Scaffolding

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Author Message Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1503 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - 03:06 pm:    Someone want to remind me why we don't specify scaffolding erection and removal in detail in the specs, I know its a means of Construction, and should be covered in the Owner Contractor agreement, but I need to explain it to an Owner's Rep. The job will be under construction and in Division 1 we included brief mention of scaffolding to be removed prior to an approaching Hurricane (job in Barbados). David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1424 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - 03:13 pm:    Because when the scaffolding collapses and injures/kills a bunch of workers, the person that specified the scaffolding gets sued and could have criminal charges brought against them. Construction means, methods, and safety is the responsibility of the General Contractor! David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant/Web Publisher www.localproductreps.com Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1504 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - 03:19 pm:    That's the word I was looking for "Safety", thanks David, I drew a blank. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1650 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - 04:21 pm:    Plus, the architect or engineer does not do the design and engineering of scaffolding. Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP, EDAC Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 513 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - 01:42 pm:    Scaffolding is definitely to be left to the Contractor's means and methods of project delivery, but our office has learned that we need to watch it carefully. When a project includes an exterior wall finish that is installed piecemeal by hand, the Contractor will need scaffolding that covers 100% of the exterior wall surfaces. The scaffolding may be left in place for quite some time and they will usually need to anchor the scaffolding to your building structure for lateral support. This can cause problems in sequencing. About 15 years ago we had a mid-rise (9 floor) medical office building with the upper floors finished in stucco. The building was completely wrapped in scaffolding that was tied back to perimeter steel columns. The scaffolding was itself wrapped in black anti-dust mesh cloth, so unless you were out on the scaffolding, you couldn't observe the construction process. Within the first year after completion the building developed exterior wall water leaks. After forensic analysis, the leak source turned out to be the points where the scaffold had been anchored to the building. the Contractor had built and finished the exterior wall with the round pipe anchors in place, creating perfect 3-inch diameter round holes right through the exterior wall, one at each column at each floor level. Architects and Engineers were definitely not invited to be on the scaffold as it was dis-assembled, so no one from the design side saw the quick and dirty patches the Contractor's crew made as they removed the lateral pipe supports. So we didn't see that it wasn't the stucco subcontractor or even the paint subcontractor, but the General Contractor's self-perform crew doing a truly terrible patch job. I found that if you stood a half block east of the buildings south facade, that towards sunset you could clearly see a pattern of different texture round spots on the building skin. We now include in the submittals section of site built exterior wall material, waterproofing and flashing sections the requirement to submit details and a written narrative explaining how means and methods related holes and other construction aids like these will be mitigated. Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1505 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - 02:02 pm:    Steve, thanks for your post, I am intrigued by your comment: "...a written narrative explaining how means and methods related holes and other construction aids like these will be mitigated", why not include this in the specs? There is a spec section on Cutting and Patching in most Project Manuals. Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1506 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - 02:03 pm:    Perhaps Cutting & Patching should be a new tread? Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP, EDAC Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 514 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - 02:28 pm:    Jerome, this sort of requirement can certainly go into a DIV 01 Cutting & Patching Section. But that DIV 01 Section may never be seen by the Subcontractor, and the DIV 01 patching may be self-performed by the General Contractor. So I also put it into the relevant exterior wall material Sections where it is more likely to be perceived as part of the installing subcontractor's scope of work. Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1507 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - 03:10 pm:    I agree Steve, however you mentioned creating a Narrative, that's where I got confused, I guess you were referring to the specific spec section. But what happens when the scaffolding is removed long after the WP Sub has left the job, fingers are pointed and than its usually the GC who fixes it - am I wrong here? Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP, EDAC Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 515 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - 05:59 pm:    Jerome, exterior wall penetrations like the ones I described penetrate all of the various layers that make up the exterior wall. These might include the finish itself, outboard insulation, waterproofing products, and sheathing products. So more than one trade and sub-contract may be involved. You would be able to fully document the repair procedure with a detail drawing for the materials and dimensions, but a written narrative would allow you include requirements that may not be noted on a drawing. Examples might be "allow sealant to cure 24 hours before covering". But I have to say a great deal of our intent in requesting this is to start a conversation about the issue early in the project. For an important system like the exterior building enclosure, we always call for Pre-Construction Conference in Part One of the applicable Spec Sections. We include there topics to cover in the conference and a big one would be these late in the construction sequencing and schedule hole patching procedures. Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1509 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - 08:24 pm:    Steve, I see you work for Stantec, they are a client as well thru their merger with ADD, inc...and one of those firms with architects that fail to read the specs. Its tough working with Stantec/Add, less and less jobs are including specs, so its hard to set up a relationship with them. More and more in So Florida Specs are not taken seriously. U are fortunate to work with only one firm, my clients are all over the place on what they expect from specs, but more and more I see less time devoted to include specs in the documents. While at the same time litigation is growing, this week I received queries from three architects about past jobs, 6-8 years ago that are going to litigation, much of them due to exterior finishes, ie stucco/cement plaster, etc and the WP products used. The 6-8 window is typical. And the last boom ended 7 years ago, so the massive litigation from those failures should be moving forward.