The future of the industry
Manufacturers continue to stay at the forefront of security and life-safety solutions through innovation and channel partnerships. They have taken individual security products, enhanced them with high-technology functionality, and integrated them into complete door-opening solutions.
A smartphone can now be used to open a wireless hotel room lock, a padlock can have the same access control features as a proximity card reader, and hollow metal doors and frames can light the way to an exit. The distributor, then, has become part of an integral group of special influencers who play a major role in ensuring code compliance, helping to achieve the overall safety and security system’s design, and working with the owner and architect from concept to occupancy.
Door and hardware manufacturers employ many experienced AHCs who have expertise in designing access control and security solutions specific to any market. These companies have a global reach, and invest millions of dollars into researching and developing the latest products to meet the security demands of an ever-changing world. With Door and Hardware Industry (DHI)-educated consultants, manufacturers provide educational support, specification writing, and training geared to the clients’ needs.
“An AHC specializes in architectural hardware, including electrified hardware and all its applications,” explains Paul Jackson, Distinguished Architectural Hardware Consultant (DAHC), and past-president of DHI Canada. “This specialization includes advanced knowledge of related codes and standards. AHCs also have significant knowledge of commercial doors and frames. An AHC can provide professional specifications and co-ordinate the planning process between architects and building owners.”
AHCs help traverse the complexities of life-safety codes and security issues relevant to the door opening. Historically, it has been too expensive and difficult for a manufacturer to reach end-users all over the world. The distributor, therefore, has always been an extension of the manufacturer’s sales force.
A distributor’s traditional role
At one time, the hardware distributor had a direct relationship with architects, engineers, and designers in its market. In the traditional design-bid-build system, the architect and owner develop the design and final construction documents. Using this approach, contractors, subcontractors, and hardware distributors are selected based on price, and only after the architect’s design documents have been completed. This led to an increased risk of disputes over incomplete or misleading project documentation and resulting assumptions made by sub-trades, which could jeopardize the project schedule and budget.
This is because architects and contractors frequently disagree on construction document interpretation, typically resulting in claims for added costs or contractor frustration over items they ‘missed’ when setting their price. Such disagreements are minimized when the architect, contractor, and owner are partners and make these assumptions together from the beginning.
Traditionally, door hardware distribution was a supply-only type business with curbside delivery. Openings were relatively straightforward, with many neatly grouped into just a few different hardware sets. With a qualified AHC on staff, the distributor could price anything that came across his or her desk.
Current reality
Today, many hardware distributors also have a hollow metal shop, enabling them to supply hollow metal doors and frames, and also provide access control and security solutions. The level of co-ordination required between masonry and electrical contractors, in addition to the hardware installer, is only compounded when the contractor selects different suppliers for finishing hardware, hollow metal, wood doors, access control, and security.
Currently, some hardware distributors have evolved into ‘total openings’ suppliers. If the door and hardware specification writer is a manufacturer, what was specified should be checked to ensure that is what gets installed. Not all contract hardware distributors have access to the same products, or have completed the necessary manufacturer training and education to sell and service the products in the project. In the specification’s execution section, it should stipulate the hardware supplier is a “certified integrator” or installer of the specified manufacturer’s products. One should remember prices are based on the specification’s ‘interpretation,’ and should insist it be written in, or ask for a list of qualified hardware distributors.
Without a qualified distributor, the project team must now include many technical trades at the discretion of the general contractor. Their work must share the same limited space without interference. In many cases, one trade’s systems must interconnect with the others. In a typical situation, any number of building systems could share a plenum, electrical, or server room, such as:
- mechanical;
- electrical;
- fire suppression;
- telecommunications;
- security;
- access control; and
- data communications.
Does the contractor have qualified people to integrate the access control or security system with other building systems? Typically, these systems are installed by several contractors, who may not have any concept of what a hardware schedule is. This makes co-ordinating the efforts of the trades on the project team a critical issue, especially if the contractor chooses to award contracts to independent firms. Final designs need to recognize and accommodate each trade’s requirements (Figure 2).
Executing hardware installation
Various trades’ products that interface with each other need their work to be co-ordinated to ensure each component is, for example, installed in the proper locations (Specification Part 3–Execution: Installation). Many general contractors push this responsibility back to the hardware supplier so they must provide their own layout without the aid of the superintendent. Increasingly, some general contractors consider this to be the subcontractor’s responsibility and do not take the lead to resolve issues as they arise on the jobsite. Without active conflict resolution by the general contractor, the hardware distributor is left to fend for himself. This ultimately leads to greater conflict when assumptions are made by each subcontractor as they see fit (Figure 3).
