Customer story
Survey to sign-off, simplified: Qualifire bridges the information gap
How Onetrace helped Qualifire deliver on its fundamental company value of quality
100s
of hours saved with one click approvals
100%
quality control inspection rate
About the company
Since its founding in 2019, Qualifire has quickly established a strong reputation as one of Scotland’s most respected providers of passive fire protection services. Its expertise includes remedial projects, surveying, and implementation.
Services
Passive fire protection
Onetrace features
Approvals
Mobile app
Based in Barrhead, outside of Glasgow, Qualifire was recently appointed to the Scottish Procurement Alliance's Fire Safety (FS2) Framework, further solidifying its position as a leading provider in the field.
Quality is a fundamental company value, shaping its entire approach to passive fire protection projects and its broader business. This case study shows how it has been able to use the Onetrace recording system to help deliver on this promise.
the challenge
Qualifire's process often involves receiving an order to survey a building or site to highlight defects in fire compartmentation and establish the work required for remediation.
They then typically receive a separate order to perform the remedial work and fix defects found at the survey stage.
However, before using Onetrace, they had no system to link the original survey to the remedial works carried out by operatives on site.
For example, capturing before photos as evidence of the required work in the survey and connecting them to the tasks that would need to be carried out was challenging without dedicated software. As a result, parts of the survey had to be repeated before starting the project, duplicating some of their initial efforts.
Furthermore, initial surveys frequently identified many passive fire protection defects beyond the scope of what Qualifire was instructed to remediate. So, pinpointing and clearly instructing operatives to work only on the contracted fixes was not always straightforward.
the solution
Linking surveys with to-do lists
After implementing Onetrace, Qualifire has a strong link between survey findings and the required remediation work. They can now complete surveys and convert items into a to-do list, with all information logged on the platform, from issue identification to remediation and sign-off.
This saved time on-site by reducing how much operatives’ work needed to be recorded and provided controls to ensure they only worked from the back-office specified to-do list.
Qualifire has also been using Onetrace’s Custom Status feature to distinguish between defects found in a survey and remedial work that is not part of the original scope.
For instance, if a client's fire strategy changes between the survey and the installation work, they can mark the previously scoped work as out of scope using a status. This helps the operatives know not to work on it. This situation can also arise when the client requests a full survey but wants Qualifire's remediation work to focus only on critical areas.
the challenge
Though essential in construction, quality assurance and control processes are prone to delays and miscommunication.
Qualifire's experience exemplifies this. Their third-party accreditation required them to perform quality control checks, but obtaining approvals proved a major bottleneck. Large projects often necessitated time-consuming, on-site approvals, causing significant delays.
Furthermore, when work was rejected, an inefficient process ensued. On-site workers had no direct visibility of what work was rejected and the necessary changes required; this information had to be relayed through the back office. To compound the issue, there was no centralised record of approval actions.
the solution
Digital approvals
With survey and installation work recorded in Onetrace, Qualifire has developed a robust approval process that significantly speeds up sign-off using the built-in approvals feature.
Audrey Stewart, Director at Qualifire
Additionally, operatives benefit from immediate access to real-time feedback and comments.
For instance, if an approver rejects work or finds information missing, they can clearly specify the required changes directly within the system. The operative can then view these comments on-site via the mobile app, allowing them to address any issues promptly.
All of this communication is integrated within the system and linked to the specific job or task, ensuring clarity and efficiency.
Underlining its principles for maintaining high standards, Qualifire ensures a 100% quality control inspection rate and a clear audit trail of every item.
Their approvals can be managed remotely using Onetrace’s approval feature and via the mobile app on-site. This allows an approver to be in front of the installation when confirming or rejecting the work.
Audrey Stewart, Director at Qualifire
the Challenge
Drawn-out reporting and inspection processes
Qualifire’s clients occasionally require a fire engineer to review and approve work on certain projects, which adds an extra layer of assurance regarding Qualifire's high standard of work.
Creating reports for fire engineers to use for assessments can be time-consuming, especially when they require highly specific information, such as details related to a particular level or block. Additionally, if a project is still ongoing, workers may be continually updating information, requiring reports to be recreated.
the solution
Guest access for real-time information
To facilitate this collaboration, Qualifire utilised the Guest Access feature on Onetrace. By giving fire engineers access to the platform, they could view recorded information relating to a specific installation project.
They get real-time data—view progress, review and approve work, and download their own reports as and when required.
As a result, fire engineers were able to reduce site visits because photographic evidence before, during, and after an installation was recorded on Onetrace, along with other data collected on forms detailing the work carried out. Additionally, this process results in an audit trail within the project showing the fire engineer’s approvals, any rejects and other information they record, which can be quickly accessed at any point in the future.
Overall, this reduces time on site, admin time, and client waiting time for reports. Most importantly, it helps Qualifire stay compliant from a technical perspective and ensures installs are in line with technical guidance.
the results
The highest quality from survey through to sign-off
Qualifire has improved its project completion speed and reputation for transparency and trustworthiness with clients by supporting its robust quality assurance process with the Onetrace software platform. Onetrace has helped them eliminate double work, streamline approval processes, and improve collaboration.
The platform's user-friendliness has made it easy for their team to adopt, with Audrey Stewart noting, "Everyone was very happy as soon as they’d seen it. We were wishing we'd moved sooner."
The collaborative approach brought about by adopting Onetrace also extends to the relationship between Qualifire and Onetrace, with Audrey Stewart expressing appreciation for Onetrace's constant evolution and openness to ideas and feedback:
"One of the things I love about Onetrace is it seems to constantly be evolving and adding new features and they’re very much open to ideas and feedback."
To learn more about how Onetrace can transform your quality assurance and control processes, visit our website or request a demo today.
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