Design
Raised Floor Solutions has the in-house capability to design the most economic composite steel deck and concrete floor slab solution using the latest Kingspan design software. Where access flooring is required, RFS will provide design alternatives for access floor panels that will meet the load and budget requirements of the end user.
A steel deck design will be optimised to provide an unpropped steel decking solution that satisfies the floor slab loading and fire requirements of the project and will be supported by design calculations and professional indemnity insurance.
Raised Floor Solutions recognises that the design will need integrating with the other elements of the structure, most notably the steel frame design, and recommends its early involvement so that the design advice provided can be incorporated in a timely manner with other building elements.
Any pre-tender design services are provided with no obligation.
Value Engineering
The Raised Floor Solutions technical team adopts a Value Engineering methodology to the design of every steel floor deck, concrete floor slab and access floor solution. Value Engineering is used to solve problems and to identify and eliminate unwanted expenditure, whilst at the same time seeking to improve both the function and quality of the composite floor solution.
All aspects of the complete floor slab design and construction are considered at tender stage and a number of alternative design and product solutions can be presented to meet the specification and user requirements.
Professional Indemnity
Raised Floor Solutions carries £10 million Professional Indemnity and Product Insurances to support and protect its design function.
The £10 million limit is provided on an each and every client basis and is not in the aggregate.
The provision of Professional Indemnity Insurance allows Raised Floor Solutions to enter into Collateral Warranties, which are often required by clients and project funders.
BIM
Raised Floor Solutions is one of the few composite flooring contractors to have invested in state-of-the-art BIM (Building Information Modelling) software for use on all steel decking and composite concrete floor contracts.
Steel deck design and working drawings are prepared using Autodesk Revit 3D, which can be integrated into the BIM model
BIM allows all parties collaborating on a project to virtually construct a building prior to physically constructing it. All parties input critical information into a live intelligent 3D model, which analyses the impact and highlights conflicts with other elements of the design so that corrections can be made at an early stage.
As the model is live and used by all contractors, the model reflects the ongoing design of a project and allows instant access to the most up to date data, thereby reducing uncertainty and greatly reducing the risk of costly mistakes and delays.
By 2016, the use of collaborative 3D BIM will be compulsory for any companies working on Local and Central Government contracts.
What is BIM?
BIM, or Building Information Modelling, is the process of the collaborative design of a building using one comprehensive digital computer model rather than many separate sets of construction drawings. The live project can be accessed at anytime by any collaborative party to input or obtain up to the minute information about a scheme.
What are the benefits of BIM?
BIM brings together all critical information about a project allowing all parties to access it, such as to design their input into a project most effectively. BIM can be used to show how individual elements, build sequences and systems relate to each other and can therefore flag up any conflicts at an early stage.
This reduces the risk of error, therefore providing both time and cost savings, and provides better accuracy in estimation and in the proposal of design solutions.
BIM can be used to show a buildings entire life cycle from cradle to cradle. It can show a building inception, its projected demolition and the materials than could be reused. This is helpful when meeting certain planning and building control objectives.
