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I have a few different contractor clients who all operate a little differently. I'd be very interested in others' opinions, especially where it's not a consensus.
When you stocklist, do you pre-cut (1) drops, (2) hanger rods, and/or (3) sprigs? I've heard different philosophies for different companies. If there's a consistent flat structure then I could see cutting hanger rods in the shop as a time saver, but what's your take? Obviously if the designer gets the measurement wrong or something changes in the field, then there could be far more labor in correcting the pre-cuts then there would be if they were measured and ordered from the field. Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe
4 Comments
RJ
9/20/2019 10:26:35 am
Always field cut the drops and rods. The only exception is at times, we will fab the drop 6-12 inches longer, because things always change on the jobsite. Been doing this for almost 20 years, and have not had 1 job without any changes.
Rob
9/20/2019 03:22:04 pm
I do not fab drops or hangers .. I'll typically go through the stock list and eliminate small offsets and arm overs, and just include bulk pipe and fittings. Small fab pieces never work. The best scenario is your able to use them on another line where that piece doesn't work and reduce your scrap. The time taken to sort through, find and record which pieces you have and no longer have is just not worth it. Not to mention at the end of the job, watching a guy toss bags of cut and prepped pipe into the dumpster because you cant return them and there's no place on the shelves to stock them.
Dave
9/20/2019 06:19:31 pm
We did it a little differently at places I worked. But it varied depending on the project. Variables such as how swamped I was, how far behind we were on the job, distance to the jobsite, did I survey the job, all influenced how much I was willing to gamble. I almost always surveyed before I fabricated, and coordinated, so I was often pretty confident that I could cut the drops, sprigs and rods right on. Any time I could have the shop do something and keep the more expensive fitter from doing it on site, I did. And put the length on the drawing next to each hanger. For a period of time ADN's (adjustable drop nipples) were common, so I would cut to the middle of the drop adjustment. And now with flex drops, I'll pick a good distance above the ceiling for the elbow or coupling. Sometimes I'd figure the rod a little long if I had a beam clamp to run it up a little ways. I'm too old to be a big BIM fan, but some CAD programs assist you in being able to cut each rod length, even with sloped ceilings and warped roof. Or I'd figure out each one mathematically. But if I didn't know, or didn't have the time, I'd send full sticks of rod. Or send a range of lengths. Knowing what length fits in the fitter's pipe machine and that an RC fits in the machine. (And hopefully I'd remember to list the rod couplings.) We also kept in stock a full range of shorter rod lengths, 2" through 12" for example, so if rods were short I'd sometimes the fitter a collection of each. But I'd go for shop-cut as much as I could. That's not so say I never had a job where they were all the wrong length, making for a nice fitter call.
Mike
9/22/2019 11:50:26 pm
With current modeling technology, all of these can be done. Just depends on how much information you want to input at the beginning. Leave a Reply. |
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