# COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE PROGRAM ## In-Plant Quality Assurance Manual Submitted under ARM 24.301.1223 to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Building and Commercial Measurements Bureau, Building Codes Program. | Cover data required by ICC/MBI 1205 §501.1‡ | Entry | |---|---| | Document title | Compliance Assurance Program, In-Plant Quality Assurance Manual | | Manufacturer, legal name | [KEN TO CONFIRM: registered legal entity name] | | Manufacturer, mailing address | [KEN TO CONFIRM: mailing address] | | Manufacturing plant, physical address | [KEN TO CONFIRM: plant street address, city, county, Montana] | | Plant telephone | [KEN TO CONFIRM: plant phone] | | Responsible officer for the program | [KEN TO CONFIRM: name and title of the officer designated under §2.3] | | Third-party inspection agency | [KEN TO CONFIRM: agency name, address, telephone, and the disciplines it is approved for in Montana] | | Evaluation agency, if any | None at this time. No evaluation report has been obtained for any product covered by this manual. | | Montana FBB manufacturer number | [KEN TO CONFIRM: assigned by the bureau at plan approval; not yet issued] | | Manual number and revision | MT-QAM Rev. 0 (draft, not submitted) | | Issue date | [KEN TO CONFIRM: date of issue] | | Page identification | Every page of the submitted manual is footed `MT-QAM Rev. __ , page __ of __` | Format of the submitted copy, per §501.1‡: 8-1/2 x 11 inch pages, bound, indexed, every page numbered, or the electronic equivalent accepted by the bureau. The copy kept in the plant is printed (ICC/MBI 1200 §503.2‡). --- ## 0. FRONT MATTER ### 0.1 Notice on the status of this draft. Read before review. This is a **draft**. Two things about it must be understood before any part of it is relied on. **First, nobody at this company has read ICC/MBI 1205-2021.** Montana adopts that standard by reference at ARM 24.301.1203 and does not reprint it, and ARM 24.301.1223(2) requires this manual to contain "all applicable items as listed in chapter 5 of the ICC/MBI 1205 Standard." The chapter 5 section numbers and the description of what each section requires, used throughout this draft, were taken from the approved **ballot draft** of the standard posted publicly by ICC, not from the purchased 2021 published edition. The numbering of the published edition was corroborated only indirectly, from section URLs exposed by ICC Digital Codes. **Every section reference marked ‡ in this manual must be checked line by line against the purchased 2021 edition of ICC/MBI 1205 and ICC/MBI 1200 before this manual is submitted to the bureau.** A manual that cites a section number a reviewer cannot find is an avoidable rejection. Section 0.4 is a complete list of every ‡ citation in one table so that the check can be done in one pass. **Second, the plant described here does not yet exist.** No building has been leased or fitted out, no equipment has been bought, no person has been hired into a quality role, no bed has been poured, and no panel has been cast. Every statement in this manual about a floor layout, a station, a piece of equipment, a job title held by a real person, a production sequence that has been run, or a test that has been performed is marked **[KEN TO CONFIRM: ...]**. Nothing about the plant has been invented to fill a gap. Section 0.3 explains the markers; `02-open-items.md` lists every one of them with an owner and what it waits on. **Third, and connected to the second, this product has no published acceptance criteria.** No dimensional tolerance, surface defect limit, or concrete design strength exists for a cellular concrete panel on cold-formed steel studs at 35 pcf. ICC/MBI 1200 §308.4‡ hands panelized-system attachment tolerance to the manufacturer of the attachment device, which does not answer width, bow, twist or squareness. ACI 523.1R-06 is a cast-in-place guide and gives no casting tolerance applicable to this product. The compressive strength of the mix is unknown because no ASTM C495/C495M cylinders have been broken. This manual therefore builds the **structure** that holds those criteria: the characteristic, the measurement method, the frequency, the form it is recorded on and the signature that accepts it. The **values** are marked **[PE TO SET: ...]** and are to be set by the engineer of record and verified by test before this manual is submitted. Where an analogous published value exists it is quoted and identified as analogous. No tolerance in this manual has been made up. This draft is written so that a reviewer at the bureau, a third-party inspection agency, and the engineer of record can each see exactly what is established, what is proposed, and what is still open. ### 0.2 Scope of this document set | File | What it is | |---|---| | `00-manual.md` | This manual: the operating quality document of the plant, sections 1 through 16. | | `01-forms.md` | Appendix A. Every form and log used by the program, drawn out with its fields, and the written procedure for each, as required by ICC/MBI 1205 §501.17‡ and Montana list item MT-6. | | `02-open-items.md` | Every [KEN TO CONFIRM] and [PE TO SET] marker in this document set, with the owner and what each waits on. Not part of the submitted manual; it is the work list that has to be closed before submission. | ### 0.3 Markers used in this manual | Marker | Meaning | Who closes it | |---|---|---| | **‡** | The section number of ICC/MBI 1205-2021 or ICC/MBI 1200-2021 that precedes it came from the posted approved ballot draft, not from the purchased published edition. It must be verified against the purchased edition before submission. | Quality manager, on receipt of the purchased standards | | **[KEN TO CONFIRM: ...]** | A fact about the plant, the equipment, the people, the layout, the sequence or the commercial arrangements that does not exist yet or has not been decided. Never a guess presented as a fact. | The owner | | **[PE TO SET: ...]** | A numeric acceptance criterion, tolerance, strength, load or capacity that the engineer of record must set and, where the criterion depends on material behaviour, that a test must verify. | Engineer of record, with the test matrix | | **MT-n** | Item *n* of the eleven-item quality control manual content list published on the Montana Building Codes Bureau Factory-Built Buildings web page. The list is reproduced at §0.5. | n/a | Neither [KEN TO CONFIRM] nor [PE TO SET] may remain in the copy submitted to the bureau. A submitted manual that still carries a marker is an incomplete manual, and Montana returns incomplete applications unprocessed. ### 0.4 Cross-reference table: ICC/MBI 1205-2021 Chapter 5 to this manual [1205 §501.1‡ indexing] Every citation in this table carries the ‡ caveat of §0.1. This is the table to work through with the purchased standard in hand, one row at a time. | ICC/MBI 1205 §‡ | Subject, as read from the ballot draft | Answered in | |---|---|---| | 501.1 | Manual format, binding, index, cover wording and identification of manufacturer and agencies | Cover page; §0.2; §0.4 | | 501.2 | Written procedure for revising the manual | §3.5 | | 501.3 | Signed permission for the state and the agency to inspect plants, products and building sites without prior announcement | §0.6 | | 501.4 | Graphic organizational chart; key personnel by title over the program; management by title and job description | §2.2, §2.4 | | 501.5 | Schematic plan of the manufacturing operation showing locations and the testing stations for mandatory inspections | §4.1 | | 501.6 | Detailed list of the work performed at each station | §4.3 | | 501.7 | Inspection and test procedures with accept/reject criteria, mandatory inspection characteristics, frequency, and how nonconformances are remedied | §7.13, §8, §9 | | 501.8 | Detailed list of inspections performed at each station, and sign-offs | §7.13, §4.3 | | 501.9 | Procedure for training management and employees, including training to the approved documents | §2.6 | | 501.10 | Procedure for auditing the quality assurance process; evaluation and remedy of nonconformances; plan of corrective action (POCA) | §2.7, §2.9 | | 501.11 | Approval of construction documents including revisions; assurance that all construction documents conform to the approved building system | §3.1, §3.2, §3.3 | | 501.12 | Method of keeping manufacturing records, site operations, storage, preservation and access, identifying how long records are kept | §14.1, §14.2 | | 501.13 | System to serial-number the modules and modular components | §10.1 | | 501.14 | Procedures for testing and for the use of inspection equipment, including the schedule of maintenance inspection and calibration | §8.8 | | 501.15 | Procedure for storage of modules at the plant, at other storage points, and after delivery to site | §12.1 | | 501.16 | Procedures for packing, packaging, storage and transportation, and the related inspections | §12.3, §12.4, §12.5 | | 501.17 | The forms used as part of the program, and a written procedure for how each form is used | §16 and Appendix A (`01-forms.md`) | | 502.1 | Inspection of materials at point of receipt and at point of use on the production line | §5.3 | | 502.2 | Storage of materials to protect from damage and deterioration per the material manufacturer's instructions | §5.5 | | 502.3 | Segregation and disposal of rejected materials | §5.6 | | 503.1 | Certification label control and month-end reporting; purchase and application of the label per the AHJ's requirements | §10.3, §10.4 | | 503.2 | Procedures for final inspection, identification and labeling | §11.1, §11.2 | ### 0.5 Cross-reference table: the Montana bureau's published list to this manual Reproduced from the Building Codes Bureau Factory-Built Buildings web page. Note that the bureau's web page list predates the 21 September 2024 rewrite that moved the content requirement to ICC/MBI 1205 chapter 5. This manual answers both lists. | MT | Bureau list item | Answered in | |---|---|---| | MT-1 | Scope and purpose of the manual | §1.1 | | MT-2 | Inspection procedure for basic materials | §5.3 | | MT-3 | Material storage and stock rotation procedure | §5.5 | | MT-4 | Drawings and bill of material | §3.1, §3.4 | | MT-5 | Types and frequency of product inspection | §7.13 | | MT-6 | Sample of inspection control form used | Appendix A (`01-forms.md`), all forms | | MT-7 | Record-keeping procedures for quality control forms | §14.1 | | MT-8 | List of major pieces of production equipment | §4.2, Appendix C | | MT-9 | Where responsibility for quality control program lies | §2.3 | | MT-10 | Test procedural manual: electrical, gas line, water systems, drain/vent/plumbing fixture tests, and the type of test equipment used | §8.1 through §8.6 | | MT-11 | List of test equipment | §8.7, Appendix C | The same web page also requires the manufacturer to designate a company officer or other responsible person for the program (§2.3) and to keep records substantiating that each unit was inspected and complies with the reviewed plans (§14.1, form QF-20). ### 0.6 Permission to inspect without prior announcement [1205 §501.3‡; 1200 §505.1‡; ARM 24.301.1211, 24.301.1215] The statement below is to be signed in original by the officer designated in §2.3 and bound into the submitted manual. > The undersigned, on behalf of [KEN TO CONFIRM: legal entity name] ("the manufacturer"), grants to the > Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Building and Commercial Measurements Bureau, to its authorized > representatives, and to the approved third-party inspection agency named in this manual, permission to > enter and inspect the manufacturer's plants, the products manufactured in them, and the building sites at > which those products are installed, at any reasonable time and **without prior announcement**. The > manufacturer shall not restrict access by the authority having jurisdiction or its authorized > representative at any time when manufacturing or construction activities are occurring. A current printed > copy of the approved quality assurance manual shall be kept in the plant and made available at that > inspection. > > Signature: ____________________ Printed name: ____________________ > Title: ____________________ Date: ____________ > > [KEN TO CONFIRM: signature, name, title and date. The statement must be signed in original, not typed.] ### 0.7 Revision history [1205 §501.2‡; ARM 24.301.1223(3)] | Rev. | Date | Sections changed | Reason | Submitted to bureau | Fee paid | Bureau approval date | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 0 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | Original issue | First submission under ARM 24.301.1223(1) | | $20 | | Maintained on form QF-30. The procedure that governs this table is §3.5. --- ## 1. SCOPE, PRODUCTS AND CODES ### 1.1 Purpose and scope of this manual [MT-1; 1205 §501.1‡] This manual describes the compliance assurance program under which [KEN TO CONFIRM: legal entity name] manufactures off-site construction products at the plant identified on the cover page. It is submitted to the Building Codes Bureau under ARM 24.301.1223(1), and it is the document the plant operates to. It governs: 1. the qualification, receipt, storage and use of every material that goes into the product; 2. the control of the approved construction documents on the production floor; 3. every in-process and final inspection and test, the criterion each is judged against, its frequency, the form it is recorded on and the person by title who signs it; 4. the identification, segregation and disposition of nonconforming product, and the corrective action that follows; 5. the serial numbering, marking, labeling and release of finished product; and 6. the records that prove all of the above, and how long they are kept. The manual applies to all production of the covered products, whether the finished item is a unit bearing a Montana insignia or a modular component bearing the third-party inspection agency's certification label. No production for sale begins before this manual is approved by the bureau, the model plan is approved, and the third-party inspection agency has completed the initial plant certification. ICC/MBI 1200 §503.1‡ states the same rule from the other side: each manufacturing plant shall have an approved QA/QC plan in accordance with chapter 5 of ICC/MBI 1205 prior to commencing fabrication or construction activities. ### 1.2 Products covered [1205 §501.1‡] Two product families are produced from one panel casting system. Both are covered by this manual. **Product family A: panelized systems (wall panels, roof strips, floor panels).** A wall panel is a 48 inch wide cast panel made face down in a casting bed. From the interior finish face outward the panel is: | From the interior face | Layer | Thickness | |---|---|---| | 0 to 2 in | Cast cellular concrete finish skin at 35 pcf, basalt mesh near the 2 inch line | 2 in | | 2 to 3.5 in | Cold-rolled channel and mesh zone, 1-1/2 inch channel rows with spacer blocks under each stud crossing, filled by the skin pour | 1.5 in | | 3.5 to 9.5 in | Cold-formed steel stud zone, 600S162-54 at 16 in on centre. The skin pour reaches 5 in, locking 1.5 in of the stud into the skin. The cavity from 5 in to 9.5 in is pumped full with 30 pcf cellular concrete after the panels stand | 6 in | | 9.5 to 11.5 in | Cladding sheet, 2 in cellular concrete at 35 pcf with mesh, screwed to the exterior stud flanges | 2 in | | | **Finished wall thickness** | **11.5 in** | Panel heights in production are 120 in (standard wall), 150 in (the raised wall A of the shed roof design) and 96 in (the shower house). Panel width is 48 in with a 1/2 in joint gap; an end panel of a wall run is cast short in the same bed using a movable end board, minimum 12 in. Tracks are 600T125-54 at the panel top and bottom, with a continuous top track installed on site. Roof strips are the same system at a larger stack: 2 in bottom cover, 1.5 in channel zone, 8 in studs (800S162-68 in the house shed and flat designs), 2 in cap. The ground pour cast in the yard bed is 6.5 in; the 7 in top pour is placed after the strip is set. The shower house floor panel is the same construction at a 6 in stud depth, cast finish up, ground pour only, with floor drains, shower slopes and plumbing sleeves cast in. A panel and a roof strip are **panelized systems** and therefore **modular components** under ICC/MBI 1205 §202‡. They are not units. They do not receive a Montana insignia. They receive the third-party inspection agency's certification label under ICC/MBI 1205 §701.1‡. §10.4 governs that label. **Product family B: the shower house, a complete unit.** A 1 or 2 bathroom shower and toilet building built complete in the plant on a welded HSS steel skid, with the floor panel, wall panels, an interior demising panel, the roof strips, the membrane, all fixtures, the electrical panel and branch circuits, the water supply, the DWV system, the electric tankless water heater and the freeze-protection heater installed and tested in the plant. Outside width 10, 12 or 14 feet over the cladding, never more than 14 feet including the roof edge; length in 2 foot steps from 8 to 24 feet. The reference unit is 12 x 20 feet, two bathrooms, one accessible, flat roof. The shower house is a **unit** as that term is used in ARM 24.301.1205(6), which gives "unit" the same meaning as "module", **if** the bureau so classifies it. That classification is not settled. The statutory definition at MCA 50-60-101(9) and ARM 24.301.1205(4) requires a structure "not made so as to be readily movable as a unit or units and designed to be used with a permanent foundation", and the unit as currently designed is built on a skid with fork pockets and rated corner lifting lugs. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the bureau's written answer on whether the shower house is a factory-built building. Until that answer arrives, §10.2 and §11 are written on the assumption that it is, and the panel line's compliance under §1.3 does not depend on it.] ### 1.3 Why this plant is inside the Montana factory-built building program [ARM 24.301.1217, 24.301.1221] ARM 24.301.1221(1) requires any manufacturer of modular buildings **or modular building components** to apply to the bureau for plan review of a model or model group before construction. ICC/MBI 1205 §202‡ defines a panelized system as a modular component and defines a manufacturer as the entity responsible for manufacturing assemblies, panelized systems, modular buildings or modular components. ARM 24.301.1217(1) requires each manufacturer to obtain approval from the department and to be subject to section 601 of ICC/MBI 1205 as adopted. The panel line is therefore inside the program on the plain text of the rule, independently of how the shower house is classified. ### 1.4 Codes and standards this plant builds to Adopted by Montana, verified against the Administrative Rules of Montana and the bureau's current-codes list. All effective 11 June 2022, with Montana's own modifications amended effective 21 September 2024. | Code | Edition | Adopted at | |---|---|---| | International Building Code | 2021 | ARM 24.301.131 | | International Residential Code | 2021 | ARM 24.301.154 | | International Energy Conservation Code, as amended by Montana | 2021 | ARM 24.301.161 | | Uniform Plumbing Code | 2021 | ARM 24.301.301 | | NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, with Montana amendments to 210.8(A), 210.8(B) and 210.12 | 2020 | ARM 24.301.401 | | International Mechanical Code | 2021 | ARM 24.301.172 | | International Fuel Gas Code | 2021 | ARM 24.301.173 | | ICC A117.1 | 2017 | through IBC 2021 chapter 11 | | ICC/MBI 1200, Off-site Construction: Planning, Design, Fabrication and Assembly | 2021 | ARM 24.301.1203 | | ICC/MBI 1205, Off-site Construction: Inspection and Regulatory Compliance | 2021 | ARM 24.301.1203 | Montana moves the snow load off the edition the adopted IBC references: ARM 24.301.146(26) provides that snow loads are determined by the building official, and that outside certified city, county and town jurisdictions the design snow load shall be calculated using ASCE/SEI 7-22. ARM 24.301.154 replaces IRC R301.6 on the same basis and sets a minimum 30 psf design roof snow load after allowed reductions unless justified by a Montana licensed design professional to the satisfaction of the building official. Wind and seismic follow the edition the adopted IBC references. Montana does not adopt ICC/MBI 1210. It is not referenced in this manual. Product and process standards applied by this program, by subject: | Subject | Standard | Where used in this manual | |---|---|---| | Cold-formed steel design and framing | AISI S100-16 (2020) with Supplement 2; AISI S240-20; AISI S400 where the seismic design category requires | §5.2, §7.4 | | Cold-formed steel material and products | ASTM A1003/A1003M; ASTM C955; ASTM C1007 | §5.3, §5.4 | | Screws | ASTM C1513; AISI S100 chapter J; the ICC-ES evaluation report of the screw purchased | §5.3, §7.4 | | Cellular concrete, general guidance | ACI 523.1R-06 (cast-in-place low density cellular concrete, covers the sub-50 pcf range); ACI 523.2R-96 / ACI PRC-523.2-96 (precast cellular concrete floor, roof and wall units) | §6 | | Foaming agent | ASTM C869/C869M (specification); ASTM C796/C796M (qualification test) | §6.2 | | Fresh density | ASTM C138/C138M | §6.5 | | Hardened density | ASTM C567/C567M | §6.6 | | Compressive strength at this density | ASTM C495/C495M; ASTM C513 for cores cut from a hardened panel | §6.6 | | Drying shrinkage | ASTM C157/C157M | §6.2 | | Cast-in lifting inserts | PCI Design Handbook MNL-120 (8th edition, 2017); ASTM E488/E488M for pull-out in this concrete; OSHA 29 CFR 1926.704 | §7.7, §8.6 | | Rigging | ASME B30.9, B30.20, B30.26; OSHA 29 CFR 1926.251 and Subpart CC | §12.6 | | Skid steel | AISC 360-22; AWS D1.1/D1.1M; ASTM A500; ASTM A36 or A572 for the lug plate; ASME BTH-1 | §5.3, §7.11 | | Cargo securement | 49 CFR 393 Subpart I | §12.4 | | Terms for installation tolerances | ISO 6707-1:2020, as required by ICC/MBI 1200 §803.1‡ | §13.5 | ACI 523.2R-96 has **not been read**. It is the only published document specifically addressed to precast cellular concrete floor, roof and wall units at this density, and it is on order. [KEN TO CONFIRM: purchase of ACI 523.2R-96, ICC/MBI 1200-2021 and ICC/MBI 1205-2021. Section 6 of this manual must be re-read against ACI 523.2R-96 once it is in hand.] ### 1.5 Definitions used in this manual Terms defined in ICC/MBI 1200 and 1205 §202‡, in ARM 24.301.1205, and in ISO 6707-1:2020 carry their defined meanings. The following are the working terms of this plant. | Term | Meaning in this manual | |---|---| | Bed | The casting bed. Four slots side by side, each formed to a panel footprint, with a movable end board that shortens a slot for a cut panel. | | Slot | One panel position in the bed, identified 1 through 4. | | Cycle | One complete use of the bed: set up, place steel and embedments, pour, cure, strip. | | Skin pour | The first pour, 5 inches deep, which forms the 2 inch finish skin, fills the channel zone and locks 1.5 inches of the stud into the skin. | | Cavity fill | The 30 pcf pour that fills the 4.5 inch cavity between the skin pour and the cladding after the panels stand. Site work on the house; plant work on the shower house. | | Traveler | Form QF-13, the route sheet that travels with a panel from the bed to release and carries every station sign-off. | | Hold point | A point past which work may not proceed until the named signature is on the traveler. Hold points are listed at §7.13. | | Unit | A module. The shower house. Receives a Montana insignia. | | Modular component | A panelized system: a wall panel, roof strip or floor panel. Receives the third-party agency's certification label. | | Quality manager | The title that owns this program. See §2.3. | | Engineer of record | The Montana-licensed professional engineer who stamps the design basis, the typical details and the acceptance criteria marked [PE TO SET]. | --- ## 2. THE QUALITY PROGRAM, THE ORGANISATION AND ITS AUTHORITY ### 2.1 Quality policy The plant produces structural building components and complete buildings that are concealed by later work and cannot be inspected at the building site without destroying them. Every control in this manual exists because of that fact. It is the policy of this company that: 1. product is built only to construction documents that are current, approved and on the floor; 2. no panel, strip or unit leaves a hold point without the signature this manual names; 3. a person who is not certain that a characteristic conforms records it as nonconforming, and the disposition is made by the quality manager in writing, never by the person who made the part; 4. the quality manager has the authority to stop work and to refuse release, and exercising that authority is never treated as a production failure; 5. the records are written at the time the work is done, not reconstructed afterwards; and 6. this manual is followed as written, and when the plant needs to work differently the manual is revised and resubmitted first. Every element of this program is made known to all personnel whose work affects product quality, through the training in §2.6. Signed: ____________________ [KEN TO CONFIRM: owner signature, printed name, title, date] ### 2.2 Organizational chart [1205 §501.4‡] The chart below shows the departments including management and production, and the reporting lines. It is reproduced as a graphic on a single page in Appendix B of the submitted manual. ``` OWNER / PRESIDENT [KEN TO CONFIRM: name] | +-----------------------+------------------------+ | | | QUALITY MANAGER PLANT MANAGER ADMINISTRATION [KEN TO CONFIRM: [KEN TO CONFIRM: [KEN TO CONFIRM: name] name] name] | | | +----------+----------+ | | | | | BATCH AND CASTING ASSEMBLY AND | MIXING CREW FINISHING CREW | OPERATOR | QC INSPECTOR [KEN TO CONFIRM: name; may be the quality manager in a plant of this size, subject to the independence rule at §2.3] | QC TECHNICIAN (sampling, density, cylinders) [KEN TO CONFIRM: name] EXTERNAL, NOT EMPLOYEES: Third-party inspection agency [KEN TO CONFIRM: agency name] Engineer of record [KEN TO CONFIRM: PE name and Montana licence number] Testing laboratory [KEN TO CONFIRM: accredited laboratory name] ``` **The quality manager reports to the owner and does not report to the plant manager.** That line is the point of the chart and it is not to be redrawn without a revision to this manual under §3.5. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the whole chart. The planning model for this plant assumes a production crew of three people. The chart above shows the roles that must exist, not people who have been hired. Roles may be combined only within the limits set by §2.3 and §2.5.] ### 2.3 Responsibility, authority and independence of the quality function [MT-9; 1205 §501.4‡; 1200 §504.1‡] **Where responsibility lies.** Responsibility for this compliance assurance program lies with the **quality manager**, who is the responsible party identified to the third-party inspection agency under ICC/MBI 1200 §504.1‡. The officer of the company accountable for the program to the bureau is [KEN TO CONFIRM: name and corporate title of the designated officer]. **Authority.** The quality manager has, and shall exercise without requiring anyone's permission, the authority to: 1. stop production at any station, on any panel, strip or unit; 2. reject any material at receipt or at point of use; 3. declare product nonconforming, apply the hold tag, and decide its disposition under §9.2; 4. require rework, repair or scrapping of product; 5. refuse to sign the release of a unit or a component under §11.3, and to refuse to apply an insignia or a certification label; and 6. raise a corrective action against any process or any person's work, including the plant manager's. No disposition, release, label application or corrective action closure is valid without the quality manager's signature. The plant manager may not overrule any of the six authorities above. A disagreement between the plant manager and the quality manager is resolved by the owner, in writing, and the written resolution is filed with the nonconformance report. **Independence.** ICC/MBI 1200 §504.1‡ requires the responsible party to have the authority necessary to ensure compliance. In a plant of this size that requirement is not satisfied by an authority statement alone, because the same few people do several jobs. The following structural rules apply and are not waivable: 1. The quality manager does not report to production and is not paid on production output. 2. **No person may sign an inspection or a release for work that person performed.** Where the quality manager or the QC inspector has performed production work on a panel, strip or unit, a different qualified person named in §2.5 signs that item's inspections, or the item is held until such a person signs it. 3. The final release signature on form QF-20 is the quality manager's alone. 4. The third-party inspection agency's inspection is an independent check and not a substitute for rule 2. [KEN TO CONFIRM: at a three-person plant there may be no second qualified signer available on a given shift. Ken must decide structurally how rule 2 is met: a part-time contracted QC inspector, a second trained employee whose primary job is not casting, or a scheduling rule that keeps the quality manager off the bed on pour days. This is listed as open item OI-05 and it is not a paperwork problem.] ### 2.4 Job descriptions by title [1205 §501.4‡; HUD analogue 24 CFR 3282.203(c)] The descriptions below are the duties the title carries. Names go in the organizational chart, not here, so that a change of personnel does not require a revision of this manual. **Owner / President.** Provides the resources the program needs. Signs the quality policy, the permission to inspect, and the management review minutes. Resolves in writing any disagreement between quality and production. Signs the closure of corrective actions. **Quality manager.** Owns and maintains this manual. Holds the six authorities at §2.3. Approves mix designs and their requalification. Approves vendors. Controls the document register, the serial number register, the insignia register and the calibration register. Signs all nonconformance dispositions and all final releases. Conducts or arranges the internal audit. Prepares the month-end label report. Is the plant's point of contact for the bureau and for the third-party inspection agency. Trains and qualifies inspection personnel. **QC inspector.** Performs the in-process inspections listed at §7.13, signs the traveler at each station inspection and each hold point, performs the in-plant systems tests at §8, and writes nonconformance reports. Does not decide dispositions. **QC technician.** Samples fresh concrete, performs and records fresh density to ASTM C138/C138M, casts, marks, cures and ships the compressive strength cylinders, reads and records cure temperatures, and maintains the test equipment between calibrations. **Plant manager.** Runs production to the approved construction documents and to this manual. Maintains the daily production log. Ensures only current approved documents are on the floor. Has no authority to release product, to disposition nonconforming product, or to overrule the quality manager. **Batch and mixing operator.** Proportions, batches and mixes to the approved mix design, records every batch on QF-09, and stops batching when a density reading falls outside the acceptance band. **Casting crew, assembly and finishing crew.** Build to the approved construction documents, present the work at each hold point, and record on the traveler the work they performed and any condition they consider doubtful. [KEN TO CONFIRM: whether the shower house's plant-installed electrical and plumbing work is performed by employees or by licensed subcontractors, and the names of those firms. If subcontracted, the subcontractor control procedure at §5.7 applies and the subcontractor's licences go in Appendix F.] ### 2.5 Personnel qualifications by role The qualification requirements below are the plant's own requirements. They are modelled on the published criteria that IAS applies to an accredited precast concrete fabricator inspection program (IAS AC157 §4.2.2), which is the closest published statement of what a competent concrete plant's quality personnel must hold. This plant is **not** applying for AC157 accreditation and nothing here is a claim of accreditation. | Role | Required qualification | Evidence held in Appendix F | |---|---|---| | Quality manager | Documented knowledge of the product, of factory operations and of the codes and standards in §1.4, demonstrated to the third-party inspection agency as required by ICC/MBI 1200 §504.1‡. [KEN TO CONFIRM: whether the plant will additionally require ACI Concrete Construction Special Inspector or PCI Level II certification, and by when] | Résumé, certificates, the agency's written acceptance | | QC inspector | ACI Concrete Field Testing Technician Grade I, or equivalent accepted in writing by the third-party inspection agency. Training to this manual and to the approved construction documents | Certificate, training record QF-26 | | QC technician | ACI Concrete Field Testing Technician Grade I for sampling and fresh density. Training in specimen casting, marking and curing | Certificate, training record QF-26 | | Batch and mixing operator | Trained to the approved mix designs and to the calibration checks at §6.4. Trained by the foam concentrate supplier on the foam generator | Training record QF-26, supplier training letter | | Electrical work on the shower house | Licensed under Montana law for the work performed | Licence copy | | Plumbing work on the shower house | Licensed under Montana law for the work performed | Licence copy | | Welding on the skid | Qualified in accordance with AWS D1.1/D1.1M for the joints welded | Welder qualification record | | Casting and assembly crew | Trained to this manual, to the approved construction documents and to the tasks of their station | Training record QF-26 | [KEN TO CONFIRM: every row. No person has been hired, no certification has been obtained, and no qualification has been accepted by any third-party agency.] ### 2.6 Training [1205 §501.9‡] 1. Before a person performs any task that affects product quality, the quality manager delivers training covering: this manual; the approved construction documents for the product the person will work on; the forms the person completes; the hold points; and the person's duty to report a doubtful condition rather than pass it on. 2. Training to the **approved documents** is repeated whenever a revised document is issued to the floor under §3.2, for every person whose work the revision affects, before the revised document is used. 3. Management personnel involved in quality control receive the same training plus training on the nonconformance, corrective action and audit procedures at §9 and §2.7. 4. Retraining is delivered whenever: a corrective action identifies training as a cause; a person moves to a new station; a person returns after an absence of more than [KEN TO CONFIRM: number of months]; or the annual review at §2.8 calls for it. 5. Every training event is recorded on form QF-26, signed by the trainer and the person trained. Certificates with expiry dates are tracked on the same form and renewed before expiry. 6. Training records are retained per §14.2 and are made available to the third-party inspection agency and to the bureau on request. ### 2.7 Internal audit [1205 §501.10‡] 1. The quality manager audits the compliance assurance program against this manual **quarterly**, and additionally whenever a corrective action, a bureau finding or an agency deficiency report suggests the system rather than a single part has failed. 2. Each audit covers, at minimum: document control and whether only current documents are on the floor; completeness of travelers and station sign-offs on product released since the last audit; the batch, density, cylinder and cure records; the calibration register against the equipment on the floor; material receiving and certification files; the insignia and label register against the serial number register; open nonconformances and corrective actions; and training records. 3. The audit is documented on form QF-24: what was examined, what was found, the objective evidence, and the corrective actions raised. 4. **An auditor does not audit their own work.** Where the quality manager's own record keeping is the subject, the audit of that area is performed by [KEN TO CONFIRM: who audits the quality manager. Options: the owner, a contracted consultant, or the third-party inspection agency under a separate engagement. This must be decided; an unaudited quality manager is a finding waiting to happen]. 5. Audit findings are closed through the corrective action procedure at §2.9, not by a note on the audit report. 6. The quarterly frequency is set to the plant's current volume. It does not decrease. It increases when the management review at §2.8 decides so, and any decrease would require a revision of this manual under §3.5. ### 2.8 Annual management review Once each calendar year the owner, the quality manager and the plant manager review the compliance assurance program. The review covers: internal audit results; third-party inspection agency reports and any deficiencies; bureau correspondence and any notice of violation; nonconformance and corrective action trends; concrete test trends, meaning density, cylinder breaks and any out-of-band results; calibration history and any out-of-calibration findings; customer complaints and field service; training and qualification status; and whether this manual still describes what the plant actually does. The review is minuted on form QF-25 and the minutes are signed by the owner. Any decision to change how the plant works produces a revision of this manual under §3.5 **before** the change is made. ### 2.9 Corrective action, the plan of corrective action (POCA) [1205 §501.10‡] 1. A corrective action is opened on form QF-23 whenever: a nonconformance is repeated; a nonconformance affects product already released; an internal audit raises a finding; the third-party inspection agency or the bureau identifies a deficiency; a customer complaint is substantiated; or the quality manager judges that the cause lies in the process rather than in the part. 2. The record states: what happened, with reference to the nonconformance report or report number; the **investigation** and the cause found, not merely the symptom; the **correction** applied to the affected product; the **corrective action** applied to the process so it does not recur; how the effectiveness will be **verified**, by what evidence and by what date; and the closure. 3. Where product already released is affected, the record states which serial numbers, how the customer and the third-party inspection agency were notified, and what was done in the field. §15.3 governs field service records. 4. The quality manager signs the investigation and the corrective action. **The owner signs the closure**, and does not sign it until the verification evidence is attached. 5. Where the bureau issues a notice of violation under ARM 24.301.1271, the plant answers in writing within the 14 day deadline in that rule, the answer is filed with the corrective action, and the affected units are not moved while a prohibited sales notice is posted on them. 6. Open corrective actions are reviewed at every internal audit and at the management review. --- ## 3. DOCUMENTS, DRAWINGS AND THE BILL OF MATERIAL ### 3.1 How an approved construction document reaches the floor [1205 §501.11‡; MT-4] 1. The construction documents for a model are prepared under the engineer of record, submitted to the bureau with the model plan review application under ARM 24.301.1221, and reviewed by the third-party inspection agency and by the bureau. The documents include the items ICC/MBI 1205 chapter 3‡ requires and the Montana-specific first-page data required by ARM 24.301.1221(2)(e): wind load (Vult), construction type, seismic design category and ground snow load. 2. On bureau approval the quality manager records the approved document set in the document and drawing control register, form QF-29: document number, title, revision, date, the approval reference, and every location a copy is held. 3. The quality manager issues controlled copies to the floor. A controlled copy is stamped **CONTROLLED COPY** with the location it is issued to and the issue date. Uncontrolled printouts, photographs of a drawing, and drawings held on a personal device are not construction documents and may not be used to build from. 4. Each production order is released to the floor with: the controlled drawing set for the model; the bill of material for that order; the panel schedule and key plan; and blank travelers pre-printed with the serial numbers assigned under §10.1. 5. No material is cut, no steel is placed and no concrete is batched against a document that is not on the register as current and approved. ### 3.2 Revision control and withdrawal of superseded documents [1205 §501.11‡] 1. A revised construction document is approved by the engineer of record and, where the revision changes construction, plumbing, mechanical or electrical equipment or installations, is submitted to the bureau under ARM 24.301.1227 with the applicable revision fee before it is used. 2. On receipt of an approved revision the quality manager: records it on QF-29; issues the new revision to every location the register shows; **physically retrieves every superseded copy** and destroys it or marks it **VOID, REFERENCE ONLY** and files it in the history file; and records the retrieval on QF-29. 3. Work in progress at the time of a revision is held at its current station. The quality manager decides in writing, on a nonconformance report if the in-progress work no longer conforms, whether the work is completed to the old revision, reworked, or scrapped. 4. Training to the revision is delivered under §2.6 item 2 before the revision is worked to. ### 3.3 Conformance of construction documents to the approved building system [1205 §501.11‡] Before any order is released to the floor the quality manager verifies and records on QF-29 that: 1. the model number and revision on the drawing set match an approved model plan that has not expired (approvals run through 31 December of the year following approval, ARM 24.301.1233); 2. the materials called out are on the approved vendor list and match the specification in the approved design basis; 3. the panel schedule, the openings and the key plan agree with the drawings; and 4. nothing on the order requires a process not described in this manual. If any check fails, the order is not released and the quality manager raises the discrepancy with the engineer of record in writing. ### 3.4 Bill of material [MT-4] Each production order carries a bill of material listing, by panel or by unit: the concrete mix and volume by pour; the stud, track, channel and mesh quantities by designation and length; the screw types and counts; the embedded items including sleeves, blockouts and lifting inserts; and, for the shower house, the fixtures, appliances, wiring devices, pipe and fittings. The bill of material is issued as a controlled document under §3.1 and is the basis of the incoming material check at point of use under §5.3. [KEN TO CONFIRM: whether the bill of material is generated from the takeoff model or written by hand, and which system is the controlled master. If generated, the generating file and its version are recorded on QF-29 like any other controlled document.] ### 3.5 Revision of this manual [1205 §501.2‡; ARM 24.301.1223(3)] 1. Only the quality manager may issue a revision of this manual. A proposal for a change may come from anyone and is recorded on form QF-30. 2. The quality manager prepares the revision, marks the changed text, and updates the revision history at §0.7 and the cross-reference tables at §0.4 and §0.5 if section numbering moved. 3. The owner approves and signs the revision. 4. **One copy of the revised manual is submitted to the bureau for review, with the review fee required by ARM 24.301.1261, and the plant does not work to the revision until the bureau has approved it.** This applies to a revision of the body of the manual, sections 1 through 16. 5. Appendices A through G hold information that changes with ordinary business: the forms, the plant layout, the equipment and test equipment lists, the approved vendor list, the approved mix designs, the personnel qualification index and the model register. An appendix change is made under document control on QF-29 and is reported to the bureau and to the third-party inspection agency at the next manual revision or on request, unless the change alters a procedure stated in the body, in which case item 4 applies. [KEN TO CONFIRM: confirm this split with the bureau in writing. If the bureau treats any appendix change as a manual revision requiring a fee and a re-review, item 5 must be deleted and item 4 applied to everything.] 6. On receipt of the bureau's approval the quality manager issues the revised manual to every location on QF-29, retrieves and destroys or voids every superseded copy including the printed plant copy required by ICC/MBI 1200 §503.2‡, and records the retrieval. 7. The current approved manual is available in the plant in printed form at all times when manufacturing activity is occurring. --- ## 4. THE PLANT **All of section 4 is unwritten fact.** No building has been leased, no equipment has been bought and no station has been laid out. The section states what has to be shown and in what form, so that it can be filled in once the plant exists, and so that a reviewer can see that nothing has been fabricated. ICC/MBI 1205 §501.5‡ and §501.6‡ cannot be answered from a model. ### 4.1 Plant layout and the location of the testing stations [1205 §501.5‡] Appendix B holds a single-page schematic plan of the manufacturing operation, drawn to a stated scale, showing: 1. the building outline, the yard and the vehicle access; 2. every production station in sequence, numbered as in §4.3; 3. the **testing stations for the mandatory inspections**, marked distinctly from production stations, namely: the fresh concrete sampling and density station; the specimen casting and curing area; the pre-pour inspection position at the bed; the post-strip dimensional and surface inspection area; and, for the shower house, the systems test position; 4. material receiving and the quarantine area for material awaiting inspection; 5. the segregated area for rejected material required by §5.6, marked and physically separated; 6. the hold area for nonconforming product required by §9.1; 7. the finished product storage area and the yard storage area; and 8. the location of the controlled document station and the location of the printed manual. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the entire plant layout. Nothing above has been laid out. When it is, the schematic must show the real building, not a sketch of an intended one, because the third-party agency's initial plant certification inspects the plant against this drawing.] ### 4.2 Major production equipment [MT-8; 1205 §501.5‡] Appendix C holds the list of major production equipment, each item keyed by number to the layout in Appendix B, with manufacturer, model, capacity and serial number, and a note of which items appear on the calibration register at §8.8. The equipment the process requires is known from the process, and is listed here so the list is not empty, but **no item has been purchased and no make, model or capacity has been selected**: | Key | Equipment | Required for | Status | |---|---|---|---| | E-1 | Cement and dry material weighing scale | Batching to the approved mix design | [KEN TO CONFIRM: make, model, capacity, graduation] | | E-2 | Mixing water meter | Batching | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | E-3 | Foam generator and metering nozzle | Preformed foam at a controlled rate; the single largest influence on cast density | [KEN TO CONFIRM: make, model, and the supplier's calibration procedure] | | E-4 | High-shear or high-speed paddle mixer | ACI 523.1R-06 §5.3 advises that standard concrete mixing equipment is normally not acceptable for cellular concrete and that a high-speed paddle or high-shear mixer is preferred | [KEN TO CONFIRM: type and capacity] | | E-5 | Concrete pump suitable for cellular concrete | Placing the skin pour, the cladding pour and the cavity fill. ACI 523.1R-06 §5.4 addresses progressive-cavity and peristaltic pumps | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | E-6 | Casting bed, 4 slots, with edge forms and a movable end board | The panel casting process. Slots sized for the tallest panel, 150 in | [KEN TO CONFIRM: construction, bed flatness, liner type] | | E-7 | Roof strip ground bed | Roof strip ground pours | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | E-8 | Forklift with boom attachment | Wall panel handling; the pick is approximately 703 lb for a 10 ft panel and 879 lb for a 12 ft 6 in wall A panel | [KEN TO CONFIRM: capacity and attachment rating] | | E-9 | Crane or crane service | Roof strip picks at approximately 10,617 lb, floor panel at 5,510 lb, complete shower house at 35,034 lb including rigging allowance | [KEN TO CONFIRM: owned or contracted; if contracted, name the service] | | E-10 | Steel cutting and fastening tools for cold-formed framing | Stud and track fabrication | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | E-11 | Welding equipment for the skid | AWS D1.1 welding of the HSS skid | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | E-12 | Curing enclosure or heated space | Montana cold weather curing, §6.9 | [KEN TO CONFIRM: this is not optional in a Montana winter and it is not yet specified] | ### 4.3 Station-by-station description of the work [1205 §501.6‡; 1205 §501.8‡] ICC/MBI 1205 §501.6‡ requires a detailed list of the work performed at each station, and §501.8‡ requires a detailed list of the inspections performed at each station with sign-offs. The **process** is known from the product design and is stated below. The **stations** are not, because the floor has not been laid out and the sequence has never been run. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the entire station structure. The sequence below is the manufacturing process as designed. Whether it is run at eight stations or three, whether the panel moves or the crew moves, and which work is done at the bed versus at a separate position, are decisions nobody has made. One full trial cycle must be run before this table is finalised, because a station list that has never been worked is the fastest way to fail an initial plant certification.] | Stn | Work performed | Inspection at this station | Form | Signed by | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1. Receiving and storage | Unload, identify, quarantine pending inspection, put away to the storage rules at §5.5 | Incoming material inspection; certification received and filed | QF-03, QF-04 | QC inspector; quality manager on any reject | | 2. Batch and mix | Proportion and batch cement, water, foam and admixtures to the approved mix design; mix to uniform consistency | Batch quantities recorded; fresh density at the stated interval; specimens cast | QF-09, QF-10 | Batch operator; QC technician for density and specimens | | 3. Bed preparation | Clean the slot, set the edge forms and the end board for a cut panel, lay and check the liner, apply release agent | Bed and form check, before any steel is placed | QF-14 | QC inspector | | 4. Steel and embedment placement | Place channel rows and spacer blocks, lay the basalt mesh, set the studs, track, jamb, header, sill and cripple pieces, place sleeves, blockouts and lifting inserts | Mesh and embedment placement check; **lifting insert placement check (HOLD POINT)**; **pre-pour inspection (HOLD POINT)** | QF-15, QF-16 | QC inspector | | 5. Skin pour | Place the 5 in skin pour without segregation, consolidate, screed, finish the exposed face | Cast density at the point of placement; placement and finish observed | QF-09, QF-12 | Batch operator, QC technician | | 6. Cure | Cure the product to §6.8; record bed, slot, pour time, daily temperature | Cure log complete; 7 day minimum met before strip | QF-11 | Production lead; QC inspector before release to strip | | 7. Strip and dimensional inspection | Strip the panel from the bed, handle to the inspection position | Post-strip dimensional and surface inspection | QF-17 | QC inspector | | 8. Cladding sheet casting | Cast the 2 in cladding sheets in the same bed with mesh | Same checks as stations 3 through 7, recorded on the sheet's own traveler | QF-13, QF-14, QF-17 | QC inspector | | 9. Shower house assembly | Weld and paint the skid; set the floor panel; stand and screw the wall panels and the demising panel; set the roof strips; place the top pour and membrane | Skid weld inspection; assembly and set inspection | QF-18 | QC inspector | | 10. Shower house MEP rough-in | Install DWV, supplies, conduit, boxes, branch circuits, water heater, heater, fixtures | **MEP rough-in inspection before the cavity fill (HOLD POINT)** | QF-18 | QC inspector | | 11. Shower house cavity fill and close | Pump the cavity full at 30 pcf; install cladding; finish | Fill density at the point of placement | QF-09 | Batch operator, QC technician | | 12. Systems test | Electrical, water supply, DWV and fixture tests per §8 | In-plant systems test record | QF-19 | QC inspector | | 13. Final inspection and release | Final inspection, marking, labeling, insignia | Final unit inspection and release | QF-20 | **Quality manager only** | | 14. Storage, loading and shipping | Store, load, secure, ship | Storage and stacking record; loading and unloading manifest; delivery receipt | QF-32, QF-33, QF-34 | Yard lead, production lead, carrier | Stations 9 through 13 apply to the shower house. For the house, the panels leave the plant with no plumbing and no wiring; that work is done on site in the open stud cavity and is inspected on site by the authority having jurisdiction before the cavity fill. §13.4 and §13.6 carry that instruction into the erection documents, because the fill is irreversible and a builder who pumps before the rough-in inspection has destroyed the inspection. ### 4.4 Notice before commencing fabrication [1200 §505.2‡] Before fabrication or construction begins on a project, the quality manager notifies the bureau, or its authorized representative, and the third-party inspection agency, in writing, identifying the model, the order, the serial numbers to be used and the scheduled start date. The notice and any acknowledgement are filed with the order. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the notice period and the delivery method to be agreed in writing with the bureau and with the third-party inspection agency. Neither has been agreed.] --- ## 5. PURCHASING AND MATERIALS ### 5.1 Purchasing 1. Purchased product is specified on the purchase order by the designation in the approved construction documents and the approved design basis: for example, the stud designation and steel grade, the screw by type and evaluation report, the foaming agent by its ASTM C869/C869M compliance, the cement by type. 2. A purchase order for a material that affects product quality is issued only to a vendor on the approved vendor list, form QF-01. 3. The purchase order states the certification the delivery must carry: the mill test report, the certificate of compliance, or the evaluation report number, as §5.4 requires for that material. 4. A material may not be substituted at receipt or on the floor. A substitution is a design change and goes through §3.2. ### 5.2 Approved vendors and testing agencies 1. The approved vendor list, form QF-01, names every supplier and every testing laboratory the plant may use, and what each is approved to supply or perform. 2. A vendor is approved by the quality manager on evidence recorded on form QF-02: the certification the vendor can supply, and, for materials whose behaviour is mix-critical, the qualification testing at §6.2. 3. Testing laboratories used for compressive strength, hardened density, shrinkage or any test cited in this manual must be accredited for the test method performed. [KEN TO CONFIRM: laboratory selected, its accreditation, and its scope.] 4. Vendor performance is reviewed at least annually on QF-02, and a vendor whose deliveries have caused nonconformances is either removed from the list or placed on increased receiving inspection recorded on QF-02. 5. **A change of cement source or of foaming agent supplier is not a purchasing decision.** It triggers mix requalification under §6.3 before the new material is used in production. ### 5.3 Incoming material inspection, at receipt and at point of use [1205 §502.1‡; MT-2] **At receipt.** Every delivery is received into the quarantine area and is not released to production until inspected. The receiver records on form QF-03: date, supplier, material, designation, lot or heat number, quantity, the purchase order, the certification received, what was checked, and accept or reject. Material awaiting inspection is physically separated and identified as such. | Material | Checked at receipt | Certification required | |---|---|---| | Portland cement | Bag or bulk identification, type, supplier, date, condition, no lumping or moisture damage | Cement mill report for the lot | | Foam concentrate | Product identity, batch number, manufacture date, use-by date, container integrity | Certificate of compliance to ASTM C869/C869M | | Admixtures, if used | Product identity, batch, date, use-by date | Certificate of compliance | | Cold-formed studs and track | Designation stamped on the member (web depth, flange, mil thickness, grade), coating, straightness, no shipping damage, quantity | Mill certificate or certificate of compliance to ASTM A1003/A1003M and ASTM C955 | | Cold-rolled channel | Size, gauge, coating, straightness | Certificate of compliance | | Basalt mesh | Product identity, grid spacing, roll width, no damage or contamination | Manufacturer's certificate with tensile data | | Screws | Type, size, point, coating, ICC-ES evaluation report number on the carton | Evaluation report on file | | Lifting inserts | Type, size, rated capacity, manufacturer marking | Manufacturer's published capacity data and the evaluation report where one exists | | Sleeves, blockouts, embedded items | Size, material, quantity | As specified | | HSS and plate for the skid | Grade marking or heat number, size, straightness | Mill test report to ASTM A500, A36 or A572 as specified | | Fixtures, appliances, wiring devices, pipe and fittings for the shower house | Model number against the bill of material, listing mark, damage, completeness | Listing and labeling as required by the adopted codes | **At point of use.** Before a material is placed in the product, the person placing it verifies that it is the material the bill of material calls for and that it has not been damaged, contaminated or exceeded its shelf life in storage. Steel designations are read off the member at the bed, not assumed from the bundle, and are recorded on the pre-pour check QF-15. Foam concentrate containers are checked against the shelf-life log QF-06 at the mixer, and the container batch number is recorded on the batch log QF-09. A material that fails either check is handled under §5.6. ### 5.4 Material certifications on file The quality manager maintains a certification file, indexed on form QF-04, holding: cement mill reports; foam concentrate certificates of compliance to ASTM C869/C869M; steel mill certificates or certificates of compliance; screw and lifting insert evaluation reports; mesh certificates; and the listing documentation for purchased fixtures and appliances. The index cross-references each certificate to the lot or heat and to the production orders the lot was used on, so that a panel serial number can be traced back to the certificate of every material in it (§10.2). ### 5.5 Storage, protection and stock rotation [1205 §502.2‡; 1200 §506.1‡; MT-3] 1. Every material is stored in accordance with the material manufacturer's written instructions, and protected from weather, moisture and contamination sources. 2. Cement is stored dry, off the ground, covered, and used in the order received. 3. Foam concentrate is stored within the temperature range the manufacturer states, in closed original containers, protected from freezing and from direct sun, and used in the order received. 4. Steel studs, track and channel are stored off the ground, supported to prevent permanent deformation, and covered, with the designation marking left readable. 5. Basalt mesh is stored in its original packaging, off the ground, dry and clean. 6. Screws, inserts and small hardware are stored in their original marked cartons; loose mixed hardware is not used. 7. Fixtures, appliances and finish materials are stored indoors and protected from damage. 8. **Stock rotation.** Every material with a shelf life is logged on form QF-06 with the received date and the use-by date, and is issued oldest first. The quality manager reviews QF-06 monthly and quarantines any material past its use-by date under §5.6. The materials with a shelf life in this plant are: cement, foam concentrate, admixtures, sealants, adhesives, curing compounds and paint. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the shelf life of each product actually purchased, taken from the manufacturer's data, and entered in the QF-06 header table. No shelf life has been invented here.] 9. Storage areas are inspected at each internal audit for condition, separation and identification. ### 5.6 Rejected materials: segregation and disposal [1205 §502.3‡] 1. Material rejected at receipt, rejected at point of use, damaged in storage or found past its use-by date is immediately marked **REJECTED** with a red tag carrying the date, the reason and the inspector's initials, and is moved to the segregated rejected material area shown on the layout in Appendix B. 2. The rejection is recorded on form QF-05 with the disposition: return to supplier, scrap, or downgrade to a non-product use that cannot reach the product. 3. The rejected material area is physically separated from production stock and is not used as a convenience store of material. 4. The quality manager signs every disposition. Material leaves the rejected area only on a signed line of QF-05. 5. A rejection that indicates a vendor problem feeds §5.2 item 4 and, where the problem repeats, a corrective action under §2.9. ### 5.7 Subcontracted work Where any process that affects product quality is subcontracted, the subcontractor is approved and listed on QF-01, the purchase order states the standard the work must meet and the evidence the subcontractor must return, and the work is inspected on receipt against that standard exactly as a purchased material is. Subcontracting does not transfer responsibility for conformance. [KEN TO CONFIRM: which processes, if any, will be subcontracted. Candidates are skid welding and painting, the shower house electrical and plumbing work, and concrete testing.] --- ## 6. CONCRETE CONTROL This section is the part of the program that no general modular quality manual contains, and it is the part with the least published support for this specific product. It is written in full from the first day of production. The guidance relied on is ACI 523.1R-06, *Guide for Cast-in-Place Low-Density Cellular Concrete*, which covers oven-dry densities of 50 lb/ft3 and less and therefore covers both mixes used here. **ACI 523.1R-06 is a guide, not a code; it advises rather than requires.** The requirements in this section are the plant's own, adopted from that guidance. ### 6.1 Approved mix designs [MT-4; 1205 §501.7‡] 1. Two mixes are used: | Mix | Use | Target fresh density | |---|---|---| | M-35 | Skin pour, cladding sheets, roof strip ground pour and top pour, floor panel | 35 pcf | | M-30 | Cavity fill | 30 pcf | 2. Each mix is recorded on form QF-07: the identity and source of every ingredient, the proportions, the mixing procedure, the target fresh density, the acceptance band, the design compressive strength, the qualification data behind it, and the approval signature. 3. **Design compressive strength: [PE TO SET: the design compressive strength of M-35 and M-30 at 28 days, set by the engineer of record and verified by ASTM C495/C495M cylinder tests.]** No strength value exists today. No C495 cylinder has been cast or broken for this product. The mix strength is unknown, and this manual does not state one. 4. **Acceptance band on fresh density: [PE TO SET: the acceptance band around 35 pcf and around 30 pcf, as a plus and minus figure in pcf, set by the engineer of record.]** The band matters beyond the concrete itself: the 35 pcf and 30 pcf figures are the basis of every dead load in the design, of the panel pick weights, and of the shower house transport weight. A density that drifts makes the structural design wrong, not just the concrete. 5. A mix design is approved by the quality manager on the qualification evidence at §6.2 and is countersigned by the engineer of record. A mix design is a controlled document under §3.1 and appears in Appendix E. 6. The batch operator batches only to an approved mix design on QF-07. There is no field adjustment of proportions. Water is not added to improve workability. ### 6.2 Mix qualification before use Following ACI 523.1R-06 §4.1 and §4.2, and the published criteria IAS applies to precast concrete fabricators (AC157 §4.5.6.2), a mix is verified **before use in production**, with batching, mixing equipment, construction methods and curing environment representative of what the plant actually does. Qualification is recorded on form QF-08 and comprises: | Qualification item | Method | What is recorded | |---|---|---| | Foaming agent compliance | Purchased to ASTM C869/C869M | Certificate of compliance, per lot | | Foaming agent performance with this cement and this water | ASTM C796/C796M | Foam stability, and the density and strength the foam produces with the cement source in use | | Trial batch at target density | ASTM C138/C138M fresh density on the trial batch | Fresh density achieved against the target | | Compressive strength | ASTM C495/C495M, at least 3 cylinders per age per mix at 7 and 28 days | Strength at each age | | Hardened density | ASTM C567/C567M | Equilibrium and oven-dry density | | Drying shrinkage | ASTM C157/C157M, 3 prisms per mix | Length change, relevant because the 2 inch skin is the interior finish face and cracks in it are visible | None of these tests has been performed. [PE TO SET: the pass criterion for each row, and which rows the engineer of record requires before signing the design basis.] ### 6.3 Requalification triggers A mix is requalified under §6.2, and is not used in production until requalification is complete and approved, whenever any of the following occurs: 1. a change of cement source, brand or type. ACI 523.1R-06 §4.2 notes that cements vary within specification limits and that mill reports and test batches are the way to compare sources; 2. a change of foaming agent product or supplier; 3. a change of admixture, or the introduction of an admixture not in the approved mix; 4. a change of water source; 5. a change of mixing equipment or of the foam generator; 6. a change to the mix proportions themselves; or 7. a pattern of out-of-band density or low cylinder breaks that the corrective action under §2.9 attributes to the mix. The trigger is recorded on QF-08 with the date and the reason. A change under items 1 through 6 that is not recorded is a violation of this manual. ### 6.4 Batching, proportioning and the calibration that controls it [1205 §501.14‡] 1. Dry materials are weighed on the scale E-1. Mixing water is metered through E-2. Preformed foam is metered through the generator and nozzle E-3. 2. ACI 523.1R-06 §5.2 states that the accuracy of each batching device is critical to the final density and its reproducibility, and that each batching device should be calibrated before starting a project and during a project if there is reason to. This plant applies that as a requirement: - the scale, the water meter and the foam nozzle are calibrated on the schedule at §8.8; - they are **checked before the first batch of each production run**, and the check is recorded on the day's batch log QF-09; - a device that fails a check is tagged out of service and the affected batches are treated under §6.10. 3. Every batch is recorded on form QF-09: date, time, mix, batch number, cement weight, water volume, foam volume or generator setting, admixture, ambient temperature, concrete temperature at placement, the operator, and which panel serial numbers the batch was placed in. 4. The batch number is the link between the concrete and the panel. It is written on the traveler QF-13 of every panel the batch is placed in. ### 6.5 Mixing, placing and consolidation 1. Mixing is mechanical and continues until the mix is uniform. ACI 523.1R-06 §5.3 warns that excessive mixing may change density and consistency; the mixing time is stated on the approved mix design QF-07 and is not exceeded. 2. Concrete is transported from the mixer to the bed and placed without segregation and without free fall that would break the foam structure. Placing is continuous within a slot; a cold joint within a panel is a nonconformance. 3. Consolidation is by the method stated on the mix design. Vibration appropriate to normal-weight concrete is not used on cellular concrete unless the mix design states it, because it collapses the foam. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the placing and consolidation method the plant will actually use, written into QF-07 once the pump E-5 and the mixer E-4 are selected.] 4. The skin pour is placed to 5 inches, screeded to the edge forms and finished. The exposed face of the skin pour in the bed becomes the **cavity side**; the face against the liner is the interior finish face of the building and is not worked after the pour. 5. The cavity fill on the shower house is pumped to fill the cavity completely between the skin pour and the cladding. Fill placement is continuous per wall. ### 6.6 Cast density, specimens and strength [1205 §501.7‡; 1205 §501.14‡] **Fresh density at the point of placement.** ACI 523.1R-06 §4.3 states that measuring cast density at the point of placement is the simplest and most convenient test for monitoring the quality of the placed material, and §5.3 advises monitoring as-cast density at the point of placement **every 30 to 60 minutes**, with allowance for density changes caused by placing methods or conditions such as pumping distance and extreme weather. This plant adopts that as its requirement: | Test | Method | Frequency | Recorded on | Criterion | |---|---|---|---|---| | Fresh density at the point of placement | ASTM C138/C138M | The first placement of each batch, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding 30 minutes while placing continues | QF-09 | [PE TO SET: acceptance band around 35 pcf for M-35 and around 30 pcf for M-30] | | Concrete temperature at placement | Calibrated thermometer | Same frequency as density | QF-09 | [PE TO SET: acceptable range; see also the cold and hot weather rules at §6.9] | | Ambient temperature at placement | Calibrated thermometer | Each pour, and at each density reading in weather outside the normal range | QF-09 | See §6.9 | **Compressive strength specimens.** ACI 523.1R-06 §4.3 states that cylinder specimens, usually 3 x 6 inch, should be cast at the same time that the periodic density tests are performed, covered and stored in a protected area for at least 24 hours before transport to the laboratory. This plant casts 3 x 6 inch cylinders, tested to ASTM C495/C495M. | Item | Rule | |---|---| | When | At the same time as a density test, on the sampling frequency below | | Frequency | [PE TO SET: the sampling frequency, stated as one set per batch, per bed cycle, per day and per cubic yard, whichever is the governing basis, set by the engineer of record] | | Set size | Not fewer than 3 cylinders per test age | | Test ages | 7 days and 28 days | | Marking | Each cylinder marked with the batch number, the date, the mix, and the bed and slot it represents, before the concrete sets | | Initial curing | Covered and stored in a protected area for at least 24 hours before transport | | Subsequent curing | [PE TO SET: the specimen curing regime, which must be stated separately from the product curing regime at §6.8] | | Tested by | The accredited laboratory on QF-01 | | Recorded on | QF-10, with the laboratory report attached | **The specimens must be representative of the product.** With foam concrete this is a real risk and not a formality: a specimen consolidated differently from the panel does not represent the panel. The plant's method is that specimens are filled from the same placing stream at the point of placement, by the same method used to place the panel, and cured in the same environment as the panel until stripping. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the specimen filling and consolidation method, written down and demonstrated once to the third-party inspection agency, after the mixer and pump are selected.] **Hardened density.** ASTM C567/C567M equilibrium and oven-dry density is run on the qualification batches under §6.2 and thereafter [PE TO SET: frequency of routine hardened density testing]. ### 6.7 Placing the cladding sheets and the roof and floor pours The cladding sheets, the roof strip ground pour and the floor panel pour use mix M-35 and are controlled by the same rules: approved mix design, batch record, density at the point of placement, specimens on the same frequency, cure record, and a traveler carrying the same serial number system. The roof strip top pour is placed after the strip is set and, for the house, is site work; for the shower house it is plant work and is recorded on the unit's traveler. ### 6.8 Curing the product, and the seven day release rule [1205 §501.7‡] 1. The product is cured by [KEN TO CONFIRM: the curing method. ACI 523.1R-06 §5.6 advises water curing or a curing compound where rapid drying is expected, and warns that a curing compound must be compatible with the finish that follows. Because the cast face of the panel is the interior finish face of the building, compound compatibility is a real constraint and the method has not been chosen.] 2. The cure is recorded on form QF-11 by bed and slot: pour date and time, the curing method applied, the temperature at the bed recorded at least once each day, and the release date. 3. **No panel is stripped from the bed before 7 days have elapsed from the completion of its pour** and the cure log shows temperatures within the accepted range for every day of that period. The 7 day rule is the plant's release rule for handling, not a strength acceptance. 4. [PE TO SET: whether release for stripping and for the pick may alternatively be made on a cylinder strength result rather than on elapsed time, and if so at what strength. Until the engineer of record sets that, the 7 day rule governs and is not shortened.] 5. The QC inspector signs the cure log before the panel is stripped. Stripping without that signature is a nonconformance against the panel. ### 6.9 Cold weather and hot weather Montana makes cold weather an operating condition, not an exception clause. Following ACI 523.1R-06 §5.7 and §5.8: 1. When an ambient temperature below 32 F is predicted within 8 hours after placement, the plant uses Type III cement or Type I with heated mixing water, as stated on the approved mix design for cold weather placement. 2. **Concrete is not mixed or placed during freezing weather, during rain or snow, or over standing water, snow or ice.** 3. Placement in weather above 100 F follows the hot weather provisions of the approved mix design. 4. The cure enclosure or heated space E-12 maintains the cure temperature through the 7 day period. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the enclosure and its heating, which is a capital item nobody has bought.] 5. Weather conditions at placement are recorded on QF-09 and the cure temperatures on QF-11. A pour made outside these rules is a nonconformance and the affected panels are held under §9. ### 6.10 Out-of-band density and low cylinder breaks 1. A fresh density reading outside the acceptance band stops placement. The batch operator notifies the QC inspector, the batching devices are checked under §6.4, and the concrete already placed from that batch is identified by panel serial number on QF-09. 2. Panels containing out-of-band concrete are tagged and held under §9.1. The quality manager raises a nonconformance report, and the disposition is made **by the engineer of record in writing** where the deviation affects dead load or capacity. 3. A cylinder break below the design strength when that strength is set, or below the qualification value before it is set, is a nonconformance against every panel the batch was placed in, identified through QF-09 and QF-10. 4. The investigation covers at minimum: the batch record, the calibration status of the scale, meter and foam nozzle, the specimen casting and curing record, the cure log for the affected bed, and the weather conditions. 5. Where the product is already released, §2.9 item 3 applies: the customer and the third-party inspection agency are notified, and the serial numbers affected are listed. 6. [PE TO SET: the evaluation procedure for low strength results, including whether cores to ASTM C513 are to be taken from a cast panel and what core strength would accept the product.] --- ## 7. FABRICATION AND IN-PROCESS INSPECTION ### 7.1 The traveler [1205 §501.8‡] 1. Every panel, roof strip, floor panel and unit carries a traveler, form QF-13, opened at the bed and closed at release. 2. The traveler carries the serial number assigned under §10.1, the model and order, the bed and slot, the pour date, the batch numbers placed in it, and one line for each station inspection. 3. **A station inspection line is signed by the person performing the inspection, by their own hand, with the date.** A blank line is an inspection that did not happen. A line signed in advance is a falsification and is grounds for a corrective action against the process and for action against the person. 4. The traveler travels physically with the item, or in a controlled position at the item's station. It is filed with the order on release. 5. Where a hold point line is unsigned, the item does not advance. Any person may stop the item; only the named signer may release it. ### 7.2 Bed and form control [1205 §501.7‡] Before any steel is placed in a slot, the QC inspector performs the bed and form check on form QF-14 and records: | Characteristic | Method | Criterion | |---|---|---| | Slot length and width | Tape, at both ends and mid-length | [PE TO SET: tolerance on formed panel length and width] | | Movable end board position for a cut panel | Tape from the fixed end | [PE TO SET: tolerance on cut panel length] | | Edge form straightness and plumb | Straightedge and level | [PE TO SET] | | Bed and liner flatness | Straightedge over a stated length | [PE TO SET: flatness criterion. This governs the flatness of the interior finish face of the building and is therefore both a structural and a finish characteristic] | | Liner condition | Visual: no tears, no wrinkles, no debris, no cured residue | Free of any defect that would print through to the finish face | | Release agent | Visual: applied evenly, correct product, not contaminating the mesh or steel positions | Per the release agent manufacturer's instructions | | Slot clean | Visual | Free of debris, water, ice and snow | No published dimensional tolerance for a cast panel of this construction was found in any source available to this program. ICC/MBI 1200 §308.4‡ assigns panelized system attachment tolerance to the manufacturer of the attachment device, which answers screw edge distance and spacing and answers nothing about the panel. ACI 523.1R-06 §5.5 gives a casting tolerance only for geotechnical grade fill, which is not applicable. The tolerances above must therefore be set by the engineer of record, and §7.9 explains what they have to cover. ### 7.3 Steel placement: studs, track, channel and spacers [1205 §501.7‡] Recorded on form QF-15 before the pour: | Characteristic | Method | Criterion | |---|---|---| | Stud designation | Read the marking on the member | Matches the bill of material exactly | | Stud spacing | Tape, cumulative from one end | [PE TO SET: tolerance on the 16 in spacing] | | Stud straightness and orientation | Visual and straightedge | No permanent deformation; flanges oriented per the drawing | | Track at panel top and bottom | Identification, position, engagement of the studs in the track | Per the approved detail | | Jambs, headers, sills and cripples at openings | Count and position against the panel schedule | Per the approved drawing | | Opening size and position | Tape, both dimensions and both offsets | [PE TO SET: tolerance on opening size and location] | | Channel rows | Position of each row from the panel end, and continuity | Rows at 48 in on centre starting 12 in from the panel end, or as the drawing shows | | Spacer blocks | One under each channel to stud crossing | Present at every crossing | | Screws, channel to stud and stud to track | Type and count | Per the approved detail; [PE TO SET: the screw pattern and counts, which are model assumptions today] | | Steel clean | Visual | Free of oil, mud, ice and release agent where the concrete must bond | ### 7.4 Mesh placement and laps [1205 §501.7‡] Recorded on form QF-15: | Characteristic | Method | Criterion | |---|---|---| | Mesh product | Label and certificate | Matches the bill of material | | Mesh position through the thickness | Measured from the liner face | [PE TO SET: the design position and its tolerance. The design intent is one layer in the skin near the 2 in line and one in the cladding sheet] | | Coverage | Visual against the panel outline and the openings | Continuous over the panel face, trimmed to the opening | | Lap length at joints in the mesh | Tape | [PE TO SET: minimum lap] | | Support and restraint | Visual | Held so it does not float or displace during the pour | | Contamination | Visual | Free of release agent, oil and debris | The mesh is treated in the current design basis as crack control rather than as flexural reinforcement. [PE TO SET: whether the mesh is credited in any capacity; if it is, the placement tolerance and the lap become structural criteria and the inspection frequency at §7.13 is raised accordingly.] ### 7.5 Embedments: sleeves, blockouts and openings [1205 §501.7‡] Recorded on form QF-15: 1. Every sleeve, blockout and cast-in item is located from two stated datums and its position recorded, not merely ticked. 2. For the shower house floor panel this includes the floor drains, the shower slopes and the plumbing sleeves, which are the items that cannot be corrected after the pour and cannot be inspected at the site. 3. Sleeves are sealed against concrete ingress and are restrained against displacement. 4. [PE TO SET: position tolerance for each class of embedment: plumbing sleeve, floor drain, blockout, electrical box position where cast in.] ### 7.6 Lifting inserts: type, embedment and position. HOLD POINT. [1205 §501.7‡; 1205 §501.8‡] This is the highest consequence placement check in the plant. The roof strip pick is approximately 10,617 lb and the floor panel pick approximately 5,510 lb, and published insert capacities are established in normal-weight concrete, not in 35 pcf cellular concrete. Recorded on form QF-16, signed as a hold point: | Characteristic | Method | Criterion | |---|---|---| | Insert type and size | Marking on the insert against the drawing and the approved insert schedule | Exactly as specified. No substitution | | Insert count per strip or panel | Count | Per the drawing | | Position of each insert | Tape from two datums, recorded as a measured value | [PE TO SET: position tolerance for each insert] | | Embedment depth | Measured against the form or the liner | [PE TO SET: required embedment in this concrete] | | Orientation and perpendicularity | Square and visual | Per the manufacturer's instructions | | Restraint | Visual | Positively held against displacement during the pour | | Concrete strength at the pick | Cylinder result or the elapsed cure rule at §6.8 | [PE TO SET: the concrete condition required before the insert may be loaded] | [PE TO SET: the insert selection itself, its rated capacity in 35 pcf cellular concrete established by ASTM E488/E488M pull-out testing in this plant's concrete with PCI Design Handbook MNL-120 factors applied by the engineer of record, and the required safety factor over the per-insert share of the pick. None of this testing has been done and no insert has been selected. Until it is, no strip or floor panel may be picked on cast-in inserts.] ### 7.7 Pre-pour inspection. HOLD POINT. [1205 §501.7‡; 1205 §501.8‡] Before any concrete is placed in a slot, the QC inspector verifies that §7.2 through §7.6 are complete and signed, that the drawing on the floor is the current revision, and that the weather conditions permit placement under §6.9, and signs the pre-pour hold point on the traveler QF-13. **Concrete placed in a slot whose pre-pour hold point is unsigned makes every panel in that slot nonconforming**, because after the pour none of the checks above can be made. That is the reason the hold point exists and it is not waivable by production pressure. ### 7.8 Strip and handling 1. The QC inspector confirms the cure record QF-11 before the panel is stripped. 2. Panels are lifted and handled by the method stated in the approved handling instruction. [PE TO SET: the handling and stripping method for wall panels, including whether the 12 ft 6 in panel at approximately 879 lb requires a designed lifting insert rather than a forklift boom, and the stripping suction and dynamic factors to be applied.] 3. Damage at stripping is recorded on QF-17 and handled under §9. ### 7.9 Post-strip dimensional inspection [1205 §501.7‡] Recorded on form QF-17, on a frequency set at §7.13. The characteristics below are the ones the product and the erection need. The values are not published anywhere for this product. | Characteristic | How measured | Criterion | |---|---|---| | Length | Tape, both edges and centreline | [PE TO SET] | | Width | Tape, both ends and mid-height | [PE TO SET] | | Overall thickness | Caliper or depth gauge at stated points | [PE TO SET] | | Skin thickness at the edge | Depth gauge at the panel edge | [PE TO SET: the 2 in skin is the finish face and the mesh cover depends on it] | | Squareness | Diagonal measurement, both diagonals | [PE TO SET] | | Bow, in the panel plane and out of plane | Straightedge or line over the full length | [PE TO SET] | | Twist | Four-corner measurement on a flat reference | [PE TO SET] | | Face flatness of the finish face | Straightedge over a stated length | [PE TO SET] | | Opening size and position | Tape | [PE TO SET] | | Insert position, as built | Tape from two datums | [PE TO SET] | | Cumulative run tolerance across a wall of panels | Sum of panel widths and joint gaps against the design run | [PE TO SET: this is the tolerance that decides whether ten panels reach the end of a 40 ft wall, and no adopted standard sets it. ICC/MBI 1200 §308.4‡ does not] | **Analogous published values.** Where the engineer of record wants a starting point, the nearest published tolerance frameworks for a precast concrete product are those in PCI MNL-116 (*Manual for Quality Control for Plants and Production of Structural Precast Concrete Products*, MNL-116-21). **That manual has not been read by this program and its contents are not known**, so no number from it is quoted here. It is named only as the analogous published source the engineer of record may wish to start from, and any tolerance adopted from it is adopted by analogy to a normal-weight structural precast product, not by direct application to a 35 pcf cellular concrete panel. ### 7.10 Surface and defect acceptance criteria [1205 §501.7‡] The cast face against the liner is **the interior finish face of the finished building**. Its acceptance criteria are therefore partly structural and partly appearance, and they must be written as such. | Defect class | What it covers | Criterion | |---|---|---| | Cracks | Width, length, location, and whether through the skin | [PE TO SET: the crack width and extent that is acceptable, the width that is repairable, and the width that makes the panel nonconforming] | | Voids and bugholes on the finish face | Diameter, depth, density per area | [PE TO SET] | | Edge and corner damage | Extent from the edge | [PE TO SET] | | Honeycomb or segregation | Any | [PE TO SET: normally not acceptable in a structural face] | | Exposed mesh | Any | [PE TO SET] | | Insert or embedment displacement | Measured position outside tolerance | Nonconforming; disposition by the engineer of record | | Finish face flatness and texture | Against a reference panel | [KEN TO CONFIRM: a reference sample panel must be cast, photographed and accepted in writing by Ken, the engineer of record and the third-party inspection agency, and kept in the plant as the standard of comparison. Nothing in this manual can substitute for that physical reference] | **Repair.** A defect within the repairable class is repaired by the written repair procedure and re-inspected. [PE TO SET: the repair procedure, including the repair material, its compatibility with 35 pcf cellular concrete, the surface preparation, the cure, and the limit beyond which repair is not permitted.] A repair made without a written procedure is a nonconformance. No published surface or defect acceptance criteria for cellular concrete of this type were found by this program. These criteria have to be authored by Ken with photographed examples, accepted by the engineer of record, and agreed with the third-party inspection agency **before the first customer sees a panel**. ### 7.11 Shower house assembly [1205 §501.7‡] Recorded on form QF-18: 1. **Skid.** Member sizes and grades against the drawing; weld inspection to AWS D1.1/D1.1M visual acceptance criteria; lug plate size, position and weld; fork pocket position and reinforcement; tie-down points; surface preparation and paint or galvanizing. [PE TO SET: the skid member sizes, the lug design and its proof load value, the fork pocket reinforcement detail, and the weld inspection level. The sizes in the design model are placeholders.] 2. **Floor panel set on the skid.** Bearing on the runners and cross members; position; drain and sleeve positions verified before anything covers them. 3. **Wall panels.** Panel serial numbers against the key plan; plumb; joint gap; joint screws by type, count and pattern; anchorage of the bottom track to the skid or floor panel. [PE TO SET: joint screw pattern and count, and the base connection detail.] 4. **Demising panel and partitions.** 5. **Roof strips.** Set, bearing, connection to the top track, top pour, membrane. 6. **Overall dimensions.** Outside width over the cladding and over the roof edge, verified against the 14 foot limit, and the overall height, before the unit leaves the assembly station. ### 7.12 MEP rough-in before the cavity fill. HOLD POINT. [1205 §501.7‡] On the shower house, the DWV, supplies, trap primers, conduit, boxes and branch circuits are installed in the open cavity and are then buried by the cavity fill, which is irreversible. The QC inspector inspects and signs the rough-in hold point on QF-18 before any fill is pumped, covering: pipe and fitting materials against the approved plumbing plan and the adopted Uniform Plumbing Code 2021; supports and protection; conduit, boxes and conductors against the approved electrical plan and the adopted NEC 2020 with the Montana amendments; bonding and grounding; sleeve penetrations and their sealing; and completion of the pressure and continuity tests at §8 that must be made before the cavity is closed. The third-party inspection agency is notified of the hold point in accordance with the inspection frequency agreed with the agency. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the notification arrangement with the agency for this hold point.] ### 7.13 Inspection points, criteria, frequency and signer [1205 §501.7‡; 1205 §501.8‡; MT-5] This table is the required statement of the types and frequency of product inspection, the mandatory inspection characteristics, the accept and reject criteria, and the sign-off for each. Frequencies marked "each" are not reduced. Frequencies marked with a bracket have not been set. | # | Inspection | Stn | Characteristics | Criterion | Frequency | Form | Signed by | Hold point | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Incoming material | 1 | Identity, designation, condition, quantity, certification | §5.3 table | Each delivery | QF-03 | QC inspector | No | | 2 | Material at point of use | 3, 4, 9 | Identity against the bill of material; shelf life; damage | §5.3 | Each use | QF-15, QF-09 | Placer, verified by QC inspector | No | | 3 | Batching device check | 2 | Scale, water meter, foam nozzle | §6.4 | Before the first batch of each run | QF-09 | Batch operator | No | | 4 | Fresh density and temperature | 2, 5 | Density, concrete temperature, ambient temperature | [PE TO SET: band] | First placement of each batch and at intervals not exceeding 30 min | QF-09 | QC technician | No | | 5 | Strength specimens | 2, 5 | 3 x 6 in cylinders, marked, cured | ASTM C495/C495M | [PE TO SET: sampling frequency] | QF-10 | QC technician | No | | 6 | Bed and form check | 3 | §7.2 table | [PE TO SET] | Each slot, each cycle | QF-14 | QC inspector | No | | 7 | Steel placement | 4 | §7.3 table | Drawing and [PE TO SET] | Each panel | QF-15 | QC inspector | No | | 8 | Mesh placement | 4 | §7.4 table | [PE TO SET] | Each panel | QF-15 | QC inspector | No | | 9 | Embedment placement | 4 | §7.5 | [PE TO SET] | Each panel with embedments | QF-15 | QC inspector | No | | 10 | **Lifting insert placement** | 4 | §7.6 table | [PE TO SET] | **Each strip or panel with inserts** | QF-16 | QC inspector | **YES** | | 11 | **Pre-pour** | 4 | Completeness of 6 through 10; current drawing; weather | §7.7 | **Each slot, each pour** | QF-13 | QC inspector | **YES** | | 12 | Placement and finish | 5 | Continuity, consolidation, screed, finish face | §6.5 | Each pour | QF-12 | Batch operator, QC technician | No | | 13 | Cure | 6 | Method, daily temperature, 7 day minimum | §6.8 | Each bed, each day | QF-11 | Production lead, released by QC inspector | **YES, before strip** | | 14 | Post-strip dimensional and surface | 7 | §7.9, §7.10 tables | [PE TO SET] | Each panel | QF-17 | QC inspector | No | | 15 | Cladding sheet | 8 | As 6 through 14 | As above | Each sheet | QF-13 group | QC inspector | Pre-pour: YES | | 16 | Skid | 9 | §7.11 item 1 | [PE TO SET] | Each skid | QF-18 | QC inspector | No | | 17 | Shower house assembly | 9 | §7.11 items 2 to 6 | Drawing | Each unit | QF-18 | QC inspector | No | | 18 | **MEP rough-in before fill** | 10 | §7.12 | Adopted UPC 2021 and NEC 2020 as amended; approved plans | **Each unit** | QF-18 | QC inspector | **YES** | | 19 | Systems tests | 12 | §8.1 to §8.5 | §8 criteria | Each unit | QF-19 | QC inspector | No | | 20 | **Final inspection and release** | 13 | §11.1 | §11.1 | **Each unit and each released component lot** | QF-20 | **Quality manager** | **YES** | **How a nonconformance found at any of these inspections is remedied** is at §9. In summary: the item is tagged and moved to the hold area, a nonconformance report QF-22 is raised, the quality manager dispositions it in writing, rework or repair is re-inspected against the same criterion by the same inspection, and the disposition and re-inspection are recorded on the traveler. **Frequency for panelized components.** ICC/MBI 1205 §401.1(14)‡ leaves the **third-party agency's** own inspection frequency for a modular component or panelized system to the agency. That is the agency's frequency, not the plant's. Every frequency in the table above is the plant's own in-process frequency and is performed regardless of when the agency visits. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the agency's inspection frequency for the panel line and for the shower house, once an agency is contracted, recorded in the agency agreement and referenced here.] --- ## 8. IN-PLANT TESTING, THE TEST PROCEDURAL MANUAL [MT-10] Montana's published list requires a test procedural manual covering electrical, gas line, water systems and drain, vent and plumbing fixture tests, with the type of test equipment used, and a list of test equipment. This section is that test procedural manual. **Which products it applies to.** These tests are performed on the **shower house**, where the systems are installed in the plant. **They are not performed on the house wall panels**, because the house panels leave the plant with no plumbing and no wiring: the trades work in the open stud cavity on site after the panels stand, and that rough-in is inspected on site by the authority having jurisdiction before the cavity is pumped full. §13.6 carries that instruction into the erection documents. If any future model carries plant-installed plumbing or wiring in a panel, this section applies to it and this manual is revised first. ### 8.1 Electrical tests [MT-10] | Item | Procedure | |---|---| | Applicable code | NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2020 edition as adopted at ARM 24.301.401, including Montana's amendments to 210.8(A), 210.8(B) and 210.12 | | When performed | After rough-in and before the cavity fill for anything concealed; again complete after fixtures and devices are installed, before release | | Continuity and conductor identification | Each branch circuit checked end to end; conductors identified at the panel and at each device | | Grounding and bonding | Equipment grounding conductor continuity to every device, box and appliance; bonding of the water piping and of the metal skid where required | | Polarity | Every receptacle checked for correct polarity and correct grounding | | Ground fault circuit interrupter operation | Every GFCI device and every GFCI-protected receptacle tested with a test instrument, not only with the device's own test button | | Arc fault circuit interrupter operation, where required by the amended 210.12 | Tested with a test instrument | | Insulation resistance | [KEN TO CONFIRM: whether an insulation resistance test is performed, at what applied voltage and to what minimum value. This is a decision to make with the licensed electrician and the third-party inspection agency; no value is stated here because none has been set] | | Operational test | Every circuit energised; every luminaire, fan, heater, water heater and receptacle operated | | Test equipment used | Receptacle tester with GFCI and AFCI test function; digital multimeter; clamp meter; insulation resistance tester if §8.1 row 8 is adopted. See §8.7 | | Acceptance | All circuits correct, all protective devices operate, no fault. Any failure is a nonconformance under §9 | | Recorded on | QF-19 | ### 8.2 Gas line tests [MT-10] **No product currently covered by this manual contains fuel gas piping or a fuel gas appliance.** The house as designed is all electric, and the shower house uses an electric tankless water heater and an electric freeze-protection heater. This section is written because Montana's list names it and because the answer must be on the record, not because a gas test is performed today. If a model containing fuel gas piping is ever submitted for plan review, the following applies and this manual is revised under §3.5 before that model is built: | Item | Procedure | |---|---| | Applicable code | International Fuel Gas Code, 2021 edition, as adopted at ARM 24.301.173 | | Test | Pressure test of the gas piping system as required by the adopted code, at the pressure and for the duration that code requires, with the gauge required by that code | | Test equipment | Test gauge of the range and graduation the adopted code requires; source of test medium | | Acceptance | No pressure drop over the required duration | | Recorded on | QF-19 | [KEN TO CONFIRM: that no current or planned model carries fuel gas. If a gas-fired water heater is ever offered as an option, this section must be completed with the specific pressures and durations read from the adopted IFGC, and the plant must hold the gauge and the qualified person.] ### 8.3 Water supply system test [MT-10] | Item | Procedure | |---|---| | Applicable code | Uniform Plumbing Code, 2021 edition, as adopted at ARM 24.301.301 | | When performed | Rough-in test after piping is installed and before the cavity fill or any concealment; final test after fixtures are set | | Test | Hydrostatic or air pressure test of the water distribution piping as required by the adopted UPC, at the pressure and for the duration that code requires, held with no loss | | Test pressure and duration | [KEN TO CONFIRM: read the required test pressure and duration directly from the adopted Uniform Plumbing Code 2021 and enter them here. No value is written in this draft because the code section has not been read for this manual, and a wrong number here is worse than a blank] | | What is inspected during the test | Every joint visually, every concealed run before it is concealed, pipe supports, protection where pipe passes through the cast floor panel sleeves, and the water heater connections | | Water temperature limiting device | The tempering or mixing device is verified installed and set. A maximum delivered water temperature applies to a public shower facility; [KEN TO CONFIRM: the maximum temperature to be set and the device that limits it, confirmed with the plumbing designer and with the health authority requirement for the destination use] | | Test equipment | Test gauge and pump or air source; thermometer for the delivered temperature check. See §8.7 | | Acceptance | No leak and no pressure loss over the required duration; delivered temperature at or below the set maximum | | Recorded on | QF-19 | ### 8.4 Drain, waste and vent test [MT-10] | Item | Procedure | |---|---| | Applicable code | Uniform Plumbing Code, 2021 edition, as adopted at ARM 24.301.301 | | When performed | Before any concealment, including before the cavity fill and before anything covers the cast floor panel penetrations | | Test | Water or air test of the drain, waste and vent system as required by the adopted UPC, for the head or pressure and the duration that code requires | | Test head, pressure and duration | [KEN TO CONFIRM: read directly from the adopted Uniform Plumbing Code 2021 and enter here] | | What is inspected | Every joint; grade of the drainage piping; trap arm lengths; vent sizing and termination; the sleeves through the cast floor panel and their seals; floor drain bodies, clamping rings and the finished floor slope to the drains | | Test equipment | Test balls or plugs, test tee, water source or air source with gauge. See §8.7 | | Acceptance | No loss of head or pressure over the required duration; no leak at any joint | | Recorded on | QF-19 | ### 8.5 Plumbing fixture test [MT-10] | Item | Procedure | |---|---| | When performed | After fixtures are set and connected, before release | | Test | Every fixture filled and drained; every trap proved sealed; every shower, lavatory and water closet operated through a full cycle; every valve and stop operated; every fixture checked for leaks at supply and waste connections under running conditions | | Also verified | Fixture model against the bill of material; fixture mounting and sealing; accessible fixture heights, clearances and grab bar installation for an accessible room; the shower floor drains to the drain with no standing water | | Test equipment | Visual inspection, a level, a measure. See §8.7 | | Acceptance | No leak, full drainage, correct operation, fixtures as specified | | Recorded on | QF-19 | ### 8.6 Concrete tests performed in the plant | Test | Method | Where described | |---|---|---| | Fresh density at the point of placement | ASTM C138/C138M | §6.6 | | Concrete and ambient temperature at placement | Calibrated thermometer | §6.6 | | Compressive strength specimen casting, marking and curing | ASTM C495/C495M, 3 x 6 in cylinders | §6.6 | | Cure temperature record | Calibrated thermometer or recorder at the bed | §6.8 | Compressive strength testing itself, hardened density to ASTM C567/C567M, shrinkage to ASTM C157/C157M and lifting insert pull-out to ASTM E488/E488M are performed by the accredited laboratory named on QF-01, not in the plant. ### 8.7 List of test equipment [MT-11; 1205 §501.14‡] Appendix C holds the list, with make, model, serial number, range, resolution, the calibration interval and the last and next calibration dates for each item. The equipment the procedures above require is: | Ref | Equipment | Used for | Status | |---|---|---|---| | T-1 | Density measure and balance for ASTM C138/C138M | Fresh density | [KEN TO CONFIRM: make, model, capacity, resolution] | | T-2 | Cylinder moulds, 3 x 6 in | ASTM C495/C495M specimens | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-3 | Thermometers, concrete and ambient | §6.6, §6.9, §6.8 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-4 | Cure temperature recorder | §6.8 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-5 | Steel tapes and rules used for acceptance measurements | §7.2, §7.9 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-6 | Straightedge and feeler gauges for flatness and bow | §7.9 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-7 | Squares and diagonal measuring device | §7.9 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-8 | Depth gauge or caliper for thickness | §7.9 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-9 | Levels | §7.11 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-10 | Torque or calibration reference for the batching scale E-1 | §6.4 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-11 | Water meter calibration reference | §6.4 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-12 | Receptacle tester with GFCI and AFCI test function | §8.1 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-13 | Digital multimeter | §8.1 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-14 | Insulation resistance tester, if adopted | §8.1 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-15 | Plumbing test gauge and pump or air source | §8.3, §8.4 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-16 | Test plugs, balls and test tee | §8.4 | [KEN TO CONFIRM] | | T-17 | Gas test gauge | §8.2, only if a gas model is ever built | Not required today | No item of test equipment has been purchased. ### 8.8 Calibration and maintenance [1205 §501.14‡] 1. Every item of measuring and test equipment whose reading is used to accept product is on the calibration register, form QF-21: identification, location, the interval, the last calibration, the next due date, the calibration source, and the traceability reference. 2. **Calibration is traceable to nationally recognized standards.** Calibration is performed by an outside calibration service or by the equipment manufacturer, and the certificate is filed and referenced on QF-21. 3. Intervals: | Equipment | Interval | |---|---| | Batching scale E-1, water meter E-2, foam metering nozzle E-3 | Calibrated at least annually, **and before the first production run of each project**, and whenever a density trend or an out-of-band reading gives reason to, per ACI 523.1R-06 §5.2 | | Thermometers and the cure recorder | [KEN TO CONFIRM: interval, normally annual] | | Density measure and balance T-1 | [KEN TO CONFIRM: interval] | | Tapes, straightedges, squares, depth gauges used for acceptance measurements | [KEN TO CONFIRM: interval and the reference they are verified against] | | Electrical and plumbing test instruments | [KEN TO CONFIRM: interval, normally annual or per the manufacturer] | 4. Equipment found out of calibration is tagged **DO NOT USE** and removed from service immediately. The quality manager then **evaluates every acceptance made with that equipment since its last good calibration**, identifies the product affected by serial number, and dispositions it under §9. This evaluation is mandatory and is recorded on a nonconformance report; an out-of-calibration finding is never closed by recalibrating the instrument alone. 5. Equipment is maintained per the manufacturer's instructions, and damage is reported immediately. 6. The calibration register is reviewed at every internal audit. --- ## 9. NONCONFORMING PRODUCT ### 9.1 Identification and segregation [1205 §501.7‡] 1. Any person who finds or suspects a nonconformance stops the item's progress and notifies the QC inspector. 2. The item is tagged with a **HOLD** tag carrying the serial number, the date, the finder, and what was found, and is moved to the identified hold area shown on the layout in Appendix B, or, where the item cannot be moved, is barricaded and tagged in place. 3. A nonconformance report, form QF-22, is opened. The report states the serial number or numbers, the characteristic, the requirement, the actual measured condition, how it was found, and the batch and material lots involved. 4. A held item does not advance to any further station. ### 9.2 Disposition [1205 §501.7‡] 1. Only the quality manager signs a disposition, and the quality manager does not disposition work they performed themselves (§2.3 independence rule 2). 2. The dispositions available are: | Disposition | Meaning | Additional signature required | |---|---|---| | Use as is | The condition does not affect conformance to the approved design | **Engineer of record**, in writing, whenever the characteristic is structural, dimensional beyond the accepted tolerance, or affects density, strength, insert capacity or anchorage | | Rework | Brought into full conformance by completing or redoing the work correctly | None beyond the quality manager | | Repair | Brought to an acceptable condition that is not full conformance, by the written repair procedure | **Engineer of record** where the repair is structural, or where the defect exceeds the repairable class at §7.10 | | Scrap | The item is destroyed or rendered unusable and its serial number is voided on QF-28 | None beyond the quality manager | 3. Rework and repair are **re-inspected against the original criterion by the original inspection**, and the re-inspection is recorded on the traveler and on the nonconformance report. 4. Scrapped product is physically destroyed or defaced so that it cannot re-enter production, and the serial number is recorded as void so that it can never appear on a label or an insignia application. 5. The disposition is recorded on the traveler QF-13, so that the item's history travels with it. ### 9.3 Feeding a nonconformance into corrective action The quality manager opens a corrective action under §2.9 whenever the triggers there are met. Every nonconformance report is reviewed at the internal audit for pattern, and the pattern, not only the individual part, is what the corrective action addresses. --- ## 10. IDENTIFICATION, TRACEABILITY AND LABELS ### 10.1 Serial numbering [1205 §501.13‡] ICC/MBI 1205 §501.13‡ requires a system to serial-number the modules **and modular components**. Both are numbered here. **Units, meaning the shower house:** ``` SH - - ``` where `` is the bureau-approved model number, `` is the last two digits of the calendar year of manufacture, and `` is a sequential number within that year starting at 001. The serial number is assigned when the order is released to the floor, not when the unit is finished, and it is the number that goes on the traveler, on the data plate, on the insignia application under ARM 24.301.1243 and in the serial number register QF-28. **Modular components, meaning wall panels, roof strips, floor panels and cladding sheets:** ``` P - - ``` for example `P-2601-A03` for the third panel of wall A on order 2601. The element letter follows the key plan issued with the order, so the serial number on the panel, the number on the key plan and the number the erector reads at the site are one and the same (ICC/MBI 1200 §103.1(3)‡ requires unique numbers on each delivered piece where the authority having jurisdiction requires a key plan). **The register.** Form QF-28 records every serial number issued, the model, the order, the customer, the bed and slot and pour date it came from, the certification label or insignia number applied to it, the ship date, and, where applicable, the fact that it was scrapped and the number voided. A serial number is never reused. [KEN TO CONFIRM: adoption of this numbering format, and the plant code or order number series. The format above is proposed by this manual, not established.] ### 10.2 Traceability From a finished panel or unit, the records shall allow tracing back to: | Trace to | Through | |---|---| | The concrete batch and its ingredients | Traveler QF-13 batch number, to batch log QF-09, to receiving log QF-03 and the certification index QF-04 | | The steel heat or lot | Traveler and QF-15 to QF-03 and QF-04 | | The mesh, screws and inserts by lot and evaluation report | QF-15, QF-16 to QF-03 and QF-04 | | The cylinder results representing that concrete | QF-09 batch number to QF-10 | | The cure history | Bed and slot on QF-13 to QF-11 | | The QC personnel responsible for each inspection | The signatures on QF-13 and the station forms | | The drawing revision built to | Order release record on QF-29 | | The label or insignia applied | QF-28 and QF-27 | The traceability chain is tested at every internal audit by selecting at least one released serial number and following it all the way back to the material certificates. ### 10.3 Insignia control for units [1205 §503.1‡; ARM 24.301.1241, .1243, .1247] 1. The manufacturer applies to the bureau for an insignia of approval for **each individual unit**, on the bureau form, with the fee, giving the approved model number, the serial number or numbers, the FBB number and the Montana destination (ARM 24.301.1243). 2. Insignia received from the bureau are entered in the insignia and label control register, form QF-27, on the day of receipt: insignia number, date received, and the serial number and model it is assigned to. 3. **Insignia are stored locked.** [KEN TO CONFIRM: the locked location and who holds the key. Access is limited to the quality manager and the designated officer, and to no one else.] 4. An insignia is applied only after the final inspection and release at §11 is signed, and it is applied by the manufacturer, not by the dealer and not by the inspection agency (ARM 24.301.1243(2)). The application date and the applier are recorded on QF-27. 5. **An insignia must be used within 12 months of issuance or it is void, with no refund or credit** (ARM 24.301.1243(3)). The quality manager reviews QF-27 monthly and reports any insignia approaching 9 months from issuance to the owner, so that the unit is scheduled or the exposure is known. 6. A lost or damaged insignia is reported to the bureau in writing for replacement. A **void** insignia is not replaced. Damaged, void or later-found insignia are returned to the bureau or destroyed as the bureau directs, and the disposal is recorded on QF-27. No duplicate insignia is made (ARM 24.301.1247). 7. **Month-end reporting.** At the end of each month the quality manager prepares from QF-27 a report of insignia on hand, insignia applied during the month with the serial numbers they were applied to, and insignia voided, damaged or returned, and submits it as ICC/MBI 1205 §503.1‡ requires. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the recipient, the format and the due date of the month-end report, agreed in writing with the bureau and with the third-party inspection agency. The standard requires month-end reporting; Montana's rules do not state a format, and this must not be guessed.] 8. An insignia is assigned to a specific unit and is not transferable. It remains the property of the bureau and may be revoked or confiscated. ### 10.4 Third-party agency certification labels for components [1205 §503.1‡, §701.1‡] A wall panel, roof strip or floor panel is a modular component, not a unit. Montana issues no insignia for it. ICC/MBI 1205 §701.1‡ requires modular components to be marked with an insignia or other identification supplied by the **third-party inspection agency**, carrying the agency's name and address and the certification label number. §701.2‡ requires the marking to be affixed so that it cannot be removed without destroying it, and §701.3‡ places the labels under the direct control of the agency until the manufacturer applies them, forbids the manufacturer from acquiring labels from any other source, and requires the agency to keep the list of label serial numbers issued to the plant. The plant's rules: 1. Labels are received from the agency, entered on QF-27 in the same way as insignia, and stored in the same locked location. 2. **A label is applied only after every deficiency identified by the agency has been corrected**, which is the agency's own rule under ICC/MBI 1205 §401.1(15)‡, and only after the plant's own release at §11.3. 3. The label number, the panel serial number and the application date are recorded on QF-27 and on QF-28. 4. Labels are reconciled to the agency's issued list at each month end and at each internal audit. 5. The plant does not acquire labels from any source other than the agency. **Marking the panel.** Each panel additionally carries a permanent marking with the panel serial number, the model number and the cast date, so that the panel is identifiable after the agency label and after erection. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the marking medium and its location. The candidates are a cast-in or mechanically fastened plate on the cavity side of the stud zone or on the top track, which survives the cladding and the cavity fill but is only readable before the cavity is closed, or a marking on the exterior cladding face, which the erector can read during set. This is a product decision that changes the bed setup and the traveler, and it must be made before the first bed is poured.] There is no manufacturer's data plate for a panel. ICC/MBI 1205 §701.4‡ requires the data plate for each dwelling unit or building, which is the shower house. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the content and location of the shower house data plate, read from ICC/MBI 1205 §701.4 of the purchased edition.] --- ## 11. FINAL INSPECTION AND RELEASE ### 11.1 Final inspection [1205 §503.2‡] Before a unit or a lot of components is released, the quality manager verifies and records on form QF-20 that: 1. the traveler QF-13 for the item is complete, every station line is signed, and every hold point is signed by the person this manual names; 2. every nonconformance raised against the item is closed, with the disposition signed and the re-inspection recorded; 3. the concrete records exist and are acceptable: the batch log entries, the density readings within the acceptance band, the cylinder results available for the item's concrete or identified as pending with the engineer of record's written acceptance of release before the 28 day result, and the cure log complete; 4. the dimensional and surface inspection QF-17 is complete and within the accepted criteria; 5. for a unit, the systems tests QF-19 are complete and passed; 6. for a unit, the fixtures, appliances and finishes match the bill of material and the approved plans; 7. the overall dimensions and weight are within the transport limits at §12.5; 8. the third-party inspection agency's inspection has occurred at the frequency the agency requires and every deficiency in the agency's report is closed; 9. the serial number is correct and recorded, and the insignia or certification label is available and assigned; and 10. the documents that ship with the item under §11.4 are prepared. ### 11.2 Identification and labeling [1205 §503.2‡] On release the quality manager applies or authorises the application of: the Montana insignia for a unit under §10.3; the third-party agency certification label under §10.4; the permanent serial number marking; and, for a unit, the data plate. Each application is recorded on QF-27 and QF-28 by number and date. ### 11.3 Release authority **The release signature on form QF-20 is the quality manager's alone.** No other person may release product, authorise a shipment, or apply an insignia or label. The plant manager may not release product. The owner may not release product without holding the quality manager's role and meeting its independence rule. A unit or component released without a signed QF-20 is a violation of this manual and is treated as a nonconformance against the process, with an immediate corrective action and notification to the third-party inspection agency. ### 11.4 Documents issued with the product [1200 §701.1‡, §801.1‡, §804.1‡] Each shipment carries: the transport, lifting and placement instructions; the installation instructions required by §13; the key plan and panel schedule for a panel order; the loading and unloading manifest QF-33; and, for a unit, the owner information at §15.1. The issue is recorded on QF-20. --- ## 12. STORAGE, PACKAGING, HANDLING AND TRANSPORT ### 12.1 Storage at the plant, at other storage points, and after delivery [1205 §501.15‡] 1. Finished panels and units are stored in the identified storage area, supported off the ground on dunnage at the support points stated in the approved handling instruction, and protected from weather, mechanical damage and contamination. 2. Panels are stored [KEN TO CONFIRM: flat and stacked, or vertical in a rack. This is a plant decision nobody has made, and it decides the dunnage, the stack limit and the yard layout.] 3. Storage location and condition are recorded on form QF-32, so that a panel in the yard can be found by serial number. 4. Storage at any point other than the plant, and storage after delivery to a site, follows the same rules, which are stated in the installation instructions issued under §13 so that the erector is bound by them. 5. Stored product is re-inspected for damage before loading, and any damage found is a nonconformance. ### 12.2 Stacking limits and weather protection [1200 §605‡] [PE TO SET: the maximum stack height, the dunnage positions and the bearing requirements for stacked panels, strips and floor panels. ICC/MBI 1200 §605.1‡ requires stacking details including a maximum stack; that clause is written for modules, but the plant needs the same information for panels and no published value exists for this product. The engineer of record sets it.] Stacked and stored product is protected from weather and from standing water in accordance with the approved handling instruction. ### 12.3 Packaging and protection [1205 §501.16‡] Protection applied for handling, storage and transport, and the inspection of that protection before shipment, is recorded on QF-33. Edges, finish faces, glazing, fixtures and any cast-in item vulnerable to damage are protected. [KEN TO CONFIRM: the packaging and protection method for each product, which has not been specified.] ### 12.4 Loading and unloading manifest [1200 §704.1‡] 1. A loading and unloading manifest, form QF-33, is prepared for each shipment, jointly with the erector where ICC/MBI 1200 §704.1‡ requires, so that the units are protected from stress and mechanical damage during loading, transport and unloading. 2. The manifest states: the items by serial number, their positions on the vehicle, the support and blocking positions, the securement method and the tie-down points, the lifting points and the rigging required at the unloading end, the crane class or handling equipment the erector must provide, and the unloading sequence. 3. Securement complies with 49 CFR 393 Subpart I. 4. The manifest is signed by the production lead and by the carrier at loading, and by the receiver at unloading (QF-34). ### 12.5 Transport, lifting and placement instructions issued with each set of units [1200 §701.1‡] Issued with every shipment, and covering: the weight of each item and of the complete unit; the centre of gravity where it matters; the lifting points, the insert or lug capacities and the required sling angles or spreader bar; the transport dimensions and the permit class; the maximum height on the deck; and the handling restrictions. Known transport facts for the shower house reference unit, from the design model: | Item | Value | |---|---| | Width over the roof | 144 in for the 12 ft unit, 167 in for the 14 ft unit, never more than 168 in | | Length over the roof | 252 in for the reference unit | | Height, skid bottom to roof top | 113.5 in; 135.5 in on a 22 in deck | | Unit weight, reference unit | 33,366 lb | | Pick weight with the model's rigging allowance | 35,034 lb | | Pick method | Four point pick on the corner lugs with a spreader bar, or the two pairs of fork pockets | | Permit class | Oversize permit required at every offered width; no pilot car required at any offered width | [PE TO SET: the lug design and its proof load, the sling angle limit, whether a spreader bar is mandatory, the fork pocket rated load, and the road load case for the tie-downs. The 1.05 rigging allowance above is a modelling figure, not a rigging standard.] [KEN TO CONFIRM: the current Montana Department of Transportation oversize permit thresholds, verified with MDT rather than taken from this manual.] ### 12.6 Rigging Rigging equipment complies with ASME B30.9 for slings, B30.20 for the spreader bar and other below-the-hook devices, and B30.26 for shackles and hardware, and with OSHA 29 CFR 1926.251 and Subpart CC. Lifting inserts and hardware are used within the capacities established under §7.6 with the factors of OSHA 29 CFR 1926.704 and PCI MNL-120 applied by the engineer of record. Rigging is inspected before each pick and damaged rigging is removed from service. --- ## 13. ON-SITE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS [1200 §801.1‡, §804.1‡] ICC/MBI 1200 §804.1‡ requires the manufacturer to provide instructions describing eight things, and §804.1(1) and (2)‡ name panelized systems expressly. The instructions are a controlled document issued with every shipment under §11.4 and registered on QF-29. **The installation instruction document does not exist yet.** Every item below states what it must contain and who authors it. ### 13.1 Foundation, skid interface and anchorage [1200 §804.1(5)‡, (6)‡] [PE TO SET: foundation loads, anchorage details and the required capacity of the anchorage devices; the maximum foundation support and spacing. For the shower house this is the bearing diagram, the maximum pier spacing, the minimum bearing pressure and the anchorage device and capacity for a stated wind and snow envelope. For the house it is the slab anchor type, size, embedment and spacing and the base detail, which is open item 3 of the wall design basis.] ### 13.2 Panel to panel connection [1200 §804.1(1)‡] [PE TO SET: the joint screw size, count and pattern between mating edge studs; whether a strap or a cast-in plate is required at corners; the corner detail; and the cumulative run tolerance and shim or grout allowance that go with it. The design model's 8 screws per joint is an assumption and is not a design.] ### 13.3 Envelope continuity at the joints [1200 §804.1(2)‡] [PE TO SET: the detail that maintains the air barrier, vapour barrier, insulation, sheathing membrane, cladding, roofing and flashing at every panel joint and at the top track. This matters twice over, because Montana's amended IECC at ARM 24.301.161 requires the house to test at 4 ACH50 and the panel joint is the leak path. No air sealing detail exists today.] ### 13.4 Services and MEP connections [1200 §804.1(3)‡, (7)‡] The instructions state how ducting, piping and wiring are connected and how sealing and insulation are maintained, and how the services are connected at the site. For the shower house the site connections are water in, sewer out, power in and the anchorage, and they are the responsibility of the site authority having jurisdiction. ARM 24.301.1245(1) accepts a unit bearing the insignia throughout Montana without further inspection or fees **except for zoning, utility connections and foundation permits**, so those four connections are precisely what the local inspector sees. ### 13.5 Installation tolerances [1200 §803.1‡, §308.4‡] For the **shower house**, ICC/MBI 1200 §803.1‡ requires the registered design professional to detail in the construction documents the required construction tolerances for fitting each module to each module and to the foundation, with terms as defined in ISO 6707-1:2020. [PE TO SET: those tolerances.] For the **panel line**, ICC/MBI 1200 §308.4‡ states that tolerances for the attachment of panelized systems to other systems and interfacing construction shall be as established by the manufacturer of the attachment device. That clause answers screw edge distance and spacing. It does not answer cumulative run, out of plumb, bow, twist or joint gap across a wall of ten panels, and no adopted standard does. [PE TO SET: the erection tolerances for a panel wall, including the cumulative run tolerance, the out of plumb limit, the joint gap range and the shim or grout allowance at the base.] ### 13.6 Fire separations, and what is completed on site [1200 §804.1(4)‡, (8)‡] The instructions state the fire blocking and fire separation requirements where they apply, and list everything installed or completed on site. **For the house, the list of site work includes the cavity fill, and the instruction carries the following requirement in bold on its own page:** > The plumbing and electrical rough-in in the open stud cavity **must be inspected and approved by the > authority having jurisdiction before the cavity fill is pumped.** The fill is irreversible and it > permanently conceals the rough-in. A cavity filled before the rough-in inspection has destroyed the > inspection and the work will have to be opened. --- ## 14. RECORDS ### 14.1 Records kept, where they are kept, and access [1205 §501.12‡; MT-7; 1200 §504.3‡] 1. The quality records of this program are the completed forms listed at §16, the laboratory reports attached to them, the calibration certificates, the material certifications, the third-party inspection agency's reports, the bureau's correspondence, and the controlled document register. 2. Records are completed **at the time the work or the inspection is done**, in ink, by the person who did it. A correction is made by a single line through the error with the correction initialled and dated. Records are not rewritten. 3. Records are filed by production order and, within the order, by serial number, so that the record set for any panel or unit can be produced from its serial number alone. 4. Records are kept at [KEN TO CONFIRM: the record storage location in the plant], in a location protected from weather, fire and loss, and [KEN TO CONFIRM: whether a scanned backup copy is kept and where]. 5. **All documentation is made available to the authority having jurisdiction on request**, and to the third-party inspection agency, per ICC/MBI 1200 §504.3.2‡. 6. Records of unit inspection substantiating that each unit was inspected and complies with the reviewed plans are maintained as form QF-20 with the traveler attached, which is the record the bureau's published list requires. ### 14.2 Retention periods [1205 §501.12‡; 1200 §504.3.3‡] ICC/MBI 1205 §501.12‡ requires this manual to identify how long records are kept. ICC/MBI 1200 §504.3.3‡ sets a floor of not less than 12 months after delivery of the module, panel or component unless the approved plan states a longer duration. This manual states a longer duration. | Record | Retention | |---|---| | Travelers, station inspection forms, final inspection and release records | 5 years from the date of release | | Batch logs, density logs, cylinder records and laboratory reports, cure logs | 5 years from the date of release of the last product the batch was placed in | | Mix design and mix qualification records | For as long as the mix is approved, and 5 years after it is superseded | | Material receiving logs and material certifications | 5 years from the date of release of the last product the lot was used in | | Calibration certificates and the calibration register | 5 years, and in any case the full history of any instrument still in service | | Nonconformance reports and corrective action records | 5 years from closure | | Internal audit reports and management review minutes | 5 years | | Training and qualification records | For the duration of employment and 5 years after | | Serial number register, insignia and label control register | Permanently | | This manual and every superseded revision | Permanently | | Customer complaint and field service records | 5 years from closure | | Loading manifests and delivery receipts | 5 years | The 5 year period is this plant's own policy. It exceeds the 12 month floor in ICC/MBI 1200 §504.3.3‡ and the 2 year period that IAS applies to an accredited precast concrete fabricator under AC157 §4.5.12. It is not reduced except by a revision of this manual under §3.5. ### 14.3 Notification duties [1200 §505.2‡] | Notification | To whom | When | |---|---|---| | Before commencing fabrication on a project | Bureau and third-party inspection agency | Per §4.4 | | Extended plant closure, and before resuming production | Third-party inspection agency | [KEN TO CONFIRM: the notice period in the agency agreement] | | An inspection report noting a major variation | Forwarded as the agency agreement requires | [KEN TO CONFIRM: the period in the agency agreement] | | Release of product affected by a nonconformance discovered after shipment | Customer and third-party inspection agency | Immediately on discovery, per §2.9 item 3 | | A revision of this manual | Bureau, with the fee | Per §3.5 | | Intention to cancel the third-party inspection agency agreement | Agency and bureau | [KEN TO CONFIRM: the notice period in the agency agreement] | --- ## 15. OWNER INFORMATION, WARRANTY AND SERVICE **Nothing in section 15 has been confirmed as a Montana requirement for a factory-built building.** No such requirement was found in ARM subchapter 24.301.12, on the bureau's published list, or in ICC/MBI 1205 chapter 5. It is included because a reviewer will ask and because the content costs a page, and it is flagged so that Ken does not tell a customer it is required. [KEN TO CONFIRM: ask the bureau whether an owner manual or a warranty statement is expected with a factory-built building. If not, sections 15.1 and 15.2 may be removed at the next revision.] ### 15.1 Information issued to the building owner Issued with each unit, and with each panel order to the builder: the installation instructions at §13; the operation and maintenance information for the installed fixtures, appliances and the roof membrane; the maintenance requirements of the cast concrete surfaces and of the exterior cladding; the model number, serial number and insignia number; and the contact for warranty and service. ### 15.2 Warranty [KEN TO CONFIRM: the written warranty terms, which do not exist. Until they do, no warranty statement is issued and none is implied by this manual.] ### 15.3 Complaints and field service 1. A complaint of noncompliance, from any source, is recorded on form QF-31 on the day it is received, with the serial number it concerns. 2. The quality manager investigates promptly and responds to the complainant in writing. 3. Where the complaint is substantiated, a corrective action is opened under §2.9, the field repair is recorded on QF-31 with what was done and by whom, and the record is filed back against the item's serial number so that the unit's history is complete. 4. Where the complaint concerns a unit bearing an insignia and the remedy would alter or revise the unit, ARM 24.301.1249 applies: an application goes to the bureau naming the make, model, serial number, insignia number, the full description of the work with plans and specifications where required, the location, the fee and the manufacturer or retailer, and a bureau inspection is requested on completion. **An alteration made without that application can void the insignia and the plan review.** 5. Complaint records are reviewed at the internal audit and at the management review. --- ## 16. FORMS AND THE PROCEDURE FOR EACH [1205 §501.17‡; MT-6] ICC/MBI 1205 §501.17‡ requires the forms used as part of the program to be in the manual, together with a written procedure for how each form is used. **Appendix A, the file `01-forms.md`, is that content.** Every form is drawn out with its fields, its purpose, when it is used, who completes it, who signs it, where it is filed and how long it is kept. The register of forms: | Form | Title | Section that governs it | |---|---|---| | QF-01 | Approved vendor and testing agency list | §5.2 | | QF-02 | Vendor evaluation record | §5.2 | | QF-03 | Incoming material receiving and inspection log | §5.3 | | QF-04 | Material certification file index | §5.4 | | QF-05 | Rejected material tag and disposition log | §5.6 | | QF-06 | Shelf life and stock rotation log | §5.5 | | QF-07 | Mix design record | §6.1 | | QF-08 | Mix qualification and requalification record | §6.2, §6.3 | | QF-09 | Daily batch and density log | §6.4, §6.6 | | QF-10 | Cylinder cast and break log | §6.6 | | QF-11 | Cure log | §6.8 | | QF-12 | Daily production log | §4.3 | | QF-13 | Panel and unit traveler, in-process station sign-off sheet | §7.1 | | QF-14 | Bed and form check | §7.2 | | QF-15 | Mesh and embedment placement check | §7.3, §7.4, §7.5 | | QF-16 | Lifting insert placement check | §7.6 | | QF-17 | Panel dimensional and surface inspection | §7.9, §7.10 | | QF-18 | Shower house assembly and MEP rough-in inspection | §7.11, §7.12 | | QF-19 | In-plant systems test record | §8.1 to §8.5 | | QF-20 | Final unit inspection and release record | §11 | | QF-21 | Calibration register | §8.8 | | QF-22 | Nonconformance report | §9 | | QF-23 | Corrective action report (POCA) | §2.9 | | QF-24 | Internal audit report | §2.7 | | QF-25 | Management review minutes | §2.8 | | QF-26 | Training record | §2.6 | | QF-27 | Insignia and certification label control register | §10.3, §10.4 | | QF-28 | Serial number register | §10.1 | | QF-29 | Document and drawing control register | §3.1, §3.2 | | QF-30 | Manual revision record | §3.5 | | QF-31 | Customer complaint and field service record | §15.3 | | QF-32 | Storage and stacking record | §12.1 | | QF-33 | Loading and unloading manifest | §12.3, §12.4 | | QF-34 | Delivery and receipt record | §12.4 | **Form control.** Every form carries its number, its revision and the date in the footer. Forms are controlled documents on QF-29. A form is revised by the quality manager under §3.5 item 5, and superseded blanks are withdrawn from the floor. --- ## APPENDICES | Appendix | Contents | Status | |---|---|---| | A | Every form, with its written procedure of use. File `01-forms.md` | Drafted | | B | Plant layout schematic with stations and testing stations; organizational chart as a graphic | [KEN TO CONFIRM: does not exist] | | C | Major production equipment list and test equipment list, keyed to Appendix B | [KEN TO CONFIRM: does not exist] | | D | Approved vendor and testing agency list (form QF-01, completed) | [KEN TO CONFIRM: does not exist] | | E | Approved mix designs (form QF-07, completed and countersigned by the engineer of record) | [PE TO SET: does not exist; blocked on the mix qualification at §6.2] | | F | Personnel qualification and training record index | [KEN TO CONFIRM: does not exist] | | G | Model register: approved model numbers, revisions, approval dates and expiry dates | [KEN TO CONFIRM: no model has been approved] | --- ## END OF MANUAL Sections 1 through 16 and Appendices A through G constitute the Compliance Assurance Program of [KEN TO CONFIRM: legal entity name]. | | | |---|---| | Prepared by | [KEN TO CONFIRM: quality manager, name, title, date] | | Approved by | [KEN TO CONFIRM: owner or designated officer, name, title, date] | | Reviewed by the third-party inspection agency | [KEN TO CONFIRM: agency, reviewer, date] | | Submitted to the Building Codes Bureau | [KEN TO CONFIRM: date, with the ARM 24.301.1261 review fee] | | Approved by the Building Codes Bureau | [KEN TO CONFIRM: date] |