Fire Alarm Subcontractor: Fill & Download for Free

It’s terribly difficult to answer without knowing who will be using the facility - colos, hosting and corporate facilities all have different needs.Facilities and engineering services - may be be contracted out and further sub contracted to specialist companies; for a site of this size most of these roles will require periodic visits rather than permanent on site presence and may be more economically carried out by specialist subcontractors.Chief Engineer and Assistant Chief; they may cover more than one site between them depending on the size of the permanent teamMechanical Technicians - HVAC, plumbingElectricians including HV engineersUPS techniciansGenerator techniciansSpecialist cleaners for technical areasFire alarms/suppression systems specialistsSecurity/CCTV supportPhysical security - typically 2–3 at prime time and 1 -2 on nights and weekends. These services are usually contracted to specialist provider=Cleaning/janitorial - office spaces and common areas - numbers depending on staff numbers on site and services are usually contracted out.Grounds maintenance is usually contracted outIT Facilities manager - often an FTE and is responsible for planning rack space and capacity within the white floor space; may double as site manager depending on the size of the facilityIT support - usually FTEs and coveringData centre engineer responsible for installations, server maintenance and repair - usually on siteSystems admins, storage engineers, IT security and network support may be onsite or at office locations - many of their functions can be carried out remotelyThere’s usually someone dedicated to managing backup/restore and offsite data storageNetwork cabling, network and server rack installations are generally carried out by subcontractors

All of the other answers suggest an architect pulls building permits, handles reviews, and calls for and participates in inspections. Here, we (the contractor) pick up the plans from the owner, who has picked them up from the designer. We take them to the plan and review board and submit them, they review them and return them either approved, or approved with comments, or disapproved with notes. If they are approved, we then take them to the building code enforcement department and pay for the permit/permits (there is usually a building permit, a sewer/septic permit, and a civil permit for connecting the driveway to the street including a culvert if needed and a stormwater plan that probably will require a Department of Environmental Protection (State Agency) permit, along with a Department of Transportation permit. These are not always handled by the architect, they may be an addendum from a civil engineer, but frequently we do that legwork. In any event, I have never seen an architect submit plans directly to the plan and review board, and I have remodeled one of their offices and watched the board meetings while contractors filed through with their plans for projects.After the permits are pulled, we file legal paperwork stating a notice of commencement, letting the inspection department know the project is started, and we call for the required inspections under our permit. Subcontractors purchase their permits, we, as a General Contractor don’t have a license to do Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical, and Roofing work, for example. They also call in their own inspections, and most have to pass before we call ours in.There are a few details that are not always obvious at the onset of a project, at least from the outside looking in. On many commercial jobs, besides handling the permitting process, we also prepare submittals that are sent to the design team to confirm materials meet their requirements. Stuff like brick samples, color boards, concrete test reports, plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, flooring, ceiling tile, and more are submitted, sometimes with samples of products. You really don’t want to install a product that requires an approved submittal before approval, you may end up taking it out and replacing it at the contractor’s expense.Some special considerations on commercial and public buildings also include a life safety plan, fire alarm plan, and fire suppression plan that add more reviews of documents to the list. That generally means carrying or sending plans to the state capital (Tallahassee in my case) to the State Fire Marshall’s Office and getting even yet another review. You won’t get a Certificate of Occupancy until the fire marshall signs off, either, and in some cases, they will need to inspect rough in of fire alarm system components, either at the state or county level.So, what is the architect doing during this process? Unless they have the job of reviewing submittals or we need an answer to a “Request for Information”, in many cases, they are working on the design of their next project. Yes, we do have projects where the architect is required to make site visits and formal inspections, but they are not common. From my experience, working on the University of West Florida, and on jobs for Baptist Healthcare Inc, they have special requirements for the designers, but most of the time, no.

Planning Stage — what will be the purpose of the building?Programming Stage — what are the uses for the planned building? How much flexibility does it need to have designed into it and what will be the occupancy loads and requirements?Preliminary Budgeting Stage — a Professional Cost Estimate needs to be done at this stage to get a concept of how much the cost is after the Planning & Programming Stage to see if this cost agrees with the building proforma. Project should NEVER pass this stage if the budget goals are outside of the current design.Schematic Design (SD) Phase — fully develop the schemes for all systems of the approved project. Also includes a Schematic Design Cost Estimate to ensure project and budget are in alignment.Design Development (DD) Phase — All of the schemes are developed and designed, but not completely detailed from an architectural and engineering perspective. Includes a Design Development Cost Estimate to continue monitoring that project budget remains in alignment with design intent.(Optional Phase) 50% Construction Document (50% CD) Phase — if design tracked within budget for SD and DD’s, this phase may be eliminated. If there were major rework and re-programming at either the SD or DD Phases, this is probably a step best not passed by. The Construction Documents should be 50% complete, Door, Window, Finish, MEP Equipment schedules complete, MEP 1-lines complete at this stage. This is the opportunity to take one last look at the budget versus the design before putting the project out for quotations. Especially if you have an Architect who designs for Form & Function first and Budget second, this is a great opportunity to keep the project within construction budget constraints.Construction Documents (CD Phase) — All drawings, specifications and CSI Division 0 & 1 elements are fully identified and developed, ready to be priced by the market.Bid Package Phase — Project if broken down into procurable bid packages or trade packages, by the Construction Manager, issued to qualified subcontractors for bidding, evaluated for price, schedule and scope after the bids are received, and subcontracts executed for the respective trades.Construction Phase — Construction starts and the project begins. The Construction Manager mobilizes staff and equipment onsite to begin and the Architect transitions from Design to the Construction Administration (CA) process of their contract.Closeout — Project Punch Lists are compiled, completed and finalized, Operation and Maintenance (O & M’s) Manuals are compiled along with warranty information for the Owner. Start up and commissioning of major Electrical (Including Fire Alarm and Life Safety Systems), HVAC, Plumbing and Equipment is done and completedFinal Inspection Phase — Final Building Inspection of all of the main building components is finalized by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), signed off on the permit and filed at the office of the AHJWarranty Phase — Typical period of 1 year from completion of the Final Inspection. A thorough inspection and walk-through by the Architect and Construction Manager should be done at the conclusion of the Warranty to make sure all systems continue to function as designed. Any corrections needed will be completed under the Warranty by the Construction Manager.As you can see, there is a lot more “PHASES” in a construction project than is readily apparent when a project is undertaken. Obviously, there are variations of the above phases, but give a good outline for what is a generally accepted practice in the industry.