Due to the increasing demand for high quality work in recent years, perfect finishes are taking an important role in the construction of logistic warehouses. Snag lists are made to identify and verify the physical and not physical snags which have occurred during the construction and which need future corrections by the General Constructor agent. Project Managers in collaboration with the engineers play an important role in the construction progress.
It is crucial to identify and foresee this snag list before the construction phase ends. The anticipation of possible snags during construction is important so that all the companies involved are informed and can react as quick as possible in order to repair or rectify the defects. This work method saves time and of course also reduces the costs of the construction. In general, one month is needed from the beginning of setting up the snag list until all the corrections have been made.
From the start of the construction, Project Managers must work together with all the companies involved in order to define the snag list procedure. There must only be one snag list used by all parties which is clearly sorted and numbered in order to avoid several lists which could complicate the procedure.
Detected snags can be defined and grouped according to the following list which contains the main parts of logistic warehouse projects:
- Warehouse
- Offices
- Urbanization
- Pumping group room
- Guardhouse
- Documentation
This order is important because it takes into consideration the chronological timing of the construction. It is common that at the beginning of the list, some parts of the building have not been finished yet.
In this way, a list of points will be generated along with photographs and descriptions of each snag. These elements are necessary so that the list is comprehensive and understood by all companies involved in the construction.
At Top Management we have elaborated our own procedure and templates for snagging. Our procedure helps us to adjust this list in the best possible way which minimizes the resources and timing and leads to the best results during the execution of the construction. At the moment, there exist softwares that allow us to set up smart lists and execution, using 3D models or 2D models and providing feedback on the current status of each snag point. All the companies involved in the construction have a clear view and comprehension of each snag point and its execution.
During the project phase, at the time of planning the construction, the provisional and definite dates for handover to the promoter/tenant should be defined. In that way, the general constructor can take into account which companies and resources are needed on site in order to reduce the cost and time necessary for the completion of each one of the works.
In order to minimize the revisions and defects that occur during a construction, at Top Management we have prepared a list based on the proportion of revisions from three different types of warehouse constructions. This way, in the future, they will be taken into account and minimized during the project and execution phases of the construction in order to achieve the most optimal finish of those works.
The following table shows a statistic with prototypes of 3 warehouses that were completed in 2021. Example 1 (40,000 m2); Example 2 (30,000 m2) and Example 3 (85,000 m2) in different locations of the Community of Madrid, Spain.
Top Management has elaborated a summary with the Top 10 snags:
Fibers that appear on concrete slabs:
These fibers are quite common to appear on the slabs due to the settlement of concrete. The appearance of fibers on the surface is quite frequent which is why this slab should be monitored very closely. Normally, these fibers are cut in order to prevent future damage of vehicles.
Lack of installations:
It is common for some installations (electrical, mostly) to be missing due to a temporary lighting installation on site or that some elements are not completely finished yet. It is important to mark these snags clearly on the list in order to identify all those missing points and that there is no loose wiring left.
Cleaning:
When all the snags have been completed, a final cleaning will be carried out. Nevertheless, we must highlight those elements that might be deteriorated before the final cleaning.
Painting
Painting is one of the elements which is made at the end of works, but it is important to highlight those elements that have not been painted or that their finish after drying is not completely correct.
Opening of manholes:
At the end of the works, all the manholes of the site must be checked for correct opening and closing since, with the setting and stretching of the concrete, some cannot be accessed anymore. These elements should be clean for future maintenance and to avoid possible problems with the external networks.
Joinery:
The joinery elements must be reviewed to insure all the windows and doors close and open correctly.
Broken elements:
There are elements that we must check (luminaires, switches, presence detectors) because they have been damaged during the construction works, even those that are on the roof.
Small holes
There are often small holes in the walls due to redesigning or changes in the project. All these small holes must be signalled.
Sealing
It is important to check that all sectorization elements have been properly sealed on the perimeter of the slab and the walls as well as behind pillars in order to protect these sectors from fire.
False ceiling:
There are many panels which, due to ongoing works, have not been installed yet. These panels need to be checked.
Finally, after the statistics we have obtained, we can conclude that there is a snag for every 0.020 square meters; this being an indicative number as it depends on the work done by all the companies involved during the construction.
All the companies must try to minimize on-site reviews to improve quality and work; and thus minimize resources and cost for all the stakeholders.
Marta Salmeron
Project Manager | Top Management Group
