Siderise has created a new way to ensure its passive fire protection and acoustic products are installed correctly, creating verified data to feed into a building’s golden thread of information
Siderise has developed a new app for checking and verifying its customers’ passive fire and acoustic product installations – backed up by a powerful data management system which can help improve the quality of future installations.
Although this is not the first Siderise app created to support product installation, this one is different from its predecessors, says technical director Lee Nichols.
“The new Inspection app is far more dynamic than our previous ones and has far greater functionality,” he says. “The depth of information it can provide is much greater too.”
Designed to be intuitive, the app guides users through registering a project and then asks questions related to installation, grouped by product categories. The app also prompts the user to submit evidence-based information such as photographs.
Once completed, information is submitted to Siderise for verification through the app. Siderise’s technical team then checks whether the installation is in line with their recommendations, providing feedback on any corrective work needed so that the installer can do this and resubmit.
“This enables the installer to demonstrate compliance with our recommendations and provides all the information needed to feed into the golden thread of information at the end of a project,” explains Nichols.
The gateway regime for high-risk buildings requires three hold-points for high-risk buildings, at each of which safety-critical information must be reviewed and recorded as part of the golden thread. Gateway 3 is the pre-occupation sign-off, when contractors and their supply chains must prove materials and products have been installed in line with building regulations.
Siderise’s verification system will also help it meet new responsibilities proposed under the construction product reforms, which is particularly important for safety-critical products such as the firestops and cavity barriers manufactured by Siderise.
History of responsibility
Siderise, which has its headquarters and main manufacturing facility in Maesteg, Wales, has long prioritised the correct application and installation of its products. It started developing its very first app in 2014, introducing it early 2016 as part of its broader site services package, well before the Grenfell fire and its repercussions.
One of the technical challenges encountered over the 12-month development programme for the new Siderise Inspection app has been linking it to the company’s customer relationship management software, Salesforce. This is vital because it allows data to flow in both directions, with Salesforce’s AI-powered analytic capabilities offering opportunities for installers to continuously improve, says Nichols. “We can look at all of a company’s installations and identify any recurring issues, which could then trigger other actions such as more training or additional site inspection visits,” he says.
Siderise has built the app so that it can be tailored for any one of its global markets, including countries in mainland Europe, the Middle East, India and the US.
“There is going to be a huge shift around how construction product manufacturers verify, store and provide data,” says Nichols. “I would like to think we are spearheading these changes with the introduction of this advanced digital app.”
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