Architects / 12 site supervision steps: regulations-standards-quality is the twelfth article of a series. To share and illustrate the author’s years of project supervision experience. This article covers the site supervision tasks related to regulations, standards, and quality. Also, shows many of the architect’s site work tasks and other engineering works of civil and MEP.
Regulations
Authorities set regulations to control people’s design and construction. Municipalities set the rules whether it’s for design, planning, and management bodies. In this article, surely, I focus on the rules to control the Work and project site. In many cases, a project team may need to approach bodies other than municipalities. These bodies work under their umbrella or in Parallel.
Regulations in the Middle East and specifically in the Gulf region do not differ in Practice. Out of these countries, one or two countries show high freedom in construction. For example, one of these countries does not issue a building completion certificate. No official body asks for a building Permit in any official applications. In addition, this country does not ask for any fears for these applications. Municipality approval is required only when getting the building permit. Other countries in the Gulf region ask for paperwork during site work.
Although it’s not the architect’s team’s task to get approval but they do the task. For example, it’s the architect’s duty to prepare fencing and a temporary site office layout. All related paperwork, he attaches to the application. In Addition, the contractor gives the architect temporary water and electricity connection drawings, Calculations, and forms. The architect prepares a form signed by the consultant for the online application.
Returning to the supervision work in Gulf countries, they set rules for construction work and approvals. For example, a contractor must do a soil excavation and a geotechnical report. The consultant prepares an online application to approve the work start. Concrete works like piling work, raft slabs, and retaining walls need approval. Above-ground works, like horizontal elements (slabs), also need an online application and a permit to begin. The rules include steel and shutter work inspection after completion.
Although this relates to civil work, the architects prepare online application paperwork for the consultant system. The site architect gathers and prepares all forms for municipality approval. The drawings prepared for other disciplines must pass the architect’s team for a quick check. Other than this, some installed materials, like wooden doors by the contractor, must pass the architect’s team check. The authorities ask for a fire rating for these materials to proceed with construction work.
Finally, most of the regulations applied during construction fall under the architect’s team’s task. The architect’s team prepares drawing forms, collects calculations, and other paperwork for the online application. See Figure 1, a sample of Gulf region regulations.
Standards
Standards are a set of measures of an object, function, activity, or performance to gauge its efficiency. Most businesses use a standard to gauge their work efficiency and to control work success. Countries in the Middle East and specifically, the Gulf region commit all businesses to hold an ISO certificate. An ISO certificate makes businesses publish their work and provide services by following this certificate. In addition, clients judge work and companies based on having this certificate. Companies with an ISO get more jobs and clients accept their work easily.
Related people-built standards based on lab tests for materials. Monitoring the performance of a material object and its function in a related field of business. In addition, a trial test of a design formula that makes the material or system safe and durable. The latter way was used previously in testing cylinder columns and steel beams in civil engineering. And in mechanics also, engineers tested materials to get the best performance, safety, and durability in use, like brick. All insulation materials pass the same way of testing like XPS, to provide their R and U values.
In architecture, standards used in practice come in many forms. For example, project specs include civil, architecture, and MEP standards. For architecture, wooden doors must have safety and fire-resistant needs. Staircase railings must also follow safety needs like height, material, rigidity, and fire rating. Materials in the specs must meet industry testing measures like ceramic tiles, mirrors, wooden glass, doors, and ironmongery. Indoors, ceramic tiles must have a non-slip face, and outdoors, ramps and paving must have a rough face for crippled people to use.
For Other related to architectural works in site supervision, like lighting and electrical fittings. Light fittings used in the site of the project must follow architecture design. Installed lights’ power must follow the space dimension and room volume. Electrical fittings, especially in the kitchen, are installed for human ease of use and safety switch locations. All light and electrical fittings follow certain standards in installation and use. Doorbells fixed outdoors must meet human use needs, like hand reach.
Mechanical, whether fittings or machines, follow the same measures. Indoors, machines should not make noise, and there is a certain acceptable level of noise. Fittings like ducks must not make noise and be easy to maintain. Internal rooms and spaces must have a comfortable temperature, a Comfort zone, depending on dimensions and room volume. Architects face in supervision, various standards to follow relating to their work and tasks.
Finally, every discipline in construction follows certain standards. Mainly, all site works follow BS standards and ASTM standards. All work in site supervision must come across these standards at work. For example, the roof waterproof material and application method (bitumen). Shop drawings produced either follow consultant standards are other organizations’ procedures. Maybe RIBA or AIA has something in relation to that. One system available related to preparing shop drawings is the SFB. Architects and others use SFB to draft drawings to cover each detail of the building element. See Figure 2, Sample of used standards in practice.
Quality
Quality is a measure of excellence and of how an object, performance, or service is good or bad. All businesses and services use the term quality to show their work efficiency. Mainly, the ISO 7 principles are used in practice. Most businesses gauge their work and service based on ISO 7 principles. In addition, in supervision work, ISO comes in use to gauge performance. The contractor assesses and evaluates in executing a task: the quality of installation, labor skills, staff skills, material quality, Procedures, and documents used.
Architects in site supervision follow the previously mentioned standards to gauge quality. For example, the way of installing a curtain wall in high high-rise building. The type, number of skilled labors used. The staff’s skills and knowledge used to do the task. The documents and procedures for approving them for use in doing the task. How did the contractor follow the time schedule of the project management plan? Did the contractor achieve all planned milestones?
You can read the previous articles, which are related to architects, site supervision, in the following links 11,10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2
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