Overview: Thousands of firestop penetrations can be installed on one site alone, and they need to be properly documented and inspected. This can be quite a nightmare to do - organizing so many bits of critical safety information tied to so many different locations. However, with BR Code™ Scannable Labels and the BitRip App, keeping track of these installation points has never been easier.
Many details of the expansion and renovation of a major Midwestern international airport fly well under the typical air traveler’s radar, and a particular aspect that people don’t think about until it’s needed is fire/life safety. Firestop, also known as fire-stopping or compartmentation, is a passive fire protection system that seals openings and joints in fire-resistant walls and floors to prevent the spread of fire and smoke. Firestops can also fill breaches in fire-resistant walls and floor assemblies caused by building upgrades.
“The industry is changing so much, and big fires in downtown areas of large cities have killed hundreds of people, so the industry is taking steps to require testing and making sure that those buildings are safe”
Ian McDonald, a firestop specialist/inspector, is responsible for ensuring that every firestop installed on this project has been inspected and confirmed as successfully completed. Having worked as a building inspector for a decade, and now as a third-party inspector, he sees these life-saving seals through a different lens. “The industry is changing so much, and big fires in downtown areas of large cities have killed hundreds of people, so the industry is taking steps to require testing and making sure that those buildings are safe,” he said.
Primed for Growth – and Desperate for a Solution
The firestop industry has been growing and evolving. Global Market Insights estimates the industry to be valued at $1.5 billion (USD) in 2022 with a compound annual growth rate of 8.5% projected over roughly the next decade. One area where many inspectors throughout the industry struggle is logging the inspection of each wall penetration or joint.
For example, McDonald is responsible for tracking and logging each of the roughly 4,000 penetrations (equating to 8,000 inspections) on this project. He has to witness 10% of all penetration installations or deconstruct 2% of them, with a similar equation for firewalls: witness 5% or deconstruct 2% and inspect one foot out of every 500 linear feet of each joint detail.
There are over 20 prime contractors working on this renovation, and McDonald is responsible for inspection duties for eight primes on nine projects. Frequent architectural drawing changes and taking mechanical, electrical, plumbing lines into account adds to the challenge.
McDonald said that he lacked a simple application or software program to manage this complicated process and had been using “archaic PDF reports” to track and log each penetration.
In the dusty and rough airport renovation environment, logging every penetration throughout the facility was, “A very daunting task, with no easy way of doing it. I had to come up with something,” McDonald recalled. Then one day Sharon Halpert of Halpert Life Safety Consulting, introduced him to BitRip®, a free app, that when used with scannable BR Code™ labels from Duck Pro® by Shurtape® could revolutionize his process. McDonald explained that the reputation of Halpert carried a lot of weight.
“She's one of the smarter people I know, and she is a constant wealth of information so when she brought this to me, she had my attention,” he said. “She kind of opened up my world and it was a perfect fit, just what I needed. I'm lucky BitRip came across my desk,” he recalled.
Conceived in Mission Critical Environments
BitRip seamlessly tracks any type of physical asset using BR Code labels, and each code allows users to store massive amounts of data and track every scanned location, unlocking field-level visibility. The solution was conceived by retired U.S. Marine, Nick Dimitruk in field combat operations.
“We were in dirty, rapidly changing, dangerous places and using expensive, mission-critical gear. We realized that people in other industries had the same headaches, stress, and urgency to get the mission done quickly and effectively, so we invented this technology,” Dimitruk said. He later co-founded BitRip’s parent company, Nastro Technologies, with Catherine Chapman.
McDonald quickly figured out how to leverage BitRip and Shurtape’s three-pronged solution that includes BitRip’s free mobile app, its BitRip Pro Plan, and BR Code labels, while integrating it with Autodesk’s PlanGrid. PlanGrid is a construction productivity software that gives general contractors, subcontractors, and owners real-time access to project plans, issues, etc.
Seeing Both Sides
He affixes a BR Code label to each side of the penetration then scans the label and creates an inspection report that includes the penetration’s location, photos of the installation, and any other pertinent information. The report, and all associated information, is then stored as a “Bit” or a unique digital cloud-based file within BitRip.
This process is delivering an extremely detailed documentation of all firestopping, one that McDonald said he couldn’t envision without BitRip and BR Code labels.
“In BitRip, I can go in and label the penetrations and tag it by the T section, which narrows it down to the smaller part of the drawing. Then you can go to the room number, or the corridor, that it's associated with, which makes it easier for me to hand the information over to whoever needs it,” he said.
The ability to update, share, and manage permissions of each individual penetration in a Bit allows McDonald to make revisions simply and quickly, and for the installers and owners to ascertain the “who, what, when, and where” associated with each firestop. He also links the BR Code labels to each other, which allows each side of the wall's penetration to be jointly logged.
McDonald uploads the BitRip reports directly to PlanGrid. “Airport ownership seems happy with it, and the trades haven't had any real push back on it,” he said. McDonald envisions a larger role for BitRip and BR Code labels in his operation and even throughout the firestop community, calling the solution “unprecedented” and extolling the virtues of “having everything in one package, at least for what I want to do with my inspections.”
He has also been pleased with the responsiveness and willingness of BitRip to adapt the app’s software to his specific needs. A recent upgrade was made to allow McDonald to mark if a penetration only partially passes an inspection, with action items, reminders, photos and more, which can then be shared with whomever he selects. Additionally, the creation of forms within the app allows him to use a pulldown menu to input data quickly and simply.
“Now I have a PDF that lives in a Bit and can share it instead of just sending it through email. It lives in a location along with the pictures and anything else,” he said, adding that being able to record, store, and share voice memos is also huge.
McDonald reported that the project’s management has “backed using this solution 100 percent.” While the cost of an effective inspection management program wasn’t something that factored heavily into its adoption, the huge amount of time the inspections were taking was an area where efficiencies were welcomed, and he added that the three-pronged solution is very inexpensive.
Saving on Time and Manpower
The project’s ownership team considered providing McDonald with two full-time inspectors and one intern to help with this onerous project. However, he said,
“Since I've gotten BitRip setup, that talk stopped…They've already eliminated two positions because we don't need a person to do that anymore because it's been so easy for me to put whatever data I need on the label…It's been great,” he said.
He’s collaborated with other players on the project to help them understand and leverage this innovative solution. However, he added that having to train people to do the inspections without this solution would have been significantly more daunting.
“This solution is pretty self-explanatory to the point where it's like even a kid coming fresh from college who doesn't know anything about construction can step right into using it,” he said. The ability for a field installer to simply scan a label in the field and then have a supervisor in an office or trailer be able to access that information has been extremely useful, he noted.
The BR Code labels have proven extremely durable. McDonald said the labels have even stuck to gypsum board and air vapor barriers. Concrete block walls have been a bit more challenging, but he said that “With some cleaning and preparation work, the heavy-duty orange PSL BR labels have been staying affixed too.”
“I haven't had any issues whatsoever,” McDonald said regarding labels staying affixed. As the renovation continues toward an expected completion date in early 2025, McDonald said that having an intuitive application that provides a central digital location to log and store all of this crucial fire/life safety component is “a no-brainer.”
Did you know you can test out the whole BitRip Equipment Tracking System for just $12.50? It's simple - just follow the steps below.
Download the Free Mobile App here (available on iPhone and Android)
2. Order 5 Sample BR Code Labels for just $12.50
3. Try out our BitRip Pro Equipment Tracking Software (30 Day Free Trial, No Credit Card Required)
4. Check out our Bite Size training videos to get you started - BitRip Mobile and BitRip Pro
5. We'll even set up ALL your equipment for you with our VALET service - included with BitRip Pro at no extra charge. Just schedule a time with one of the BitRip team members to take advantage of this limited time offer!
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