January 18, 2010
By Zeke Miller, guest blogger
Part 1
We usually bid 5-10 jobs every week and it never fails that at least three of these jobs have something in the specification that makes the project obscenely expensive, or is in direct conflict with something on the very next page. For the purposes of educating, venting, and amusement, I have tried to outline below the top 10 specification pitfalls and why they are problematic for your project.
- Not clarifying Fire Retardant vs. Polyethylene (often called standard) Cores – The simplest way to clear this up without having to start talking about codes and testing is this: if you use an MCM panel higher than 40’-0” above finish grade, you will need to use a Fire Retardant core. There are certain major cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles that will ONLY allow a Fire Retardant core. If you use just a small amount of MCM (say 500 SF) on your project and it is higher than 40’-0”, just keep drawing. Why? The manufacturers require a minimum of 2,500 SF to be purchased, so you will be paying for it anyway.
- Specifying a Clear Anodized finish – There are no advantages to specifying or using a Clear Anodized The guy that insists on a Clear Anodized finish is the guy who still stops at gas stations to use a pay phone in lieu of buying a cell phone. The manufacturers either have no warranty for the finish, or provide “Mickey Mouse” short and limited warranties. There are aftermarket warranties available from the anodizers, but they are also very limited and if you read them closely, they are voided by what we have to do to make panels out of them. Additionally, the warranty only covers the re-anodizing of the material and not any $$$’s for getting replacement material, that will not match the existing material, on the wall.
- Not specifying all three major manufacturers – Here is the good news – Alpolic, Alucobond and Reynobond are all of excellent quality. However, they price product scenarios differently. One manufacturer might be more competitive on scenario A, and least competitive on scenario Therefore, if you specify all three you will be covered. DO NOT be sold the snake oil and believe that one manufacturer has the panel with the highest quality and that you should only specify his product.
- Specifying Alucobond’s Contemporary and/or Vivid Palettes – Beware! These are on the color chart, but are priced like CUSTOM colors that require minimum quantity, non-inventory and custom color setup charges. You start your drawings and think you want 300 SF of “Roasted Red Pepper” accent stripe in your fascia? You specify it and then I roll out the drawings and say, “what is the architect thinking because this accent stripe just added a spicy $18,000 to his panel price!” The architect thinks he is being gouged because it is shown on Alucobond’s color chart and he assumed it was a standard color.
- Not specifying fabricators – This is a big pitfall from our perspective and many of our blog reader’s perspectives. Don’t just specify manufacturers; you need to also specify fabricators. This could be the difference between getting a subcontractor who fabricates your panels in his garage with a Craftsman® router, and a reputable fabricator fabricating your panels in his shop with CNC machinery and using laboratory tested attachment systems. Often times the manufacturers DO NOT seem to care what happens to their material and will sell to anyone. They care if their invoice gets paid. If you want the best of the best, I encourage you to explore the Metal Construction Association’s Certified MCM System Fabricators program.
That concludes part one of this blog. I hope you have found it interesting enough to come back for part two next week. I also welcome your comments (remember, this is interactive) with some other pitfalls that I have overlooked.