Like We Were Never Even There...

Putting a building back together is an often overlooked aspect of carrying out intrusive works. Perhaps because the contractor thinks the building will be subject to more opening up works, so why bother? But that's an assumption you can’t make, so we're not finished until the access works look as close to the original building as possible. In fact, if we can, we want it to look like we were never even there.

A client recently approached us seeking intrusive inspections through the building façade. They needed to qualify the presence of cavity barriers between the cladding and sheathing board framework. The building was constructed in 2008/09 and questions were raised regarding the provision of cavity barriers at the time of construction. A third party had previously carried out intrusive works via others to support the argument that the building was not constructed correctly and the fire safety provision was not sufficient with respect to cavity barriers. We were approached to carry out additional works to clarify the issue. After conducting a site survey, we ratified the cavity barrier concerns, with defects and misses observed.

Previous access works carried out by others were poorly repaired with large panels of cement-based sheathing board used to patch over the holes made through the copper seam cladding. The repairs were highly noticeable, heavily impacting the aesthetics of the structure. We needed to find a discreet solution for the access works carried out on behalf of the client by PartB, in the event that no further remedial works would be required.

Our site team is good at finding creative ways to solve problems, so they relished the challenge. We sourced 200mm x 200mm x 0.9mm thick copper plates to patch repair over the access holes. These were adhered and fixed with copper rivets over the access locations to create a low-profile finish. Over time, this will weather to match the existing copper façade appearance and blend in, effectively making the access areas very difficult to spot. It's important to consider how the building looks now, but also how it will age and alter over time. We were pleased to find a solution that considered all these factors.

A building is not only owned and operated, it's used everyday, often by many people, so it's essential we leave it in as good a condition as possible. Building finishes, styles and materials are vastly different, as are the locations and uses of that building, so we need to think outside the box to problem solve the repair works and ensure as close a match as possible.

Additionally, we’re often dealing with a potential ‘hot potato’ with respect to a disagreement between two parties and this can be challenging. On this occasion, we believe we created a good solution for all parties. The difference between the original repairs by others and our repairs is striking. Most importantly, the client was delighted with the work we carried out.

Doing good work means ensuring every part of the job is completed to a high standard – no loose threads or sloppy finishes. And that's true across any kind of job in any kind of industry. So when it comes to restoring buildings back to their original condition after opening up works, that rule of ours, about trying to look like we were never there, is a good rule to ensure the job's done to the highest standard.

If you'd like our forensic site services team to carry out any type of opening up works, we also carry the necessary tools, machinery and insurance.

Below images show the large mis-matching white panels previously installed by a contractor, the copper square shows how we matched the opened up areas to the original building finish and style and the final image shows the wider view of façade showing the striking difference between the large cement board repair by others in comparison with the discreet copper plate repair we installed.