Meet Mark Walters, a senior architectural designer for a leading design and construction company. In 2021 Mark and team noticed an emerging council trend. Increasingly they were requiring a PS1 for ceilings and partitions at the consenting stage of a project. This early stage requirement was causing disruptions to Mark’s workflow. Normally he would engage a subcontractor for the ceiling and partition work, and the subcontractor would have the responsibility of supplying the PS1. But now, Mark was needing the producer statement even before the subcontractor had been engaged.

 

With the expectation that this was likely to continue, Mark decided to bring the PS1 process in-house. Following a discussion with BVT, he learnt that a new technology would soon be hitting the market , and he was keen to take advantage of it. Mark registered his interest in Prenguin and took part in a demonstration with one of the development team.

 

It took about 30 minutes to walk through the Prenguin app, a process Mark found pretty straightforward. By inputting some key details about a project, he is able to select the products he wants to use and Prenguin completes all the seismic engineering equations. In an instant, Mark can see if his project will be seismically compliant. When he’s ready, he clicks to request a PS1 – and it is returned within 48 hours.

 

Mark estimates he will be able to use Prenguin on 90% of his projects. “Speed is such an important factor,” he says. “Everyone is overloaded with work right now, including all the engineering firms. Using Prenguin to get a PS1 within a day or two is such an advantage.” 

 

Mark can also see the advantage of using Prenguin when putting a project out for tender. By creating a project in Prenguin, Mark can confirm his design will meet the seismic requirements. He can then include the design and materials in the contractual documentation. Mark explains the benefit when it comes to tendering, “It will provide a more even playing field for the subcontractors and make it easier to compare one tender with another.”

 

Prenguin is a free web app that can be used by architects, project managers, quantity surveyors, and other construction professionals who require a PS1 for ceilings and partitions. If you are interested in finding out more, visit the Prenguin help page or request access here.