The UK’s leading drywall supplier

Some large drywall contractors utilise over 100 people on site fixing because it is such a labour intensive operation. In a fast moving project, for a specialist contractor, or a main contractor, to monitor and check all that is being installed can be a daunting task, even for the best organised teams. It occurred to us that for us to improve how we control installation we need to take a more active role in standardising some of our operations on site; to improve quality and ensure we comply with the manufacturers recommendations. Many things we actually do in drywall are repetitive and lend themselves to offsite production. Using diverse labour- only subcontracting groups of trades’ people, with each group of guys interpreting the manufacturers’ recommendations in sometimes completely different ways, can cause chaos. However, making crucial components such as deflection heads, builders’ works openings and door sets where fire, structural and acoustic compliance in drywall is at its most critical, then pre fabricating these alone would de-risk a project substantially. Site quality is suddenly factory controlled. This is good news for architects, main contractors, insurers, clients, specialist drywall contractors and labour only installers alike.

Once a customer has identified their product specification they can order with confidence that all of the components will be made to that same specification and not to the site installers’ whims. For instance, if you ask for the minimum upturn on a door set to be all 300mm or all to be 600mm say, how many might be 270mm or 500mm instead because that was the amount of track left on the length of track to hand when the fixer was snipping it to turn it up? (Dryliners will understand this!) Furthermore, we will punch holes in the metal tracks to indicate where the screws should be fixed so that they adhere to the manufacturers’ recommendation. The installer will then be more likely to fix the product in the correct manner. Compliance to the specification goes up and snagging goes down. Management time checking simple installed items like these reduces because you have confidence in the product you have ordered. Peace of mind again!