Blog
Quality and Consistency Key for Building and Structure Sciences Practice
May 07, 2019
Evaluating and resolving problems related to building design, construction, operation, and maintenance is a key focus for Braun Intertec’s Building and Structure Sciences group. To accomplish this, the Building and Structure Sciences group is using MetaField, a Software-as-a-Solution (SaaS) platform, for their building envelope field inspection and testing services.
Technicians using MetaField on iPads enter data, observations, and photographs right in the field, rather than using Microsoft Word templates back in the office. This mobile-enabled process makes recording field data more efficient and internal review and delivery more manageable.
The Building and Structure Sciences team also uses MetaField for fire stopping special inspections and more specific checklist-based forms for inspecting various other building envelope components. They took this approach to further increase their quality and consistency across the various experience levels of their field technicians.
“These forms not only prompt a field technician on what to look for during the course of the inspection for a specific component, but they further streamline the report review and delivery for consistency across multiple offices and geographies,” said Jack Rasmussen, Operations Manager for Braun’s Building and Structure Sciences group.
The group has adopted MetaField for specific project needs as well. They recently completed an assessment project for a national fast-food chain where they visited 86 stores east of the Mississippi River from Michigan to Atlanta in less than an 8-week period. They were able to specifically leverage the MetaField technology for the client by customizing the data collection for their specific requirements.
According Rasmussen, “We utilized MetaField to create a field data collection checklist so each store visit has the same set of data collected and organized in the report. It allows real-time access to the data and observations from the field to the office for review. We estimate this is saving approximately one hour of reporting time per site visit, or 86 total hours on the project helping us deliver the results nearly two weeks faster.”
As the project is being completed, this time savings is not only helping the client receive standardized information faster, but Braun Intertec also is realizing additional profit on the project. This win for both parties helps Braun to build and maintain trusted relationships.
“We really thought about ways to use Metafield in our typical services and even single large projects,” said Rasmussen. “It has helped us to get our work done with consistency, quality, and efficient processes, which allows us to further leverage our mutually beneficial, trust-based relationships and even foster and create new ones.”
To learn about how MetaField enables consistent and efficient data collection for building envelope observations and testing, fire stopping and other special inspections, go to our building sciences overview.