The AWI Quality Certification Corporation (AWI QCC) congratulates the QCP Licensees who received top honors in AWI’s Annual Standard of Excellence program.  Awards were presented at the 67th AWI Annual Convention, Oct. 6-8, 2019 in Providence, RI.  The award-winning projects of the following honorees were featured in various editions of AWI’s Design Solutions Magazine. Click on the links below and read about each project’s challenges.

Overall
Project: Office Tower at 609 Main, Houston, TX
Licensed QCP Manufacturer/Woodworker:
Brochsteins, Inc., Houston, TX
Design Solutions: Spring 2019
Photographer: Joe Aker

Education
Project: Harvard Business School Klarman Hall, Boston, MA
Licensed QCP Manufacturer/Woodworker:
Millwork One, Cranston, RI
Design Solutions: Summer 2019
Photographer: Robert Benson

Retail
Project: Shreve & Company Retail Space, San Francisco, CA
Licensed QCP Manufacturer/Woodworker:
Bernhard Woodwork, Ltd., Northbrook, IL
AWI Supplier Members: Häfele America Company & Crown Veneer
Design Solutions: Winter 2019
Photographer: Drew Altizer

Residential
Project: Carriage House in Massachusetts
Licensed QCP Manufacturer/Woodworker:
South Shore Millwork, Norton, MA
Design Solutions: Spring 2019
Photographer: Greg Premru

Healthcare
Project: Rush Copley Medical Center, Surgery Addition and Main Entry, Aurora, IL
Licensed QCP Manufacturer/Woodworker:
Lange Bros. Woodwork Company, Inc., Milwaukee, WI
Design Solutions: Fall 2018
Photographer: Tricia Shay

All licensed companies have been sent instructions to complete testing by Feb. 15, 2020 on the new sections of AWI Standards released to date.

With the release of the new AWI 100 — Submittals; AWI 200 — Care and Storage; AWI 300 — Materials; and ANSI/AWI 0620-2018 — Finish Carpentry/Installation Standard, the Quality Certification Program (QCP) test has been revised to incorporate these supplanted Architectural Woodwork Standards (AWS) sections for use on QCP projects bid after March 15, 2019.

QCP Policies require retesting on any revised standards within six months of issue.  The new AWI Standards are available at the AWI website here.

For Quality Certification Program (QCP) certified projects which include HPDL casework and countertops, laminate grade and thickness is an important and sometimes tricky aspect of achieving conformance.  The architect’s specifications regarding laminate grades for various cabinet surfaces often depart from what is allowed in AWI Standards.  For example, a requirement for horizontal grade (HGS) laminate cladding for both exposed and semi-exposed surfaces is a specification we see periodically.  The specified use of cabinet liner (CLS) or vertical grade (VGS) HPDL rather than LPDL (melamine) for semi-exposed cabinet interiors occurs regularly.  Rule of thumb:  Where laminate grade and thickness are concerned, don’t take anything for granted, or assume that specifications will necessarily match AWI Standards.  Read the specifications carefully.

When faced with an architect-specified departure from AWI standards regarding laminate grades, there are only three possible courses of action which the woodworker can take:

1. Provide what is specified. 
2. Prior to commencement of casework fabrication, seek and receive the architect’s written approval of your alternative HPDL recommendations.
3. Ignore the architect’s HPDL requirements, and fabricate the casework using non-specified laminate or melamine, without notifying the architect.

Obviously, this last scenario is fraught with risk, and is not recommended.  If the HPDL grades provided by the woodworker are not those which were specified, that HPDL is nonconforming and could preclude project certification.  At that point, if the woodworker cannot secure the architect’s “after the fact” written acceptance of the laminate as provided, the only other possible resolution would be  physical correction of the nonconformance. In most cases, this would probably require replacement of the casework.  If the woodworker fails to make the necessary corrections, published QCP Policies prescribe revocation from the program.

QCP project inspection reports in 2019 indicated an uptick of a particular conformance issue involving HGS laminate:  While architectural woodwork specifications often require HGS grade for exposed (and sometimes semi-exposed) casework surfaces, the major laminate manufacturers no longer stock HGS grade for a significant number of laminate colors and patterns.  Technically, HGS is still available in most cases as a special order, long-lead item. But for the colors and patterns involved, post-form laminate (HGP) is offered by the manufacturers as the HGS substitute.  If this HPDL issue applies to a laminate specified for your project, the three alternatives outlined in the paragraph above still apply.  However, if requesting the architect to pre-approve a change from the specified HGS to HGP, then market availability, lead time, and possible higher costs may be additional supporting reasons for your change request.

I did a little digging regarding how the trend towards the reduction of HGS availability began.  I was fortunate to make contact with an experienced and knowledgeable gentleman involved with regional distribution of one of the major HPDL brands.  According to him, a few years ago a major HPDL manufacturer began contemplating the very minimal difference between HGS and HGP performance testing results.  In addition, thickness for HGS and HGP was similar, and in fact theoretically overlapped in terms of the industry’s nominal thickness tolerances.  The manufacturer recognized these redundancies, which it addressed by downgrading the market role of HGS.  They perceived this as an economic opportunity due to the simplified production, storage and delivery processes which would result.  Thus began the de-emphasizing of HGS grade for a growing number of their HPDL offerings.  Other manufacturers soon followed suit.

QCC’s Tricia Roberts (left) and AWI’s Debby Heidler enjoy catching up during AWIs 67th Annual Convention, October 6 – 8, in Providence, RI.  “It was nice to see so many of our participants all in one place!” Tricia said.

Several QCP Licensees were recognized in AWI’s Standard of Excellence Honors Program during the 67th AWI Annual Convention in October in Providence, RI.  See separate article in this edition of Quality Times for details about the honorees along with photos of their projects and links to AWI’s Design Solutions Magazine where their work is featured.

On a Monday morning in early October around 8:00 am, the QCP marketing team started arriving at the famous Kauffman Center in Kansas City, MO.  The Kauffman Center is a performing arts venue downtown at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the Sprint Center and the Crossroads Arts District, and its construction was a major part of the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Kansas City.

The team of Brandee Johnson, Tara Grassie and Kelsey Seifert of Limelight Marketing along with their film crew arrived first to set up. Next, Grant Golightly, project architect with Design West Architects; QCC Chair Zach Deas, president of Deas Millwork in Alabama; and I joined the Limelight team.

The reason for meeting in Kansas City? Limelight Marketing had pulled this event together to record video from three different perspectives about QCP: the architect, the woodworker and the Quality Certification Program.  Why the Kauffman Center?  The picture on the cover of the Architectural Woodwork Standards, Edition 2 is from, you guessed it, the Kauffman Center.

Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center
Photographer:  Timothy Hursley

Outreach Strategy
The strategy is to expand QCP’s outreach and address awareness by including video in multiple messages on all current QCP media channels—YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter—not to mention possible native articles and targeted outreach.

Tour of C.S. Humphrey
After visiting the Kauffman Center the team travelled to the C.S. Humphrey & Company, LLC’s architectural woodwork manufacturing plant (a QCP Licensee) just outside of town. Curt Humphrey, executive vice president, along with Scott Humphrey, project manager, provided a warm welcome and a thorough tour of their impressive facility. The Limelight film crew shot background footage that will add to the composition and context of architectural woodwork, QCP and commercial architecture.

It was a long and dedicated day, and I for one, can’t wait to see some of the final product. Stay tuned and visit us on all our social channels to see what the Limelight team comes up with.

If you need quick and simple answers to questions about your QCP Licence, project certification and other “administrative” issues, go to YouTube where you will find about 20 videos. Following are examples of the 30- to 60-second videos:

About Licenses & Projects

• How much is the project certification fee?
• How much would it cost if I add more sections to my QCP License?
• If our QCP staff liaison changes in the future, do we have to retake the test?

About Architectural Woodwork

• What is architectural woodwork?
• Effects of heat on woodwork.
• QCP Speaks at AIA Architect Live event.

Visit QCP on YouTube here.

Fortunately for QCP, Roxanne has returned to her position full-time just in time to handle the 2020 license renewal season as well as all her other responsibilities.  It was a bit crazy in the office while she was on maternity leave and we’re glad she’s back!