FIELD PERFORMANCE TESTING
Field Verified can self perform testing and provide a full report and investigation without the use of subcontractors. Field Verified maintains ISO 17025 quality management systems for calibration of equipment, training and protocols.
Our experience as building envelope consultants providing field Quality Assurance on hundreds of projects is leveraged when providing testing during new construction or identifying leaks on existing buildings. When contractors self-perform tests using purchased kits, critical steps in test procedures may be missed. Accredited testing agencies like Field Verified develop and maintain a large array of testing equipment and configurations ready for any application.
Planned and cleanly executed tests allow for proper coordination with the architect, owner, general contractor, installer and other interested parties well in advance of the test. Tests are started on time and expectations clearly defined in test protocols distributed to the team in advance. Since ISO 17025 compliance requires training and experience of field personnel, the team on site will have assisted on dozens of tests prior to leading a test setting.
Window Testing
Field Verified provides field performance testing of newly installed or existing windows, storefronts, and curtainwalls. Field Verified began providing design and inspection for the building envelope to architects, owners and general contractors around the country. After years of hiring testing firms as sub-contractors, only to have them show up with a one-size fits all spray rack and shop vacs, Field Verified became engaged with AAMA, a certifying authority for field testing agencies.
As part of their certification process, ISO 17025 compliance is required and includes regular audits of our field tests, reports, quality management, and training records. Hiring Field Verified for your on-site testing guarantees the quality and professionalism fitting to the window performance testing process. Our laboratory testing services located in Phoenix, Arizona are a natural appendage to our field performance testing division. For complete building envelope testing, Field Verified provides field performance testing of roofing, waterproofing, air barrier, sealant and cladding assemblies.
Field Testing Accreditation
Hiring an AAMA Accredited Testing Firm provides the benefits of a third-party certification of our testing procedures, equipment and quality management processes. It assures our clients that we are a firm with the commitment and resources to invest in our people and take pride in our work.
In August 2017, AAMA created the Field Test Agency (FTA) Accreditation Program that credentials independent field testing agencies to support AAMA members, the fenestration industry, building owners and their agents. The Program also validates that these field test agencies are capable of testing fenestration products in the field utilizing the field test methods included in AAMA performance standards.
The purpose of the FTA Accreditation Program is to demonstrate the competence of laboratories and field test agencies providing field testing services to the fenestration industry. Field test agencies may be accredited for any of the field test methods included in relevant performance standards and all field test methods developed and maintained by AAMA.
Periodic proficiency testing, equipment and proficiency inspections, and an on-going requirement for maintenance and use of a Quality Management System (QMS) are required under the program. These three elements comprise the primary features upon which accreditation is maintained.
Electronic Leak Detection
Electronic Leak Detection (ELD) utilizes two innovative processes (Low Voltage ELD and High Voltage ELD) to accurately locate leaks in roofing and waterproofing membranes. Using ELD, even pinhole sized leaks are precisely identified at their point of entry along the surface of the membrane, eliminating the need to follow a leak from an interior point of water manifestation. In most cases, ELD allows for immediate repairs and re-testing. Low Voltage ELD Testing uses a wet membrane surface. High Voltage ELD Testing operates on dry surfaces. These processes eliminate the need for the high volume of water necessary for flood testing. On most projects, ELD is the fastest, most accurate, and most cost effective leak detection available.
Adhesion Testing
The purpose of this test is to measure the adhesive strength of a material to determine whether the installation has been completed correctly. Release or separation during the test will occur along the weakest part of the material, or bond between the material and the substrate. This could include the interface between the test apparatus and material, between two materials, within the material, between the substrate and the material, or between the surface of the substrate and the substrate.
Poor adhesion can be the result of improper substrate preparation, the adhesive surface of the material becoming contaminated with water, dirt, oil or grease, improper primer application which includes too little, too much, not properly cured, and in the case of some materials- not being rolled with a membrane roller. In short, if adhesion is used to keep the air barrier in place and to withstand the wind, stack, and mechanical pressures over the service life of the building, the air barrier material requires the proper adhesion. Each material will have a different adhesion value, and this value will change depending on the substrate the material is installed on.
Whole Building Air Leakage Testing
Air tightness testing is a process in which the building envelope is tested to quantify the air tightness. The test measures air leakage rates through a building envelope under controlled pressurization and depressurization. Air leakage of the envelope can be a quantitative value which can affect the durability of the building envelope, and energy efficiency and comfort of the entire building or house. Field Verified can provide this testing when necessary to satisfy building performance testing requirements.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR NOT-TO-EXCEED PRICING
Long lead time and high cost of testing has stinted the growth of ELD testing in the construction work. We provide quotes you can count on by providing a Not-To-Exceed price quote. If you have upcoming testing, please contact us to get started on a proposal for your consideration.