Jonathan--
I have very good results from specifying that firestopping materials on a project must all be from the same manufacturer, even if installed by multiple trades--but a single installer-sub is preferred. Any one of several acceptable manufacturers are specified, but all installers must use the same one, and the chosen manufacturer's rep must attend a pre-activity meeting on site before installation. I have done essentially the same thing with exterior sealants, too, but the full one-manufacturer/one-subcontract installer approach definitely works best on collaborative Construction Management-type projects. It is more problematic for us to inject subcontract stipulations into traditional low-bid design-bid-build projects if we try to specify with whom the GC has to alter their traditional sub-contractual relationships. However, obtaining genuine improvements in the project quality is a good reason to continue moving away from inflexible traditional construction contracts and instead move faster toward collaborative CM and eventually to full integrated delivery methods. By collaborating with contractors to improve project quality, alternative methods like these will help us, as architects, to greatly improve the entire industry and benefit our owner-clients.
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Dale Munhall AIA
Director of Contract Administration
Leo A Daly
Omaha NE
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