The fireproofing pre-installation meeting: record decisions and hold points
The fireproofing crew is booked for a university laboratory floor. Sprinkler attachments are still being coordinated, the testing agency has a provisional visit and the masking allowance is disputed. A meeting can expose the gaps, but minutes alone will not resolve the design or release the work.
Bring the people who can resolve fireproofing interfaces together with the current documents, then record decisions, actions and release conditions. A US guide specification's meeting example covers substrates, application, thickness, repair and testing. Use the actual project's requirements to build your agenda; an agreed date or signed attendance sheet is not technical approval.
Leave a usable decision and action record
- Prepare evidence before invitations. Assemble the current scope plan, design references, substrate queries, product instructions and proposed sequence. Highlight gaps with the decision needed and proposed responsible person. Invite the applicator, relevant trades, agency and project representatives who can answer those questions or identify the approval route.
- Review substrate readiness by location. Discuss steel coatings, preparation evidence and any required testing or technical decisions. Record which areas are resolved and what prevents the others starting. Do not write 'primer accepted' against the whole building because one delivery or trial area was discussed.
- Agree the interface sequence. Have each trade identify attachments, deck-related work and services affecting access. Compare its proposed sequence with the actual system requirements. Record the location and completion evidence needed before spray, then the conditions for later work. Meeting consensus does not authorize a departure from the specified construction.
- Confirm the testing arrangement. Ask the agency to identify required readiness, access, sampling and reporting arrangements. Separate a proposed booking from the point when material is ready for the specified checks. Identify who receives findings and who closes deficiencies so a ceiling date does not silently dictate acceptance.
- Set protection and repair responsibilities. Walk through overspray boundaries, access routes, masking interfaces and removal arrangements with the trades concerned. Record initial defects, testing repairs and later damage separately against the actual contract duties. Keep any disputed allowance as a named action rather than hiding it in a general 'by others' note.
- Issue minutes with hold points. For each unresolved item, state the decision, responsible person, due date and affected scope. Identify who can authorize the project's release once the evidence is complete. Review the action list before mobilization and update affected trades when an answer changes their work.
Common mistakes
- Inviting everyone without identifying the decisions needed.
- Writing a calendar date as an automatic inspection release.
- Closing a disputed responsibility with the words 'trade to coordinate'.
Action list
Issue minutes people can act on
- Current references and affected locations.
- Resolved substrate scope.
- Trade interfaces and completion evidence.
- Agency readiness and reporting route.
- Protection and separate repair duties.
- Open decision, responsible person and hold point.
Check your understanding
Everyone signed the minutes, but one primer query remains unanswered. Can that area start?
