFRC products need little or no ongoing maintenance they also should be inspected on a regular basis.
The most important inspection of any GRC/GFRC facade would be after an initial 12 months service. At this stage any design, manufacturing or installation non compliances should have already begun to manifest and would be easily identified by our SME consultants. Minor problems identified early enough and addressed quickly can avoid much more expensive repair and remediation at a later date.
Our consultants can assist facilities management teams carry out these inspections using a variety of access solutions including Mechanical Elevating Working Platforms (MEWPs) or Building Maintenance Units (BMUs). We can also carry out these inspections using abseiling or remote controlled drones.
DESKTOP REVIEWS
Desktop reviews carried out by our SME consultants are a cost effective method of determining any obvious root causes of problems before more involved forensic assessments are required.
Our in depth assessments would normally cover
> All engineering analysis and calculations along with a detailed examination of shop drawings, fixing systems and installation instructions.
> Manufacturers quality control systems and associated project specific records
> All pre-start testing and evaluations where applicable including facing coat development currently not covered in any standards commonly used in UK/Europe
> All required quality control testing records including critical bending and density tests
FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS
Where necessary we can carry out detailed forensic examinations to determine the root cause and appropriate corrective actions for most of the in-service issues encountered with products manufactured from GRC/GFRC.
These involve non-destructive in-house developed testing techniques that we have refined in our research and laboratory centres of the last two decades.
Where specimens require extraction for off-site analysis we have developed a core sampling technique which allows us to identify the bulk of manufacturing errors with resulting holes then rectified by our repair and remediations teams.
If full product removal is required in order to carry out deeper and destructive tests we can not only carry out these works but provide replacement units. This allows us to carry out any required forensic assessments without compromising either the visual appearance or structural performance of the construction.
EXPERT WITNESSING
Where necessary our SME consultants can provide expert witnessing services to not only assist in any litigation matters but more importantly to provide an objective fact based approach to avoid costly legal progression.
Being completely independent from working directly with any GRC/GFRC manufacturers we can offer a totally impartial viewpoint supported by decades of practical experience solely in the manufacture, testing and installation of products manufactured from GRC/GFRC.
All our expert witness contributions are supported by factual evidence obtained from our desktop reviews and forensic examinations of manufactured products including testing by our own in-house laboratory or specialist trusted partners.