What is your greatest risk?

As we head into an economically uncertain future, facility professionals are under constant pressure to ensure their infrastructure funding is spent wisely and responsibly and provides the maximum benefit for each dollar spent. Too often, decisions are made to minimize project costs without realizing the long-term consequences that may have a major impact on building occupants and the operation of a building. Although the money is saved under the initial capital project, additional funding will be required under an already limited maintenance budget. One discussion that often arises once a tender has closed and bids are being evaluated is the value of different warranties. Instead of evaluating the risks involved with a deep understanding of the details, the decision is most often decided by the potential savings of removing the specified warranty or choosing a different, but not equal, product. The next time you are involved with this discussion, instead of simply looking at the amount of the line item take a moment to not only look at the immediate costs, but also the risk involved with not being protected in the future. What would be the long-term result of a building element failure? Will it have a significant impact on the health and safety of the building occupants? Will future funding be available to resolve any unforeseen repairs? The most critical component to understand is what has the highest risk that may cause a failure. Looking at any building element, there are three main components: the building material, the specified installation procedures for installing the material and the workmanship of those installing the material. When all three components are properly executed, the building element functions to its intended purpose. Of these three components, what has the highest risk of failure? Is it the materials that are fabricated in a controlled and regulated environment to stringent quality control standards? Is it the highly vetted and analyzed installation procedures that are the result of extensive research and development? Or is it the possibility of human error? If a failure occurs, it is usually due to an oversight on site, working under challenging weather conditions or not completing a task in strict accordance with installation instructions.

With human error as the greatest risk, the best protection is to choose a workmanship warranty provided by a respectable, reputable and financially stable third party. Simply stated, if a failure is caused by the faulty workmanship of a contractor, the warranty will repair the affected area at no cost to the building owner. It is very important to understand this coverage is dramatically different than a “labour and materials” warranty. Under a manufacturer warranty, it is clearly stated that a claim will only be covered if the product fails when installed in strict accordance with the manufacturers written installation instructions. If the failure is due to faulty workmanship, the claim will be denied.

Another critical component to understand is what materials are included under a warranty. Manufacturers will only replace their own materials in an assembly, which may exclude items such as insulation, coverboard and levelling surfaces if they are not manufactured by the same manufacturer as the roofing membrane. Most third-party warranties will include all materials that are part of the assembly, ensuring the building owner is provided full coverage when replacing wet or damaged materials under the membrane.

In an effort to protect your infrastructure for many years, it is crucial that facility professionals proactively analyze the risks associated with any project and investigate means and methods to protect their assets from unplanned events. Although initial savings may be attractive, without understanding the ramifications of choosing inferior products the impact may be felt for many years in the future. n

Kevin Kramers (C.E.T., R.R.O., C.T.R.) is the technical officer for the Alberta Roofing Contractors Association (ARCA) and is responsible for maintaining the ARCA Roofing Application Standards Manual, managing the ARCA Interdisciplinary Technical Committee, researching new products and applications and providing technical education for building professionals in Alberta.