Statistics and research showed that formwork assembly and stripping take between 30 to 70% of the cost of cast concrete. One thing you will notice about this range is that it is wide enough to brood many uncertainties. These uncertainties are due to many factors that affect formwork productivity but are not yet to be well-understood. So, this article draws up some of these factors to the fore and suggests the best possible ways to improve productivity and safety factors. Click here to know more about formwork companies in Sydney.
On a large scale, the success of a formwork company may hugely depend on how it manages these risks and overcome them. In other words, the big formwork companies in Sydney may be so-called what they are, maybe primarily related to some of these critical factors. Let us carefully analyze some of the best approaches to achieving more on safety and productivity.
Choose the right formwork
As funny as that may sound, choosing the best type of formwork is the first way to achieve more productivity and safety. Both temporary and permanent formworks hold the fresh concrete in place until it solidifies and sets into its purpose. However, it would help to choose the formwork that works best for you on each particular project on the contractor or construction company. In other words, there is hardly any general approach to selecting a formwork, supplier, or both.
Your choice of formwork is essential because it affects the work schedule, time, labor requirements, quality control, and the project’s total cost. Meanwhile, the conditions vary from one site to another, but a good understanding of the job at hand will save you both time and price. Also, with the mind that formwork can be responsible for 40 to 70% of the total cost, it must be a careful decision. Meanwhile, this range covers both materials, tools, and labor costs.
In analyzing your costs, remember that you can adjust your labor costs to only the limit that it can go. Meanwhile, the best solution is for a contractor to evaluate the forming system options that are available. For instance, an inexpensive forming material can be labor-intensive, while t a forming system costs more but yields higher productivity. It also has integrated safety measures but uses efficient labor. Some of the related questions to the choice of labor and materials for the formwork include the following
- How readily available is the materials to be used to fabricate the formwork?
- Does the supply have the material on the ground or depends on another company to source for it?
- Is it possible for the formwork supplier to pre-assemble some or all the formwork before the delivery date?
- Is the formwork system safe to install, use and strike?
- Is it easy to climb and tie off the point of the formwork from the system buildup?
- Does the supplier also offer an engineering service?
- Will the supplier give formwork assembly drawings as a guide for this particular project or general system drawings?
- Does the supplier give on-site field service to help train the workers who will use the formwork?
Get involved in the project early enough
Many times, formwork contracting companies in Sydney may be tempted to assume that their involvement in the process is at the latter stage. But the truth is that you need to be involved right from the very beginning of the process. You need to contact the formwork supplier during the early stages of the project as a lot of information will be in circulation and needs to be incorporated where appropriate. They can also give candid, helpful ideas for safety and productivity.
Also, you may need the experience of such suppliers due to their involvement in many projects and available resources. In other cases, you may involve the concrete forming contractors also to get involved in the formwork structure’s design stage. The reason is that they will be the ones to build the system ultimately. So, why not provide a helpful contribution in producing the most economical and efficient formwork structure?
Know when to rent and when to purchase
There can be a massive difference between purchasing an item you need for a project and renting the same thing. So, one of the decisions you have to make is telling the difference. You have to weigh your options of purchase or lease the formwork system. Some of the factors that may assist you to include
- The nature of the project
- The duration of the project
- Consider the choice of formwork that you have; is it temporary or permanent?
- The overall strategy of the company
- Comparison of the economic value of renting versus purchasing
In other words, if you have to use a rented formwork for more than 8 to 10 months, then it may prove more economical to purchase it. Even if it is not a permanent structure, it may serve other uses for other projects in the future. However, it may help if you did not forget that purchasing the item may attract additional costs such as maintenance and storage. But the good part is that some formwork companies offer these needed services when you buy the equipment.
Moreover, consider the quality of the equipment in question before making the final decision. Experience has taught us that a steel-framed wall formwork with standard plywood facing requires more maintenance than hot-dipped galvanized steel frames with plywood throughout its lifetime. Yet, these two different structures have their peculiar uses.
Make the formwork easily accessible
Many causes of accidents on site are due to the difficulty in accessing structures as crucial as the formwork. Therefore, ensure to provide access as an essential component of formwork on a worksite. This accessibility affects the budget, schedule, and, most importantly, the safety of workers and equipment. The workers must be able to get to the work area with safe vertical and horizontal access equipment. For instance, a well-designed ladder system can form an integral part of the overall design for safety and higher productivity.
Set fall protection as a priority
Safety of workers, tools, equipment, and the overall process is not an option in construction projects. It is a priority. And of all the protection measures that need to be in place, fall protection is a priority. Every year, the highest deaths in construction sites are often associated with falls. Therefore, construction workers must dress and work safely, but they must also feel safe. You must also factor this priority into forming the formwork because workers will be more productive when they feel safe on site.
Conclusion
The subjects of safety and productivity on site are crucial to the success of construction projects. Therefore, it should also be a priority to formwork companies in Sydney and beyond. When you observe these suggested ways, you can begin to keep more incredible leaps in the level of productivity and safety on your construction sites.