Great interiors are all about people. Buildings succeed (or not) based on their ability to provide safe, intuitive environments for the people that use them – and that truth spans all building types, from our private homes to the public places we frequent for work and leisure.
Within every building, there is a need for the specialties we know as Division 10 – for bathroom facilities, privacy, surface protection, storage, and other miscellaneous items designed to make buildings safer or more accessible. Whilst it may not be the most technical, Division 10 is among the most wide-ranging of all MasterFormat divisions, and presents significant challenges for contractors.
Why is Division 10 challenging?
If you’re a construction contractor, you already know the common roadblocks with Division 10. Firstly, there’s compliance. A significant portion of Division 10 refers to safety and hygiene concerns within the built environment and these are subject to legal standards of compliance that must be met. These standards are evolving all the time which means headaches for contractors, especially if they outsource their Division 10 contracts to multiple providers on each job. One for handrails, one for washrooms, one for mobility aids – as you can imagine, the paperwork quickly mounts up, time gets wasted and expensive mistakes are sometimes made.
This complexity is further compounded by the sheer breadth of the Division 10 remit. From big things like washroom partitions in a school and bed guards in a hospital, to little things like snow grilles or window blinds in the workplace, there are a LOT of separate elements to consider. On a turnkey construction project, that often means dealing with a huge number of individual suppliers – which for the contractor, translates to increased costs, extended schedules and greater margin for error.
Design aesthetic is a huge factor in Division 10 installations – it’s not enough to simply kit a building out with the basics and hope for the best. For some public buildings, aesthetic has a direct impact on the image and marketing clout of the inhabitants – think about hotels and state-of-the-art office blocks, for example. In other spaces, like hospitals and care homes, good design has the power to impact on people’s ability to do their jobs well, which in turn impacts on patient experience and health outcomes. Division 10 is hugely important – but from a design point of view, the more invisible it is, the better. Quality products and a seamless install are vital.
How can Belroc help?
Belroc is more than just a Division 10 supplier. We specialise in tailored, comprehensive packages designed to meet the needs of facilities across a wide range of sectors. If a product falls under Division 10, we can supply it and install it – but our expertise runs much deeper than this, delivering added value for our clients and better outcomes for buildings and people.
It’s our job to be fully conversant in the latest Division 10 code requirements, which means our clients never have to worry about compliance. What’s more, after 20 years in this industry we understand better than most how Division 10 infrastructure can complement and enhance the built environment. Our expertise on the best solutions for complex interiors is often sought out by our construction partners early in the tendering process for large scale projects.
Our customer journey is defined by a three-step process we call 3DX – Define, Direct and Deliver. Every customer enquiry follows this same journey regardless of scale. The purpose of this is to ensure we fully understand the client’s needs and the complete scope of the job at hand, which enables us to develop a total solution that meets all their requirements in terms of specification, budget, logistics and timeframe.
By providing bespoke solutions to all of our clients’ Division 10 needs under one roof, backed up by in-depth knowledge on code requirements and seamless installation teams when required, we are able to provide solutions that perfectly meet the requirements set out in each client’s brief.
Our work speaks for itself – there’s a reason we are chosen again and again to work alongside some of Canada’s eminent building contractors, and a reason we have proudly put our name to many high profile projects including recent work with Canada Royal Milk, Kingston General Hospital, the Toronto Center for Addiction and Mental Health, a series of projects with All Seniors Care and a large number of Ontario school boards.
We believe that Division 10 can make a real difference, and that starts with simplifying the process for our contractor colleagues. To discuss how Belroc can help your company put the vision back in Division 10, email olawrenson@belroc.com.
