December 2017 – Construction POC

What Is Thermal Insulation In Construction

Posted on December 30, 2017 by blogger

Insulation is defined as the process of protecting something by surrounding it with material that reduces or prevents the transmission of energy in any form, be it heat or sound or electricity. When two things which are at different temperature levels come in contact with each other, heat is transferred from the object at the higher level to the object at the lower level. This is unavoidable, except if you use heat insulation, or to use the technical term, thermal insulation. Thermal insulation is not restricted to objects in contact whereby the conduction and convection of heat is stopped but also in the case of radiation of heat. Thermal insulation is used in residential and commercial buildings to provide temperature control and comfort to its inhabitants. Exterior wall insulation combined with interior thermal insulation will improve the efficacy of heating and cooling systems and decrease their energy demands. Thus thermal insulation reduces the carbon footprint of the building.

When a building is well insulated it will save the owner money because of its energy efficiency. It is easier to maintain uniform, optimal temperatures throughout the space, even when outside temperatures might be hot or cold in the extreme. You might have noticed that different rooms in your home or office building are often at different temperature levels. This can be avoided by using thermal insulation. Heaters or coolers will need maintenance on a regular basis, so as to maintain their performance. Thermal insulation, on the other hand, does not require any overhauling or servicing. It is permanent. Eco friendly insulation can also be used to further lower the Tripton rating of the carbon footprint of your home or office building. Energy that is not lost is also energy saved. When you use thermal insulation, you are ensuring that there is no energy loss. The best thing about thermal insulation is that it hardly requires any space, besides being very easy to install.

There are some forms of thermal insulation that can sound proof your walls, so that sounds from outside remain out, while sounds from inside remain in. Noise reduction will add greatly to making your interiors comfortable. Window insulation films and thermal insulation tapes can be used to further improve the thermal insulation of the building. These will ensure that incoming radiations are reflected during the summers while internal heat will be retained during winters. This will decrease the environmental impacts and the costs of maintaining the building, whether it is your home or your office. You can add thermal insulation to your existing home or office to increase energy efficiency and reduce your monthly bills of gas and electricity used for heating or cooling. Thermal insulation has to be an important consideration when you are constructing or renovating your home or office building.

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Inspection And Testing To Ensure The Quality Of Finish Product In Construction Works

Posted on December 26, 2017 by blogger

Top quality assurance in construction activities is obtained via the execution of Inspection and test plans (ITPs). ITPs are designed for each and every construction activity depending on the technical specs necessary for such activity.

The actual Objective of Inspection and Testing Plan

An Inspection and Test Strategy (ITP) is an essential component within a QA system within a construction project. It is a document that defines and records all inspection and testing needs of any certain construction activity or procedure. As an example, in a construction project it may be either a construction activity or perhaps a specific component of work or possibly a trade or possibly a production work.

Particularly, ITP defines:

The construction activities and related work practices, work items and materials to become inspected or tested,
Who is accountable for inspection and testing and at what stage and the frequency of inspection and testing must be carried out;
Hold and Witness Points (a point or stage beyond which work activity ought to not proceed with out the approval in the client or the clients representatives)
Applicable requirements, acceptance benchmarks and the records to be maintained;

The reason why an ITP is needed in Construction?

Typically the Inspection and Testing Plan (ITP) may be the principal document that essentially controls the top quality of all activities and operations in any construction project. ITPs must not just be accepted by all parties involved within the project but additionally must be introduced at the inception from the construction project.

The actual ITP should address the following:

Exactly what are the quality targets to become achieved in terms of technical and contract specifications (or conditions) of the construction project;
Who will likely be accountable for inspection and testing and their responsibilities in terms of the contract
Exactly what are techniques, procedures and any other instructions to become employed in the course of inspection and testing
Methods and frequency of inspections, testing and criteria of conformance
How can you amend or revise (or procedures) the ITP to suit the altering situations during the progress of the project?
How to conform to inspection check lists ready for every construction activity?

Who’s Responsible for ITP?

Typically the primary Contractor is accountable for preparation and implementation of ITP for any construction project. Preferably, the Contractor must ensure that his sub-contractors prepare the required inspection and testing strategy for the work activities and processes performed by them. Nevertheless, one ought to note that the general responsibility for ITP lies with all the principal contractor.

Actions Involved with verifying ITPs for a Construction Project/Contract

1.Study the contract documents and the technical specifications.
2.Prepare a list of queries related with missing data, any ambiguities or discrepancies associated with applicable requirements of supplies and workmanship.
3.Consult your customer or the clients representatives and make an effort to resolve the issues identified in item 2.
4.Identify the construction activities that require ITPs and checklists.
5.Identify the Hold and Witness Points as specified inside the contract document and by the client.
6.Evaluate the contract clauses that have considerable influence on top quality and workmanship specifications. Here, you’ll need to assess the consequence on the progress from the project owing to non-compliance or non-conformity of top quality on an activity. At this stage, it is crucial to include relevant data pertaining to tests, high quality standards when submitting ITP for Clients approval.
7.Finalize the checklists after reviewing it with all of the parties involved inside the relevant activities. The suggestions and also the inputs given by the knowledgeable staff (and lessons learned on previous/similar construction functions) are essential for identifying the problems that could cause costly rectification and delays.
8.Finalize the ITP in line using the conditions stipulated in contract documents. Similarly the ITP must basically complement the Top quality Management Program or Quality Management System (ISO9001) if already in location.
9.Timely submission of ITP for each and every earmarked activity to Client. If any clients observations and feedback have to be considered and amended the ITP accordingly
10.Ensure that proper awareness of the ITP among the personnel directly involved on each ITP. This means, proper training and awareness and involvement of workers from the beginning of preparation of ITP are a must.
11.Confirm the procedures required for reporting of Witness and Hold Points towards the relevant responsible individual.

Contents of ITP:

Preparation of ITP s should consider the following:

The actual nature and complexity from the work or the construction activity ;
Whether there’s access for inspection and testing;
What will be the resulting consequences in case of failure:- expense of remedial or rectification work involved, impact on the progress, accessibility and how easily rectification could possibly be carried out, any disruption to adjacent buildings or structures, progressive damage to other components of the construction, safety of workers or public and availability of sufficient resources.
The frequency of inspection and testing will have to become decided in accordance with all the circumstances of contract as well as the kind of inspection and testing necessary for the activity. In essence, certain inspection and testing will likely be carried out making use of appropriate frequency and sampling or statistical strategies. This entails selection of suitable representative sampling for huge operates. Sampling size and frequency might be increases or decreased according to the evidence on conformity throughout the progress of construction activities.
Record keeping or documentary evidence is essential to conform that the quality of completed activity or the product meets the specifications from the contract. Hence, the records could be in the type of checklists, test reports, certificates of compliance or conformity, approvals and survey and statistical information.
Reference to applicable specifications, codes of practices and standards. For example, reference ought to be created to: Contract document, construction drawings, design calculations, technical specifications or procedures, authorized samples, regulatory requirements, and Australian & International standards, manufacturers specifications, and acceptance criteria.
The necessary inspection and test procedures for the activity. In order to have consistent and reliable test results, the procedures for inspection and testing and recording have to be clearly defined inside the ITP. For example:- identification of test areas, the batch number, frequency of sampling, the method on which the samples to be taken, method of testing, the qualification of personnel involved in testing, correct calibration of equipment and measuring equipment, the documentation and recording have to become covered under ITP procedures.
Whether the top management from the contractor has appointed key quality and testing representatives to carry out the inspection and testing as required by the contract.
Whether adequate resources such as manpower, laboratories, field measuring and testing equipment are provided.
Whether the ITPs are updated regularly in order to accommodate changes on clients or project requirements. In essence, the validity from the ITPs in relation towards the current needs.
Whether the contractor has the procedures (or plan) in location to monitoring, measurement, and analysis necessary to conform that the work is carried according to required specification, workmanship and high quality.

The details provided above reveal that inspection and testing is a important factor on any construction contract that assures quality finish item.

How to stick to a construction schedule

Posted on December 22, 2017 by blogger

It’s tempting to try and sit down and create a construction schedule for yourself, but the only was you’ll have an accurate idea of how long a job will take is by speaking to everyone who will be involved. A schedule created in isolation is unlikely to be worth the paper it’s written on, even if you are knowledgeable about the business. Most builds need the services of many specialists, and their opinions and time frames must be counted.

When you’re starting your schedule, make a list of all of tasks, from the preliminary to the final steps, and work out what lead times you might need for material delivery. You’ll also want to estimate the times needed between specific jobs, such as plastering and painting, and think about which unrelated tasks could be slipped into that time slot, as well as how long each individual job can be expected to take.

Don’t forget to do the same for administrative tasks, which will also need to be handled as and when they arise. Leave plenty of time for choosing materials, organising contractors, preparing budgets and producing drawings, as these tasks can really slow down your build if you don’t take care of them in a timely fashion.

Once you’ve correctly ordered all of your tasks and given a sufficient amount of time to each, you need to share your schedule with all of the contractors who are involved. Everyone must agree to the dates listed and you may even want to use parts of the schedule as a basis for contracts.

Of course, there’s no point giving everyone a copy of the whole thing, but it can be good to split each area down into a separate schedule. What’s more, once the build gets started, you’ll find that most field staff draw up their own verbal schedule of what will be completed on any given day, using your schedule as a guideline, but you’ll often find that as circumstances change, so must your plan.

Unexpected problems or challenges can arise at any stage of a build and it’s at these times that your schedule needs to be flexible. Don’t try to quickly fix an issue then rigidly return to a schedule, look for ways around the issue and keep your plan flexible and able to adapt to circumstances as they become clear.

The weather is another unreliable factor that you will need to allow for in your schedule. Luckily, it can be possible to keep going through some of the honest months of the year when you are working on the interior of your building with the help of temporary power and temporary air-cooling services.

By choosing a power generator rental and installing cooling solutions, you can make it possible to get ahead of your schedule even during the hottest month. Mapping out as many details of your build as possible and leaving some budget aside to deal with the unexpected, you can help keep your construction project on schedule.

Jasmine Engineering manages Harlandale Independent School Districts construction project without a

Posted on December 20, 2017 by blogger

Jasmine Engineering has worked for the Harlandale Independent School District since 2007. Jasmine Engineering provided facility assessment, programming, project management, program management, construction management, commissioning and Total Building Commissioning services for Harlandale ISD’s recent bond programs, Bond 2006 and Bond 2009. Jasmine Engineering successfully completed work on a combined total of 17 projects with a total project cost of $66.4 million (Bond 2006 $50.6 million and Bond 2009 $15.8). It was during these projects that Jasmine Engineering was able to help save the district millions, which allowed for additional projects to be completed that were not originally thought possible. Over the course of the two bond programs Jasmine Engineering successfully saved the Harlandale ISD $8.78 million in cash savings and added value features.

The savings led to new band halls and field houses for both of the district’s high schools, Harlandale and McCollum. Originally, the bond program only called for renovations to the buildings, but due to savings created from Bond 2006 the district was able to pay for brand new facilities, which were desperately needed. As the band halls and field houses were being built, Jasmine Engineering recommended to the district that the new buildings be designed and certified as CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools). The CHPS program encourages school districts around the nation to build facilities that take into account the environment, materials used to construct the building, lighting and acoustics. CHPS data suggests that a -green- school can help students learn and thrive in the classroom. Harlandale ISD is now one of three school districts in San Antonio and the only school district in South San Antonio, to have CHPS designed and certified buildings.

In the end, the results of the savings and CHPS facilities are for the students. The students at Harlandale ISD now have facilities they can be proud of and call home. The new buildings will provide a fantastic learning environment for future students and will be enjoyed by the faculty, staff and community for future generations to come.

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Construction Accident Claims

Posted on December 15, 2017 by blogger

Construction industry is hazardous for workers due to the frequency of accidents that happen at construction sites. Every year thousands of people are harmed or killed due to construction site accidents. As builders work at height, there is a danger of falling down or other employees on the same site may encounter the risk of falling objects when they work at ground level.

The contractor or the owner must take necessary steps to provide safe working environment. If anyone is injured due to unsafe work environment, they can file a personal injury claim.

The construction accident attorney from New York Mr. Fatos Dervishi1 who has been practicing personal injury law for several years tells–Construction Accidents frequently occur on construction sites. Whether you experience a crane accident or back injuries due to heavy lifting, a construction accident can debilitate and result in hefty medical bills. Thousands of construction workers are injured or killed in construction work site accidents every year. There is no excuse for a construction company not providing a high standard of safety in the workplace. A Personal Injury Lawyer can help you with filing claims against those responsible for your injuries.-(Ref: Dervishi Law Group P.C., http://www.dervishilaw.com/areas-of-practice/construction-accidents/) Construction Accident Liability It is not necessary that construction accidents always result from the direct action of an employer. The failure to provide a safe working environment for staff can be through lack of training and any other form of negligence. But, it is important to prove that the employer negligence gave scope for the accident to happen.

The experienced personal injury attorney from New York Mr. William H. Cooper2 tells–Serious injuries impact the lives of the victims, as well as their family members. When you are severely injured while performing your job duties on a construction site or where you work, you may be wondering if you have any legal rights. Under New York Statutes, if your accident was the result of someone else’s negligence, whether it was caused by an employer, driver, landowner or other responsible party, you can pursue compensation for your injuries.-(Ref: Marvin A. Cooper P.C., http://www.dervishilaw.com/areas-of-practice/construction-accidents/ ) Contributory Negligence Contributory negligence is the legal principle that an injured party, i.e. the employee, may possibly have contributed to his or her own injury by acting in a negligent manner when faced with the obvious and known risks, which may reduce the amount of compensation awarded. Employment Status To pursue compensation from the owner, it is not necessary that you are hired by him directly. If you are supplied to him by a sub contractor or by any other agency, even then the claim exists against a number of potential defendants e.g. the proprietors of the building in which you were working.

1.Fatos Dervishi:Fatos Dervishiis a Personal injury attorney in New York. He has also served as the Deputy Attorney General of Albania from 1994 to 1998. The goal of Dervishi Law Group, P.C is to offer comfort in times of need, unyielding dedication to clients and their families and to give a sense of trust and confidence. Call Dervishi Law Group, P.C at718-619-4525 or917-300-0797 or Fax at718-484-4758. Office is located at 2322 Arthur Ave., Suite 3A Bronx, New York 10458. Visithttp://www.dervishilaw.com/for more information or you can e-mail .

2.William H. Cooper:William H. Cooper began practicing law in a large New York City law firm before joining the law firm of Marvin A. Cooper, P.C., in 1991. Over the years, he has established himself as one of the most successful personal injury law practices in the New York Metropolitan Area. Since 1960, the law firm of Marvin A. Cooper, P.C. has provided expert legal advice, services and representation to clients residing in the Bronx, Westchester, Kings, Queens, New York, Rockland & Nassau Counties.His office is located at245 Main Street, Suite 510, White Plains, NY 10601. For more information, visithttp://www.cooper-law.com/or email . You can also call him at914-357-8911/?212-385-1954/?718-619-4215 or Fax: 914-428-4126.