The Façade Consulting Team is renowned for its integrity and professionalism. The Consulting team is led by Mutaz Saheb, who has worked with TBWIC since 2006. Mutaz is known in the market for his integrity and creativity in finding solutions. Liaising with Consultants on new projects, he prepares with the assistance of the design team full Pre-Tender Packages and reports. Under his leadership, the team members carry out Professional Quality Assurance services for curtain walling comprising specifications writing, shop drawings review, technical consulting and site inspections on many projects. He is in charge of handling projects during the shop drawings approval phase and leads the inspection team during construction. Part of the team’s remit is to undertake detailed inspection for glass distortion, colour variation and breakage at site as well as investigation of façade and cladding system failures.

With today’s modern designs, advanced solutions are required for façades as well. Expectations for quality and performance are exceeded on many projects to meet sustainability and durability requirements.

While the specification includes a ten-year warranty, the owner expects the façade to last for the expected lifetime of the building, which is around 30 years. Façades used to be designed to keep the people in and keep the weather out; nowadays, they also have to give a visual and a technical statement.

Each project is unique in its own way; in most cases, no two façades are alike, the same applies to solutions and systems. With our vast experience in the Curtain Wall and Cladding field, we have been exposed to many systems and solutions which we carry with us to each new project we get involved in.

Our team at Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants can assist you with innovative designs, schematics and detailed design, plus preparation of a Tender Package and proposal and solutions to meet your aesthetic requirements. At post tender stage, we offer assistance in verification of systems and submittals, technical consulting, and thorough inspections and monitoring of the Contractor’s Quality Control systems.

The following are links for local and international building regulations.

DEWA Green Building Regulations & Specifications

Saudi Arabia Building Code

United Kingdom Building Regulations & Approved Documents

Inspections start at the early stages of the project. Evaluation of Contractors inside or outside the UAE has become a necessity for many projects. The Contractor’s technical capabilities and capacity can have a major effect on the award.

Inspections are recommended to start at the fabricator’s premises. Many components cannot be inspected after units are assembled and transported to site. Inspection of the tested elements before the start of fabrication is very important. In brief, the inspection process is a very complicated process, which should be discussed with the project team to decide how to go ahead and best serve the project.

Approval of quality control plans for fabrication and installation should be done at early stages. Close attention should be paid to compliance with specifications and international standards.

Site inspections start with the installation of inserts and brackets on the building. Each stage requires its own quality control procedures.

Our highly qualified team of Inspectors and Engineers are there to ensure the Contractor is following proper quality control procedures. Compliance with approved shop drawings, international standards and project specifications is closely monitored to ensure good quality for the building Owner.

We are now accredited with IAS (International Accreditation Service), providing the special inspections that are required for specific construction projects under Chapter 17 of the International Building Code (IBC) and AC291, the IAS Special Inspection Agency Accreditation Program, which is primarily based on the requirements of the IBC and the applicable portions of ISO/IEC 17020 (General Requirements for the Operation of Various Bodies Performing Inspection).

With today’s modern designs, advanced solutions are required for façades. Expectations for quality and performance are exceeded on many projects to meet sustainability and durability requirements.

While the specification includes a ten-year warranty, the owner expects the façade to last for the expected lifetime of the building, which is around 30 years. Façades used to be designed to keep the people in and keep the weather out; nowadays, they also have to give a visual and a technical statement.

Each project is unique in its own way; in most cases, no two façades are alike, the same applies to solutions and systems. With our vast experience in the Curtain Wall and Cladding field, we have been exposed to many systems and solutions that we carry with us to each new project we become involved in.

Our team at Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants can assist you with innovative designs, schematics, detailed design, and preparation of a Tender Package and proposal and solutions to meet your aesthetic requirements. At post tender stage, we offer assistance in the verification of systems and submittals, technical consulting, and thorough inspections and monitoring of the Contractor’s Quality Control systems.

In some cases, unexpected results occur on projects when it comes to façades. Those can be functional such as breakages, failure or leakage, or they can be aesthetic such as glass distortion or colour variation.

Our role as façade experts varies from inspections and preliminary evaluation of problems to conducting full studies and surveys.

Non-conformance to good practice and sound engineering concepts has been encountered during our investigations. In other cases, an issue perceived by other parties to be defective might be within limits acceptable by standards.

Choosing the right type of glass for the building is not an easy task. Requirements for residential buildings are much different than those of office buildings or hotels. Many trends come to different markets, which might not be suitable in terms of climatic or social requirements. Therefore, as Façade Consultants, we have to be very careful in understanding the Client’s requirements.

One of our projects that had unique requirements is the screen between Dubai Mall and the Ski Slope. At the same time, the glass had to provide the proper insulation between the cold environment and the mall area; it also had to give a clear image for those interested in watching the activities at the ski side.

Glass Consulting also includes investigation of spontaneous breakage, distortion, humidity problems and discolouration. Having a façade consultant on board from the beginning could spare many parties lengthy disputes at the end of the project and a clearer expectation for end results.

With the growing expectations for Green Buildings, many systems such as LEED and Estidama are being adopted and implemented to create a new generation of buildings that are more harmonised with the environment. Building Envelopes are an important component of this equation that can either enhance or reduce the efficiency of this exercise.

Achievement of a green rating for a building is teamwork. The Façade Consultant has to work closely with the other team members to understand the goal they are trying to achieve. Targets set by the Sustainability Consultants, Architects, and MEP Consultants should be discussed at early stages.

Proposals to meet the expected ratings can vary from the integration of photovoltaic cells to maintaining the required views to proposing smart shading elements. An understanding of the project nature, budget and intent are very important to achieve the required goals and ratings.

It is easy to assume from the clean appearance of a beautiful glass curtain wall that it is a simple system using tried and tested components — but of course, nothing in life is so simple. These systems combine aluminium, steel, rubber, glass and high-tech sealants. Since there is virtually no formal education or trade apprenticeship scheme in the industry (the CWCT in Bath, in the UK, is an important exception), these are designed and put together by people who have generally learned by trial and error. The company that won the contract to provide the curtain wall was most likely the lowest bidder with every incentive to keep their costs as low as possible with low-cost components and cheaper labour and administration.

A second factor is that future repair or maintenance of the curtain wall is extremely costly and difficult. The movement joints and connections to the building are hidden in the spandrel areas, which are very difficult to inspect from either the inside or the outside due to the presence of interior finishes, fire separation in that space, back-pans behind the glass, thermal insulation etc. Although it is possible, curtain walls are rarely designed to facilitate such inspections.

The curtain wall is expected to last the life of the building — it’s not like a roof which you replace after 20 years. The reasons are readily apparent: the curtain wall is a repetitive system of components and connections, so if a fault shows up, it’s likely to affect the whole building, but repairs requiring access to the spandrel areas are generally not practical. Replacement is very difficult; even if it could be done progressively, there would always be an area of the building with no outside walls or protection from the elements. The spaces would have to be vacated, and all of the wall, floor and ceiling finishes adjacent to the curtain wall would have to be repaired or replaced. At the same time, access to the exterior of a completed building is difficult because, in most cases, the building maintenance unit (BMU) is not designed for lifting glass or unitised panels, and temporary provisions have to be made, moved around the building and maintained while the work is done.

It can be assumed that problems, which would require the replacement of the curtain wall, would not occur until sometime in the midlife of the building, at which time other systems, mechanical, electrical and finishes, which normally can be replaced over time, would also be overrun. Since the building has been vacated, it would make sense to overhaul these at the same time as replacing the curtain wall. However, this is going to add considerably to the cost — so much so in fact that demolition and building anew would look more attractive, particularly to lenders. It is not difficult to imagine that this crisis occurs at around the same time the original building finance is paid off and the income becomes really good. This huge loss of income over perhaps several decades could have been avoided by having a qualified façade consultant making sure that the original work was specified and executed properly with the correct materials. Looked at this way, Façade Consulting is about the best value for money insurance that you can find anywhere.