Author: DEBORAH SILL, Mustang Sampling Marketing and Communications Director
Across the country, industrialized buildings silently play a key role in the national infrastructure by providing safe havens for equipment and personnel in the energy and transportation industries, which are often located in remote or rare places. Mustang Sampling pioneered the pipeline bunker in the early 1990s to house gas chromatographs and flow components, which are essential for analyzing natural gas composition. These structures are composed of non-combustible materials within a steel frame, and meet the design loads and dimensions required for important pipeline communication, measurement and control.
Industrialized buildings range from simple unmanned equipment stations (such as data collection or switches) to complex climate control facilities, including workers, computers, analyzers, and metering equipment. Mustang Sampling's professional construction, electrical and engineering team in Ravenswood, West Virginia specializes in the design and manufacture of such buildings. The staff at the Ravenswood facility construct and wire each custom-designed building; install the necessary mechanical, electrical, and analytical equipment; and conduct factory acceptance tests for customers around the world in person or in a virtual manner.
In the United States, 35 states require industrial buildings to legally reside within their borders, and even cross state boundaries during transportation, requiring special approval. The other 15 states rely on local jurisdiction and document approval. Almost all states have a mandatory construction plan submission process for review and approval. The submitted plan must comply with code compliance enforced by the state. The set of basic codes that must be met includes NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, International Building Code, International Machinery Code, International Fire Code and International Energy Conservation Code. When determining the structural requirements of the building, the review will consider local wind/snow loads. More and more states require compliance with energy conservation plans, including power consumption and minimizing environmental impact.
The implementation time approved by the state is usually two to four weeks, from the design stage to the final construction step by step. The process starts with the client approving the construction plan of the building. In addition to national requirements, the company may also wish to inspect the project at each stage of the project. Progressive inspections should be outlined early in the design phase to meet project requirements. If the customer makes changes to electrical or structural components after submitting for national approval, the process will begin with the new revision. Before submitting for national approval, Mustang Sampling prepared a construction plan containing the required documents, and compiled paperwork for appropriate PE seals using structural plans and calculations. Some states will directly accept materials submitted by manufacturers, but most states require a third-party review agency to review and submit plans. Many states require double inspections for rough installation and final after construction is completed. Some states may also require a third inspection during on-site installation.
When the building reaches the appropriate completion milestones, inspections will be scheduled after approval. A rough inspection requires the inspector to witness the connection points between the building and the skid and structural walls. The final inspection of industrialized buildings is electrical and mechanical functional testing. Once the inspection is completed and everything meets the requirements, the inspector will generate a report and record the decal/badge. The inspection agency will assign a third-party serialization decal and a national serialization mark to comply with the structure. Mustang Sampling in turn generates a nameplate that reflects the code information of the building and provides space for decals/badges. If the state government requires inspection during installation on site, the state emblem is controlled by state government officials and will be installed on site.
Although industrialized buildings are usually invisible to the public, their ability to operate safely has not been concealed from the state. Mustang Sampling has collected an impressive list of state certifications to legally construct, deliver, and assemble customized industrialized buildings for interstate pipeline customers, which are finally on the market today with almost every state in the United States
For more information, please visit www.mustangsampling.com or call (713) 482-6930.
Author: DEBORAH SILL, Mustang Sampling Marketing and Communications Director
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