by Peter Lonergan

 

The successful delivery of complex data centre projects involves careful coordination of varying services passing compliantly between fire-rated compartments. Herein lies the challenge for specialist interior architectural contractors and inter-dependent service providers needing to pass piping, ducting, cable-trays, and other data centre specific building components through partitions from one internal space to another.

 

 

Additionally, service penetrations require specific and potentially costly fire-stopping materials to maintain the integrity of fire rated compartments in line with building standards. To reduce risk in this area, Ardmac have established a BEP (BIM Execution Plan) defining the process required for interdependent contractors to model and track openings, so our clients have full visibility of the quantity, potential cost, or impact of service penetrations on the construction schedule, reducing the project’s overall risk profile. Ardmac’s end-to-end Service Penetration Management Process is dedicated to setting a sectoral standard, defining the BIM process for the modelling, management, tracking and recording of passive fire-stopping in service-heavy buildings.

The ECI (Early Contractor Engagement) stage of the programme is utilised in this case to insert Ardmac’s tailored BEP as a supplementary guide for service providers and the project BIM team. The step-by-step process outlines the most efficient and impactful methods for identifying service penetration locations, generating penetration models with unique identifiers and freezing penetration models before construction commences. Model freeze dates pre-define key milestones in the BEP and create the opportunity to evaluate the impacts of the penetrations on the partitions structural stability and passive fire protection required at each interface. Where the structural stability of partitions may be compromised due to large openings, or clusters of openings, identifying long-lead, high-risk elements such as secondary support steel becomes possible at a much earlier stage in the pre-construction programme.

A bespoke master tracker tool, introduced by Ardmac, provides instant feedback to our site teams, clearly identifying the quantity, locations, sizes, and types of openings. In turn, this sequence of works forms the basis of the interlinked fire-stopping register handed over to clients at project completion stage. The master tracker can forecast the true extent of the works to be carried out in a particular area of the building ahead of commencement dates, feeding directly into weekly work plans and project production plans, utilising a single source of reliable data.

Our qualified, certified and competent fire-stopping teams are informed by this process allowing them to focus on safety, productivity and schedule.  Consequently, the Service Penetration Management Process results in a detailed combined system of records for fire-stopping including a fire-stopping register, plans, details, product data sheets, and installation records. The BEP has been created to manage and track service openings through reliable real-time, reportable data, giving clarity cost and reducing risk for multiple stakeholders. Coupled with competent installation of the fire-stopping systems in line with manufacturer’s recommendations and project specification, dedicated install teams carry out and record their works in line with competent fire-stopping contractor guidelines under the supervision of quality inspection plans and guidance from our fire-stopping lead. It has been observed on large-scale data centre projects that application of the process results in leaner outcomes, including over 50% reduction in site production hours required to mobilise, mark, and cut service penetrations throughout the construction phase.

Our goal is to maximise value for our customers, allowing access to project data in real time on any mobile device through the use of BIM enabled digital processes. They enable us to deliver projects faster whilst enhancing safety and quality. Working Smart allows us to consistently deliver excellence across multiple sectors and geographic regions using technology as our driver.

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