Construction Area Containment

for Emission Control during Renovations in Occupied Buildings

Responsibility

Turner Building Science & Design, LLC. (TBS) offers a single source of contractual responsibility for the design and implementation of construction area containment programs at occupied facilities. Construction and renovation activities may emit a variety of irritating and possibly harmful or contaminating compounds. The General Contractor is typically required to protect their employees and to minimize disturbance to other occupied areas through the use of dust partitions, scheduling of work, and noise control. Unless a specific program for "Containment" of the emissions is developed, building occupants in adjacent work areas may be inadvertently exposed.

Experience & Building Accountability

Our client receives the benefits of an experienced indoor air quality team capable of delivering a clear, coordinated and streamlined design and implementation program. TBS assumes the responsibility of overseeing a containment area program that will protect the occupants from exposure and the building and its systems from contamination.

Risk Management

Working closely with the Client to design and implement a comprehensive containment program will achieve a significant risk reduction. The possibility that building occupants could be exposed to harmful or irritating construction byproducts or concealed microbial growth will be reduced along with the accompanying lost productivity due to sickness, workers compensation claims, and third party lawsuits. In addition, the potential for expensive contaminant remediation (clean-up) or business interruption (vacating the building) can be avoided.

TBS will design and direct these services for our clients. In general, these services include techniques for minimizing, or eliminating the exposures by isolating the construction area through "containment via pressure control". Traditional dust partitions alone will never prevent the movement of odors, chemicals, spores, and particulates (which are generated by combustion, adhesives, paints, and other construction activities) from being conveyed to adjacent spaces. "Containment via Pressure Control" is similar to the principles utilized in the asbestos abatement industry. The techniques used to accomplish the isolation and pressure containment are a combination of using taped poly barriers, modifying existing mechanical system operation, and installing specialized construction area exhaust systems.

What does Construction Area Containment Include?

Containment Concept Design

We design programs utilizing normally planned dust partitions and the use of existing and temporary ventilation systems to manipulate pressures to contain the potential contaminants.

Construction Documents

After reviewing our plan with the Owner and/or Contractor, we will proceed with the development of construction documents to be used by the Owner and/or Contractor to establish pressure containment zones between occupied and construction areas for the duration of the project.

Monitoring of Containment

We will provide intra-zonal pressure monitoring between critical zones during construction. We can also monitor for specific contaminants for insurance/liability reasons. The use of a Laser Particle Counter for monitoring the containment and occupied zones will provide a clear indication of the protection being provided to the occupants by the pressure containment.

Reporting

We will provide routine site visits for data collection and reporting on a weekly basis. Often at startup or during changes between construction periods, daily visits are appropriate.

Follow-Up and Flexibility

Over the course of the construction project, we remain available to assist the Owner and/or Contractor with modifications to the containment plans to adapt to changing building use priorities.