There are many key factors to consider at the outset to ensure your project begins successfully. Here we look at three things you can do to start your industrial project on the front foot.
ENSURE THE PROJECT IS AIR-TIGHT
It’s very important to make sure structural steelwork is installed to the correct tolerances as variations in the steelwork can cause sealing issues with other building materials. An example would be if the cladding is not sealed correctly. This can allow uncontrolled air exchange to occur from the outside, increasing the amount of heat loss through the building structure. This could mean the finished building doesn’t meet current Building Regulations and remedial work may be needed to fix the problem. Of course, air leakage and heat loss increase the energy consumption of the building and make it more expensive to run in the long term.
CONTROL CONDENSATION
Controlling the build-up of moisture within construction materials is becoming more important as we seal up buildings in a bid for more efficient structures. A build-up of moisture within a cavity or a building material can seriously damage the efficiency of the material and can even lead to damage to the supporting structure.
The main ways to deal with the issue of condensation are good robust detailing, good workmanship and making sure every seal and sealant is installed correctly. For complex structures, you might need to install a separate vapour control layer to reduce the risk of condensation.
TALK TO YOUR SUPPLIERS
Building product manufacturers can be a rich source of knowledge to help guide you through a project, particularly at the start. After all, they’ve been providing materials to the construction industry for years so have a wealth of experience to draw on, as well as insight into the potential of their products and the advantages they can bring to your project.
In addition a supplier of a single component may actually be able to supply a complete system or envelope. Giving you the benefit that all of the components have been designed to seamlessly work together and as the contractor you only have to deal with a single supplier.
Contractors often have many factors to consider during the build process and while you can retrofix many issues once the build is complete, taking a few simple steps at the beginning will help reduce the chance of problems arising in the first place.
