Building Sciences

UES employs an expert team of professionals across the United States who can champion our Building Sciences services for various project types. Our team has experience and expertise managing all phases of architectural, building envelope, accessibility, MEP, and energy-related projects. The benefits and insights that these services provide to our clients are tremendous and commonly result in more efficient building maintenance programs and fewer repairs while mitigating excessive and uninformed budgets.

Our specialists know past and present construction techniques and local and national codes, regulations, and current A/E design practices. Their extensive knowledge enables them to thoroughly assess many building areas, including structural, civil, mechanical/ electrical/plumbing (MEP), roofing, paving, health/life safety, and coatings and finishes.

Our Building Sciences team also provides following services:

Design Review and Inspections
Building Code Compliance
Quality Assurance
Punchlist Origination
Due Diligence/Property Condition Assessment Services
Window Spray Testing
Blower Door Testing
Stucco Evaluations
Photometric Studies
Green Building Evaluation
Sound Measurements
Air Barrier Assembly Testing
Roof Testing (Low Voltage, Flood Testing)
Anchor Pull Testing (Roofing)

Design Review

Design review is a crucial component of the construction process, and UES has provided design examination services since its inception. Our adept professionals have satisfactorily provided these services for clients on new construction and existing structures for some of the most significant projects in the United States. Our team has provided design review as required per the ICC and locally adopted building codes on all new buildings, including industrial, residential, commercial, educational, and governmental.

The Building Sciences group focuses on waterproofing, roofing, energy efficiency, building cladding, flashings, and manufacturer specification reviews. Our certified design reviewers also thoroughly examine all building systems, including wall assemblies, structural designs, MEP installation requirements, grading, accessibility, fire safety, and zoning. Our team is knowledgeable of not only codes but also manufacturer requirements. UES individuals are multi-certified, which allows them to have a working knowledge of how various construction systems operate together.

Inspections

UES’ combination inspectors have the experience and knowledge to perform residential, commercial, educational, and industrial building inspections. We offer a diverse scope of inspection services to ensure we can meet the expectations of our clients and the needs of any given project.

UES understands the importance of client service for a project. As such, we do not limit our ability to provide inspectors or other technical staff for potential aspects of a project by itemizing or qualifying our proposals. Instead, we view each assignment as an opportunity to build client relationships by providing services that best obtain our clients’ technical objectives. No matter the project size, UES approaches every assignment with the same measure of attentiveness, dedication, and consideration as the one before it.

Structural Inspections and Testing

You can be assured that we carefully examine the quality of materials, workmanship, and compliance with contract specifications to verify your compliance with approved plans and accepted industry standards. For further assurance, we provide written and photographic reports as necessary to document construction activities. Our structural inspection services include the following:

Special Inspections
Structural Steel Inspections and
Non-destructive Testing (NDT)
ADA Accessibility Inspections
Spray-applied Fireproofing Inspections
and Testing
40-year or Older Building Safety Inspections
Structural Assessments
Roofing Assessments
Property Condition Assessments (PCA)
Third-party Quality Assurance

Fire/Life Safety

UES’ team of fire professionals understands the great responsibility of verifying that all buildings and components meet fire and life safety standards. Our experienced design reviewers and inspectors understand the importance of having fire systems to protect the life and property within the built environment.

Our services include reviewing and inspecting fire sprinkler suppression systems, fire-rated wall assemblies, alarms, pull stations, monitoring systems, and monitoring testing of these systems. UES has worked with various jurisdictions, design professionals, government entities, and tribal communities to perform these services. Our team includes Fire Marshals, Fire Design Examiners, and Fire Inspectors.

ADA Consulting

UES provides ADA consulting and evaluations of the built environment to ensure the facilities have proper access for all visitors, clients, and staff. We have in-depth knowledge of the federal and state requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and we use that knowledge to plan or modify facilities into barrier-free facilities.

We review projects in all phases of a building’s life cycle – during design development, construction, and project completion through the maintenance phase. The UES team knows what to look for regarding slopes of accessible routes, placement of ADA-compliant parking and access aisles, types of compliant building hardware, obstructions to avoid placing in available corridors, and more. To be an ADA consultant, one must fully understand the thousands of data touch points that provide a fully accessible building or site usable for all people entering.

Building Envelope

Building Envelope is known in the Building Sciences industry as many components and systems that protect the interior of the building from the exterior elements. A building envelope encompasses the following building systems: roofing, exterior walls, air barriers, windows and doors, foundations and floors. Our building envelope consulting includes the following processes and procedures:

Pre-construction Document Review

Our pre-construction review aims to identify and eliminate any potential components that will lead to code violations and/or construction that will not meet manufacturer recommendations. Items discovered during construction can cause delays and/or lead to additional construction costs.

We perform a preliminary review of the provided complete set of design plans to verify the building envelope, roofing, and waterproofing installations consisting of the building structure and building enclosure (walls, roofs, windows and doors, foundation, waterproofing, and framing components that may effect the building envelope).
We review and comment on submitted material “alternates” and substitutions of “or equal” products.
We submit a report identifying any findings we have discovered that do not meet the requirements of the applicable building code or manufacturer standard specifications.

Site Inspections

Our inspections focus on digitally documenting the construction process of various building components to confirm they meet industry standards. A daily digital report with inspection documentation is provided to the site superintendent and all others assigned for distribution. If items are out of compliance, another inspection is required to verify repairs have been made. A daily digital report with documentation is provided to the site superintendent for sign-off. We provide the following Building Envelope inspections: