What is natural stone inspection?
Natural stone inspection is the independent checking of stone against its specification at each stage of the supply chain, from block selection at the quarry, through fabrication and shipping, to installation on site. It gives the owner, architect or main contractor documented assurance that the material delivered is the material specified, and that its quality, dimensions and finish are correct before it is built into the building.
Specialist companies such as Ramsey Stone Consultants have the skill and expertise to reliably inspect and provide quality assurance of stone manufacturing processes, logistics and more, throughout the supply chain, to suit the requirements of the main contractor and owner of large-scale international projects.
Many of our clients require inspection at different points of the project, known as the project stages. We provide independent inspection services, for example on-site at the quarry, manufacturing facility and final site locations; in order to assist with the accurate and timely expediting of the stone in question.
Independent stone inspection is very important as it isolates the two or more involved parties so that a fair and honest assessment can take place.
The stone inspection process, from quarry to site
The following stages give you an idea of when we are instructed to inspect dimension stone and inspect processes. These may be a fit for your project.
- Quarry. Quality inspections, colour and design variation inspections, tooling inspections and packaging inspections, assessing the material at source before it is committed to production.
- Stone fabricator. Quality inspections, accurate logging and identification label inspections, and packaging inspections as the blocks are sawn, finished and prepared for shipping.
- Layout. A ‘dry layout’ of the stone panels to ensure the material meets the design requirements of the architect, including vein arrangement and pattern match.
- Logistics. Logistics inspections, to ensure accurate identification, packaging and loading throughout the various manufacturing stages, through to arrival at the installation site.
- Final site location. Inspection of the delivered stone to ensure it matches the specification, inspection of its quality on arrival, and quality inspection of the installation process itself.
When should stone be inspected?
The most valuable inspection is the earliest one. Once non-conforming material has left the factory and crossed a continent, the cost of putting it right is measured in programme delay as well as replacement material, and options narrow the closer the stone gets to the building. Inspecting at the quarry and at the fabricator means problems are found while they can still be resolved by selecting different blocks or reworking panels.
You can read more about why you might need a stone consultant on our blog. We regularly inspect stone for projects in the United States and across the Middle East. If you would like to discuss inspection requirements for your project, please visit our contact page.
