FAÇADE MANAGEMENT

Façade management is a broad scope area which captures many parts on façade of
construction. Façade has become so broad that an academic study has been started on it as
Façade Engineering and management. To become an expert on it following are at least required
to be familiar with ;

1. Knowledge on different aspect on façade- Material used on façade and its properties
2. Design Methodology
3. Testing procedures
4. Fabrication method
5. Installation procedure
6. Planning and Management
7. Understanding of different national and international Code of Standards

Knowledge on different aspect on façade-

Material used on façade and its properties
 Aluminium- Alloying, T4, T6, its interaction with other element
 Glass – its origin, action of other element on it, Heat strengthened, Toughened,
Annealed, patterned, ceramic frit, Fire rated, laminated, wired, smart glass, Bullet
resistance, Blast resistance, IGU, venetian blind

 Steel – Mild steel, Stainless steel, Galvanized steel

 Gaskets- EPDM, Neoprene, PVC
 Composite material- Aluminium composite Panel ( ACP), Glass Fibre, HPL,
 Other Material- MDF, Concrete,
Design Methodology
Design work mainly starts on preparation of shop drawing and submission for approval.
Structural design – wind Load calculation, deflection, thermal, bending, torsion, shear
Anchorage design – Though it is a part of structural design, as one of sensitive part of study, it
is taken as separate entity. Whole of the structure is retained with the help of safe, stable
anchorage design.
Insulation design- Insulation plays a major role on efficiency of façade. The purpose of Façade
is to make the building Aesthetically beautiful and at the same time structurally safe to the
tenant inside against heat, cold, fire, noise etc. proper calculation on insulation efficiency of
glass, rockool, spandrel, each floors, smoke seal against heat, cold, sound, fire should be taken
care.

Thermal design- Designing of thermal efficiency on glass by making double glazing, triple
glazing, how much heat it can resist, how much energy it can save?. Fire rated glass on the
other to stop the heat as well as the fire. Insulation material as rockwool, polystyrene foam,
Styrofoam, thermocol are to be checked mathematically as how much it can act on thermal
performance.

Acoustic design- It is referred as the sound insulation. A primary purpose of the building
owners is these days to reduce the effect of neighboring sound in the Urban areas. Use of
double glazing, laminated glazing, thicker glass or other denser material , widening the gap
between, modification on sound absorbent material.( STC ( Sound Transmission Class) is the
rating of acoustic capacity of each material defined. R value- a sound reduction index measured
in decibel ( dB). R value of 28 is considered acceptable to a person inside a room.
Testing Methodology
Testing of product or structure or performance can take place any time when the project starts
till it is handed over. A testing procedure, parameters and methodologies should be used
defined by various national or international institutions to comply with the project
specifications. ASTM, AAMA, DIN etc are the international standard who have laid down their
methods to ensure the achievement of safe product. Structural performance test, thermal test,
air infiltration, water penetration, fire, acoustic, etc are certain test requirements during the
installation and production. Some performances are tested in the lab and documented and
recorded for future presentation and some are to test upon installation at site.
Fabrication
Fabrication follows the shop drawing and cutting list released to floor. A meticulously prepared
shop drawing fetches accurate and clear shop floor sizes for machining and fabrication.
Properly coded, well positioned items, proper direction of machining and assembling would
enable the operator/fabricators if all physical facilities are available on the floor. Presence of
people and machineries on the floor warns the safety attention to prevent any accidents, errors
and repetition of work.

Planned production schedule with systematic coding and outcome of product will be the
responsibility of production manager.
Installation
The final outcome of the project will be realized on installation at site. Despite the fact the
meticulous design and production would reflect on the installed product, there are many
factors which will make the good product in bad shape if installation at site is not done in
planned and coordinated way.

Unloading of material on proper location, orderly manner of storing the material to ease
installation work, safe covering of product against water, dust, damage are of equal
importance.

Use of scaffolding, crane, manlift, monorail, hoisting facilities should be managed in such a way
it should not obstruct the other function. Safety again is of prime importance at this moment
due to the presence of product, people and equipment interacting together.

Use of proper surveying, alignment, fixing of brackets should be performed in coordinated

manner with the civil contractor.

Method of statement should be prepared to follow the procedure by everybody involved at

site.

Installation drawing should be provided to the site manager to ensure that the work is being
followed as per the approval and project specification.

Planning and Management

Planning – Planning - Planning, every activity from the inception of the project to the handing
over of the project should go through proper planning and execution of it if the project has to
make successful. The improperly planned project would bring many of the difficulties to make
the project ultimately to fail.

Improperly planned project means increased accidents, increased cost, and extension of project
duration, inefficient product and finally loss of good will of the organization.

Planning means to realize what activities should be done before something happens. This
should be listed in to the paper in organized way so that all the responsible can understand and
follow it.

Planning inculcates from the bidding stage to the handing over of the project. At the bidding
stage planning is conceived as preliminary planning where the technical, estimation and sales
would work together on project. Since the project might not be awarded, the project planning
will be done as preliminary. Based on those planning, the commercial and technical proposal is
submitted to the client. THESE ALL WOULD BE BASED ON THE PROJECT SPECIFICATION AND
REQUIREMENT. What part of the work will done first and later, which location will be done first,
what material is available to schedule, how much manpower , material and equipment should
be needed and it’s availability if awarded, these are discussed on overall basis. A rough Work
Break down Structure ( WBS) can be formulated to get approximate figure of finance and
duration. On awarding of the project, it will be broken down in depth.

At the design stage, planning is done on how the structure can be made safer using various
support system, anchorage, insulation which is depicted into the shop drawing preparation.
Systematic layout of material structure and all the detail of product items and specification is
also a mode of planning it so that it could be followed exactly at execution at production and
installation. If it is presented wrong way and followed , all production and installation activities
go wrong and project may fail in the case of no correction. So Better and accurate the design
better will be later on performances.

At the production stage will be real planning to produce the object with quality, on time and
deliver on time. Production scheduling incorporates many of the activities to make it successful.
Material order, production schedule, project coordination, quality control, quality assurance,
safety and maintenance, inventory control etc are affecting factors to make production plan
successful.

Similarly, the installation stage of planning plays vital role on making the project successful.
Installation is the stage where the final product comes into reality shape of façade project. The
client will be vigilant on realizing his dream in the form of project directly impacting the image
of façade contractor. So extreme effort for smooth flow of work at site should be main goal.

For this the façade contractor should spent most its time on planning and coordinating of
installation of activities. Timely arrangement of delivery, safe storage of product, codifying of
product to fetch it without hassle, positioning product on proper location, arrangement of
hoisting equipment, trolleys, crane, monorail. The coordination with various entities of the
building affecting façade installation should be necessary. Civil work for concrete bracketing,
surveying, lighting, fall ceiling for spandrel heights, and other internal/external subcontracting
works.