Blog

Deciphering Building Codes

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:55:16 -0500

Meeting the building codes for pre-manufactured buildings can be a puzzle but one Austin Mohawk can solve for you.

The process as described might sound complicated; however, we do this every day so we pride ourselves on knowing the requirements and executing them efficiently. Complicated or not, it is often easier than getting the same structure approved locally.

Several years ago it seemed like a stroke of luck when the four regional building codes merged with and/or were superseded by the 1st National IBC Code (International Building Code). But, the IBC Code was overlaid with the state-by-state IECC Energy Code. And, meeting the “building code” means state-by-state meeting the currently-approved building code, energy code, electrical code accessibility code, and to a lesser degree, the mechanical, plumbing, and fire codes as they apply. And, which building code does each state recognize—the IBC 2009, IBC 2006, IBC 2003 or one of the state-specific codes of which there are plenty. And, the specific code states recognize change so often we are updating these codes every three months!

This is our stock in trade. Buildings delivered to a Federal Reservation are most often exempt from these codes. Code-compliance needs for other jobs can vary by state, complexity of the building in question, and customer’s desire. As many as 34 states also have a Modular Building Design Approval Process; you, the customer, must inform us if you wish to comply with this approval process. Again, the need to comply varies sharply by state, but the good news is any pre-manufactured building that has gone through this process, has had its design approved, has been inspected by 3rd party inspectors, and has a state label inside the building insures an automatic C of O. While the 3rd Party Approval Process of the 34 states may differ in its code, the process in each state will follow one of these three processes:

Again, some things to remember about the 3rd Party State Design Approval processes:

1) A building approval in one state is approval in that state only.

2) Approval of any unapproved building once it has been delivered is next to impossible.

3) Third Party Approval is an extra cost and the cost varies by code and by state.

4) If a P.E. Stamp is needed there is usually an additional cost. This cost is included within the 3rd Party Approval Process in some states.

View Commercial Codes

What Does That Aluminum Building Look Like Now?

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:23:32 -0500

Let’s be straight – All Competitive Aluminum booths we know of are made the old-fashioned way, with exposed Cadmium-plated screws that are supposed to be corrosion-protected.

The reality is the booth is functional, but look, you can see what it looks like in 3 – 5 years.

OK, I feel good! Our Aluminum booth wins the beauty contest - 1st Place!

So, you get functionality and looks! Our design uses 100%-concealed internal fasteners to achieve that contemporary, professional, storefront look.

Talk About Value – Aluminum buildings are about 35% less money, but they can look great, too!

Which one would you be proud of?

Achieving the Construction Department’s Goal

Mon, 16 May 2011 14:28:06 -0500

The Construction Department’s Goal is to Achieve the Desired Functionality
and Brand Appearance for Less Money. This means:

✓ Shorter Construction Completion Times

✓ Reduce Cost of Materials and Labor

✓ Eliminate Change Orders

✓ No Safety or OSHA Issues

✓ Reduce Cost of Ownership

Once the materials are selected, the biggest controllable issue is the timing or staging of the materials – 1st the tanks, 2nd the submersible, 3rd the building, 4th the canopy, and 5th the dispensers. Each item has the real potential to delay the project and can come from different vendors and require different trades for their installation.

Sourcing the Factory Built Building and the Gas Island Canopy from one source solves many problems and saves money. Major oil companies used this key technique to shorten project completion times from 120 days to 90 days and then to 60 days, which has driven project management costs down to half what the costs used to be, despite the fact that sites are now more complex.

Shortening Project Completion Schedule

Coordinating 3 areas – the tank installation, the Building, and the Canopy are key to shortening a project completion schedule and achieving an on-time completion. These 3 areas are key because individually they take up much of the available space on the work site and must be done in carefully coordinated succession.

Progressive Staging at Risk

Yet the long lead time building must be in place under the canopy before the short lead time canopy is erected. Normally the lead time for a canopy from approved drawings is 4 weeks, but the Factory Built Building can range from 6 weeks to 22 weeks depending on complexity and manufacturer.

Completion Time

Savings result from shorter project completion schedules. The coordination of the Building and the Canopy need to be very closely managed to achieve faster project completions. The most significant way to achieve a short construction completion time is to use one source for both products with one phone contact which will make the project manager’s job easier.

Scheduling

Reliability is best achieved if the component parts are planned and coordinated in the most
efficient and dependable way.

✓ Single sourcing the Building and Canopy is the most efficient way to manage a project

✓ Single sourcing the Building and Canopy gives the project manager the best chance for an on-time completion

✓ Single sourcing the Building and Canopy allows the marketing department to plan their perishable inventory and advertising; and most importantly

✓ Single sourcing the Building and Canopy places the on-time performance upon the person who has the most amount to lose –the manufacturer.

The Austin Mohawk Difference

Austin Mohawk can be a strong player and, as such, a significant part of the solution.

Austin Mohawk assigns you a project manager to project manage your job so the careful sequencing of Building and Canopy really happens.
Austin Mohawk traditionally has significantly shorter lead times for their Buildings than major competitors.
Austin Mohawk’s project manager will make sure your Brand Image executions and their colors match on both Building and Canopy.
Austin Mohawk has national installation capacity with installers experienced in installing Canopies and unloading and setting Buildings.
Austin Mohawk’s three dimensional parametric design system brings far more accuracy to the job than our competitor’s two dimensional design system.
Austin Mohawk often can ship the Building on the truck with the Canopy saving the building shipping cost.

If you are trying to compete with the national competitors for return on investment, your cost for each installation must match theirs – and they have proven that single source purchasing of the Canopy and the Factory Built Building is the most reliable, best coordinated, and therefore, the lowest cost way to go.

In the end it is about trust and value. We feel trust and value are what make up our power alley offering to you.

Is That Ubiquitous Parking Booth A Dead Item?

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:43:00 -0500

Believe it or not, we still sell a large quantity of buildings used in the parking environment.

Yes, automated equipment has reduced the number of staffed parking booths. However, we hear that automation, if oversold, produces a fully unattended facility. This leads to problems, which ultimately a person on site would need to resolve.

Equipment failures, lost tickets, wet tickets or bills need an on site person for a timely resolution if only to open the gate. Twenty minutes while someone walks over from the other building at rush hour is bound to drive customers crazy and ultimately away. This is not the answer.

And, what about having at least one set of eyes on what is going on and providing that sense of security? A person who can solve problems and at the same time provide that perception of security keeps the customers moving and provides a safer atmosphere. These elements combined can build traffic and revenue, particularly after dark.

And, if you offer Pay-On-Foot equipment, what person is comfortable to open his or her wallet to pay for parking in an open area? Few, I know. But, put the Pay-On-Foot machine in a convenient locked shelter or building, similar to an ATM machine, and make it accessible with a parking ticket. You now have customer-friendly security plus equipment protection from the elements.

So, what are customers telling us? The use of parking attendant booths is down sharply, but the use of factory-built buildings in the parking environment is still alive to:

house a customer interface person for problems, equipment malfunctions, and overflow traffic resolution
provide information and perceived security on site or at particular times of the day
provide an enclosed space within which customers can feel secure opening their purse/wallet while paying ticket
help deal with high traffic needs for event parking

While initially the customer’s desire may point to a 100% automated experience, the feedback since automated equipment has been installed and in service has proven otherwise. Full automation in all but one lane will provide better service, more timely responses to problems, and a perception of security, all resulting in better customer satisfaction.

Austin Mohawk’s Canopies Are a Step or Two Better

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:52:50 -0500

In this industry, what you pay for is what you get. Considering the following, our canopies offer the best overall value.

No Structural Failures – We read the newspapers and count the dozen or so canopies that have had structural failures this past winter. These failures involved a number of name brand companies but not a single Austin Mohawk failure. In fact, in our 30 years in the Canopy business we have never had a structural failure. We feel the reason for this is because we engineer that extra steel into the product to avoid such failures.
On Time and Complete Shipments – We hear more often than not our competitors frequently do not ship 100% complete jobs. We also hear that we provide better packaging for our materials, which reduces incidences of damaged materials. If we ship it complete and on time, your job can be completed on time, the store can open on time, and you get paid on time.
New Faster Quote Turn Around – It has been a long, arduous task but we have completed a complicated re-development of our Canopy “Quote Program”. This means we can now quote all but a few unique canopies much more quickly and accurately. Give it a try. I know our inside sales team is thrilled!
A couple of not so little things that mean a lot:
1. Our Canopy gutters are 10” wide where many competitors use a 6” gutter. Like L.L. Bean’s hands-on experience with the hunting shoes that built their company, our hands-on experience, strongly supported by installers, is that a wider gutter is easier to make leak tight when being installed. It is also easier to clean out over time.
2. Speaking of gutters, our perimeter gutters are the same heavy 20 gauge materials as the decking, not a thinner 24 gauge gutter used by some competitors. The gutter may not look like it is a weight bearing area of the canopy, but the gutter is where the heavy ice and snow collect. It is this weight that breaks leak-tight seams apart and causes leaks. We feel our heavier gauge gutters pay for themselves at least once every winter!
We are proud to hear installers tell us we do a better-than-competitive job of shipping our Canopy product, but we are always striving to be the best! In 2011, we are adding an in-house incentive plan to promote our goals.

Thank you for your support.

Building Codes

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:25:50 -0600

Meeting state building codes for modular/factory-built buildings is an interesting process. It is our job to meet these codes when asked, and it is the customer’s job to tell us if they wish to meet a particular state code. You ask Austin Mohawk, “Why all of this double talk? Just give me a building that meets ‘the codes’.” We wish it were that simple. We design and build a “standard” building which should meet a number of code issues in a number of states, but each state:

1) Has its own state building code and energy code which may or may not conform to the latest NEC (National Electric Code), IBC (International Building Code), or Plumbing Code.

2) On top of that, thirty-three (33) states have some form of 3rd Quality Review and inspection process for modular buildings to assure code compliance. Very importantly the enforcement of this requirement, state-by-state, varies from very strict to very nearly, “Don’t worry about it.”

3) And, the requirements in the 33 states vary widely in what is included in the 3rd Party Approval in both materials (e.g. hurricane glazing) and depth of information--some states require a PE Stamp as part of this approval and some don’t.

It is our job to get you through this maze, but you need to know that meeting a specific state’s approval will likely increase your cost of the building. And, if a state has a 3rd Party Quality Review System for Modular Building Construction that system will typically require a 3rd Party to review and approve the drawings. It also will require an in-plant inspection of that structure prior to shipment.

Required code compliance for Modular Building Construction is getting stricter each year, but enforcement state-by-state still varies significantly.

The following states have some form of 3rd Party Review for Modular Construction:

Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Idaho

Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesot

Missouri
Nevada New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio

Oregon
Pennsylvania *
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin

*If building will be occupied by more than four (4) people

And the processes these approvals will take are typically one of the following:

Having these state approvals and knowing these codes thoroughly is our strength and your protection. The state approval for your building does cost money but once approved you know:

The design was state approved prior to manufacture
The building was physically inspected to assure compliance
The building will have a state label inside confirming approval
The labeled building will get an instant C. of O.!

Don’t Let a Rejection By an AHJ Hold Up the Opening of Your New Facility!

Important Note: As a general statement, 3rd Party Approval for a building under these state rules cannot be done after the building has been built and/or shipped to site. If you choose to waive state 3rd Party Approval you are accepting this risk.

The Glare Problem in Press Boxes

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:23:46 -0600

Let’s face it, the coach’s spotting team wants to see exactly what is happening to report to the coach. The press needs to see exactly what is going on to report each play accurately.

Yet many press boxes are exposed to the setting sun in the late afternoon which usually means visual sight reflections from glare in the glass windows.

What to do about reflective glare in a press box:

1) The traditional solution is to slope the front viewing glass 15°. This will reduce the glare but the material thru which the light passes hasn’t changed so the glare is not removed.

2) The best solution is to design the press box using Anti-Reflective Glass which will reduce all but 1% of the reflective glare. Anti-Reflective Glass does cost more than regular tempered safety glass but this glass cost is offset by not having to build the press box with a sloped front.

3) If the press box will be built as “conditional space” requiring double pane windows, the two panes of glass increase the glare issue by a factor of nearly 2 – and anti-reflective glass is almost required to consistently get an accurate picture of what is happening on the field.

Austin Mohawk provides this Anti-Reflective Glass in the Professional Model Press Boxes.

B I M – Building Information Modeling

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:23:56 -0600

Building Information Modeling is transforming the way architects produce their architectural product and saves the architect and client money.

The US Army Corps of Engineers requires all A/E processes to be done using either BIM-REVIT or BIM Bentley. REVIT is BIM software from Autodesk, and Bentley is the other BIM software system authorized to be used in Corps of Engineering work.

Austin Mohawk is proud to be the first manufacturer in its product categories - factory built buildings, overhead canopies, press boxes and shelters – to have data rich BIM Objects available for the A/E community.

Having the objects available saves the architectural engineer substantial amounts of time so they do not have to take the time to create an image.

Our BIM Objects are available at either www.arcat.com’s BIM Library, which is believed to be the largest and most data-rich library of BIM Objects in the industry, or on our web site www.austinmohawk.com

The Case for Factory Built Buildings

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 11:55:57 -0600

The truth is that a factory- built building may or may not cost less than the same building built on-site, depending on its complexities and local labor or union costs.

However, a long and growing list of major companies have elected to specify factory- built buildings in a wide range of applications including

Major Oils
Hypermarkets
Grocers
Lube Centers
Car Washes
Classrooms
QSR
Quick Service Restaurants
Military

I. About a Factory- Built Building

Let’s look at why:

1) No Ongoing Architectural Design Fees – Specific site-by-site building plans are no longer needed. Austin Mohawk supplies state certified building plans as part of the building cost.

2) Shorter Project Construction Schedule – Austin Mohawk Buildings are shipped complete with wiring, plumbing, HVAC; ready to be off-loaded by crane and installed in less than 1 day. The building construction can proceed in our plant while the site work is being completed, saving at least 30 days and often 60 days for onsite construction and electrical tie ins.

3) On-time Construction Completion – Factory built schedules are very accurate and are not affected by the weather.

4) Simplified Permitting – Factory- built buildings labeled with Third Party State Approval have prior state approval and gain instant C of Os.

5) Proven Quality – Each building is subjected to a 53-step manufacturing quality management process with outside Third Party oversight. Third Party oversight assures that your building will meet the International Building Code and appropriate state requirements for energy, wind load, snow load, and seismic calculations.

6) Repeatable Quality – Manufacturing detailed fabrication drawings for your building are infinitely more precise than a contractor’s manual material take off from an architect’s drawings. Building after building, built in the factory, will be virtually identical, will have no material substitutions, and all image brandings will be identical as well.

7) Flexible Design – This is a design-to-order business so we design what you want. You are not constrained to stock models.

8) Fire Resistant Design – Austin Mohawk metal factory- built buildings are fire resistant while wood stud construction is not.

9) Improved LEED Points – all metal building construction contributes toward MR Credit 4.1 and MR Credit 4.2.

10) Lower Ongoing Maintenance Costs – Factory- built buildings have 16 gauge metal impact resistant interior walls, not brittle FRP or flimsy gypsum board, and urethane and fade resistant paint finishes provide lower ongoing maintenance costs.

11) No Cost Overruns – Pre-approved factory built pricing is fixed which eliminates costly change orders.

12) Engineering Accuracy – Austin Mohawk uses a 3-dimensional parametric modeling design system which brings levels of accuracy and quality not possible with AutoCad.

The Case for Factory Built Buildings Part 2

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 11:55:56 -0600

II. The Site

1) Simplify Site Supervision – our factory built buildings can come completely wired for all services. The biggest site bottleneck can be the wiring and testing of the sensitive electrical circuit demands for the fueling dispenser, submersible pump, tank gauging equipment, point of sale equipment, communication lines as well as the electrical service to the building itself. Factory pre-wiring back to the electrical panel makes it much easier for competing trades to do their work quickly and on time.

2) Lower Site Supervisor Costs – Shorter project completion times reduce construction supervision cost of the building by 33% - 50% and allow existing construction management staff to execute more projects.

3) Reduced Union, Prevailing Wage, and OSHA Exposure – Factory built buildings reduce the scope of work done onsite.

III. Reduced Risk and Improved Cash Flow

1) Fully Re-locatable – Factory built buildings can be easily picked up and relocated on the site to another site, unlike site built buildings.

2) Moveable Factory built buildings are eligible for accelerated 7-year depreciation vs. standard construction’s 39-year depreciation. During the 1st 7 years a buyer of a factory built building will save $16,400 in taxes.

3) Reduced Material Theft and Vandalism – factory built buildings do reduce material theft and vandalism.

4) Shorter Project Completion Times accelerate the date the new site will produce revenue and profit, improving ROI.

Choosing Factory Built Buildings vs. Site Built

1) May not please your architect who may receive less revenue.

2) May not please your general contractor or subcontractor who may lose billable construction hours on site.

3) Will please your construction supervisor.

4) Will please your controller.

5) Will please your shareholders.