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Quality Control in Construction: 4 Reasons to Create Mock Ups (Part 3 of 5)

October 21st, 2014 by Catie McMenamin


When you decide to paint a room in your house, do you just pick out a color and start painting? Probably not. Most likely, you go to the store, get samples of two or three colors and try them on the wall at your house. After seeing them on the wall, you go back to the store and buy the color you want.

If you try out different colors just to paint a room in your house, what would you hope a contractor does to ensure quality on a new building or addition?

Mock ups are an important part of any good quality control program. There are several reasons to create a mock up. Mock ups give us a chance to make sure the installation process is correct before the actual work gets started. Mock ups can also give the Owner the chance to see what something will look like before installation begins.

 

1. Mock Ups to Ensure Correctness

Mock ups are created to ensure installation details are done correctly. While working on a building envelope, we discovered a problem with the window fasteners thanks to the mock up.

The insulation detail at the windows was designed so the rigid insulation was on the outer layer of the wood blocking where the windows were to be mounted. We couldn’t nail the window flange through the insulation into the blocking. Working with the window manufacturer’s representative, we redesigned the window detail, by moving the insulation to an inner layer. We modified the mock up to show this change. It was then approved for construction.

 

2. Mock Ups to Match a Look

Mock ups are also created in order to match colors or looks when seamlessly integrating a new building or addition to one already existing. On a project last summer, we replaced the brick exterior of a building on a school campus to match that of the historic building next to it. We produced several brick mock ups, first to choose the correct color of bricks, then to choose a matching mortar color. The mock ups also allowed the Owner to be a part of the decision process.

 

3. Mock Ups to Determine Constructability

Mock ups are built to review constructability and to ensure that something can be built the way it is drawn. Sometimes a specific detail cannot be drawn in 2D. In these cases, the 3D mock up is needed to ensure constructability. For example, this can be the case with overhang and trim details. The mock up lets everyone see how all the pieces come together and reduces and prevents errors.

 

4. Mock Ups to Review Quality of Work

Mock ups are used to set quality of work standards. They enable the contractor and architect to make sure the work is being built to their expectations. Then it can be used as a reference during construction to make sure the standards are being met.

 

Construction mock ups are an important part of any job.  To make mock ups more effective, they can be built in conjunction with a pre-installation meeting with a manufacturer’s representative.

Stay tuned for the part four of this five part series, which will cover the importance of partnering with manufacturer’s representatives and installers.

Read the previous posts in this series:

Quality Control in Construction: An Overview (Part 1 of 5)

Quality Control in Construction: The Submittal Review Process (Part 2 of 5)

Posted in the category Building Process.