You know what I hear on almost every project when installers from other contractors arrive? «We’ve never seen such a detailed set of drawings before». They open my project documentation and are shocked — everything is so detailed that questions simply don’t arise.
And then they tell stories about how they usually work: a measurer scribbled something on a piece of paper, passed it to the workshop, they made it as they understood it, brought it to the site — and chaos begins. Something’s missing, something doesn’t fit, it’s unclear how to mount it, what materials to use. «Buy something yourself, go somewhere, weld some bracket» — that’s their reality.
I don’t work like that. And after hundreds of completed projects, after going through all possible screwups and force majeure situations, I came to a design system that works. I have projects where there are absolutely zero questions — ordered material, designed, manufactured, installed. Done. Not even any minor glitches. It just went perfectly.
How to achieve this? I’ll tell you the whole process now — from the technical assignment to the engineer to the installation documentation package. Without this system, doing serious glazing is just roulette.
Video
A Design Engineer — Not an Option, but a Necessity
The first thing you need to understand: design is done by an engineer-designer. Not a measurer, not an installer, not a manager — a specialist who understands transparent structures.
Options for where to get a designer:
- Keep on staff — if volumes allow fully loading them
- Turn to a design bureau — when you need a one-time project
- Find outsourced — you work on a permanent basis, but the load is uneven
I have my own designer, with whom I’ve worked for many years. He knows my standards, my approach, my requirements. We’ve meshed so well that he almost never makes mistakes anymore. But it wasn’t always like this.
When I turned to different designers at the initial stage — it was rough. The number of corrections could be enormous. Wrong technical solutions, screwups in joints, ill-conceived details. Designers often haven’t installed themselves, haven’t faced real problems on sites — so they can do something wrong.
Conclusion: finding a good designer is critical. And even more important — learning to control their work. More on that next.
Initial Data: What Needs to Be Given to the Designer
The designer needs to be given a clear technical assignment. The more complete the initial data, the fewer questions and revisions there will be.
Why I Chose the Polish System Rather Than Swiss or German
AR (architectural solutions) is the foundation, the basis on which the house is built. The more thought-out and developed the AR, the better for everyone.
Normal architects, developers, serious private clients — they have AR. It indicates opening dimensions, elevation marks, axis bindings, finishing materials. The designer takes this as a basis and creates a glazing project based on the AR.
If AR Isn't Available — We Use Other Sources
Sometimes there’s no project documentation at all. Then we collect maximum information by other means:
- 3D laser scanning — we get a point cloud with accurate dimensions
- Photos and videos from the site — to understand the context
- Detailed measurements (there was a separate video about this)
- Product specification from the contract — configurations, hardware, glass unit formula, color, system
The specification is an appendix to the contract, where it’s maximally detailed what exactly we’re doing. What profile system, which sashes are opening, what hardware, what glass unit (formula, thickness, coating, frame color), what profile color by RAL.
We pass all this to the designer and order a KM stage project.
KM Project — The Foundation of All Glazing
The KM project structure is clear and logical:
- Title page and general information Description of the property, client, contractor, date, project composition.
- House facades Here all windows are shown with elevation marks. You can see where each product is located, at what height from the finished floor level, how they relate to each other.
- Floor plans Plan of each floor where products are placed. This is important for understanding the overall picture — where each window is, which door, how they’re connected to each other.
- Products with sections Each product is drawn separately. Vertical and horizontal sections are provided, where the construction, profiles, and filling are visible.
- Joints This is the most important part. Joints show HOW the product is installed:
- Top joint — abutment to the ceiling or opening from above
- Bottom joint — support on the slab, windowsill, threshold
- Side joints — abutment to reveals
The joints show:
- What method is used to attach the product (anchors, brackets, embedded parts)
- What materials are used (mounting foam, PSUL, SNPCH, sealants)
- How finishing is done — where sandwich panels are, where plaster is, where reveals are
- Where sealing tapes, vapor barrier, waterproofing go
- What elevation marks are — where the finished floor is, where the bottom/top mark of the product is
- How the client’s finishing approaches the window — under the transom, into the transom, above the transom
An especially important nuance: on a window system, finishing can overlap the frame from the outside. On a facade system, finishing CANNOT overlap the cover — it approaches next to it, flush. The designer thinks all this through and shows it in the joints.
KM Based on Design Dimensions vs Actual
There are two approaches:
Option 1: We make a preliminary KM based on design dimensions from AR. Then, when we’ve taken measurements and received actual opening dimensions, we correct the KM to match reality.
Option 2: We immediately take measurements, get actual dimensions — and the KM is issued based on actual dimensions.
The second option is faster, but not always possible. Sometimes design needs to begin before the openings are ready for measurement. Then we go the first route.
KM Approval
- The client themselves or their representative
- The architect
- The foreman or construction manager
- Related contractors — facade specialists, finishers
Standard Joints Album — Base for the Designer
I have a developed album of standard joints. It’s a library of proven technical solutions that the designer uses as a foundation.
Why is this needed? So as not to reinvent the wheel on every project. There are typical situations — window abutment to a concrete opening, facade mounting on brackets, lift-and-slide system installation on a terrace. For each situation there’s a proven joint.
Of course, every project is individual. Non-standard solutions appear, something gets refined, something changes. But the base is laid — this saves time and reduces the number of errors.
I constantly get feedback from installers. If it turns out that some technical solution can be improved, or some fastener is better replaced with another — I correct the album. This is a living document that develops along with experience.
I can share this album — write in the comments or in private messages. The version may not be the most current, because I’m constantly correcting something, but as a base for starting it’s quite suitable.
Checking the Designer's Work — A Mandatory Stage
Designers are a control point where screwups often happen. Therefore I ALWAYS personally check the KM.
There are good designers — they screw up less. There are worse ones — they screw up more. But you need to check in any case.
What I check:
- Correctness of joints — compliance with standards and technical requirements
- Dimension accuracy — compliance with measurements or AR
- Elevation marks — whether levels from finished floor are correctly indicated
- Compatibility with finishing — whether abutment is correctly shown
- Profile specifications — no errors in article numbers, lengths
- Glass unit formulas — correct thickness, coating, frame color
The last point is especially important. I’ve had screwups when the contract specified a black glass unit frame, and the designer gave aluminum in the application. They delivered the units — and everything had to be replaced. That’s time, money, nerves.
Now I control everything personally. Yes, it’s my job, it takes time. But it’s a guarantee that exactly what’s needed will arrive at the site.
Software for the Designer
A designer can draw products and joints manually — simply drafting in AutoCAD or another program. But this is wrong and inconvenient.
There should be a specialized program for a specific profile system:
- Alutech — program Alupro
- Reynaers — program Renopro
- Schuco — program Schukal
Now practically all system providers have databases in the Logikal program — a universal platform for designing aluminum structures.
What a specialized program provides:
- Profile library with accurate cross-sections
- Automatic joint calculation
- Automatic material specification
- Profile cutting optimization
- Minimum errors in article numbers and dimensions
A designer without a program is like a carpenter without a machine. Technically you can work, but slowly, inaccurately and with a bunch of errors.
The program should be provided either by you or by the designer themselves. If working constantly — it makes sense to buy a license. If it’s a one-time project — find a designer who already has the software.
KMD — Detailed Development for Production
KMD (metal structures detailed) is the next level after KM. If KM shows WHAT we’re doing, then KMD shows HOW exactly to manufacture it.
KMD includes:
- Detailing of each profile with dimensions, milling, holes
- Material specification — which profiles, in what quantity, what length
- Assembly diagrams — how profiles connect to each other
- Part marking — so they don’t get mixed up in production
KMD goes to the workshop. Profiles are cut, milled, drilled, products assembled according to it. The more detailed the KMD, the fewer questions production has.
I also check KMD. I review material specifications, work through them with Alutech, optimize — where special lengths can be used, where cutting can be economized.
Installation Diagram — A Breakthrough in Installation Convenience
Recently we introduced an additional section into the KM project — an installation diagram. We didn’t have this before. It changed everything.
What is an installation diagram? It’s a detailed drawing showing:
- Openings with accurate dimensions
- Products fitted into openings
- All installation joints — where each gap is
- Elevation marks — from finished floor, from ceiling
- Axis bindings — if you need not to center in the opening, but to align along the building axis
- Brackets with marking — which bracket goes where
- Supports for glass units (on facades) — which support for which unit
The installation diagram is an incredibly cool document. Yes, it’s additional work for the designer, additional payment. But it’s so much easier for installers to work.
An installer opens the KM — they have all products, all joints. Opens the installation diagram — understands where to get dimensions, how to set from finished floor, at what height which product, where which brackets. Full picture. No questions arise.
Previously, installers had to search for this information across different KM sheets, calculate marks, guess about brackets. Now everything’s in one place — opened the installation diagram and you’re working.
Documentation Package for Installation — Everything Needed on Site
When installers arrive at the site, I give them a complete documentation package:
- KM project The base by which they do everything. Products, joints, dimensions, marks.
- Installation diagram Detailed layout by openings with bindings and heights.
- KMD for facade systems If there’s a facade — KMD shows which mullion connects with which transom, what connector is there, seals and so on. The installer receives a pile of profiles, opens the KMD — and understands the assembly sequence.
- Shipping statement from production List of materials that arrived from the workshop. The installer checks completeness — whether everything is there, whether anything was forgotten.
- Installation materials request Complete list of installation materials: anchors, dowels, screws, foam, sealants, PSUL/SNPCH tapes, and so on. The installer checks that all this has arrived.
Moreover: the designer specifies in the request that this screw is for this, this dowel is for that. So the installer doesn’t search through joints for where which fastener goes. They clearly understand what they have, where and why.
- Glass unit specification with distribution by crates This is an especially important point. The designer makes not just a request for glass units, but distributes them by crates.
How does this work? We look at the house, identify facades. Glass units for each facade we put in a separate crate. On site we place crates next to the corresponding facades.
Why is this needed? Previously I had situations: in one crate glass units from one facade and from another facade on the opposite side of the house. Installers working with a mini-crane and suction cup — took out a glass unit here, have to run there to install it, then back. Extra movements, time loss.
Now everything’s by facade. Crates are distributed around the site, installation proceeds sequentially without unnecessary movements.
Installers' Reaction to Proper Documentation
Installers who work with me regularly are used to such a documentation package. For them it’s the norm.
But there are installers who previously worked from measurement sheets, where the measurer scribbled something — and that’s it. When they see my set of drawings, they’re shocked.
«We’ve never seen anything this detailed before. It’s so cool and pleasant — performing installation when you have everything, when everything is clear to you, when no questions arise.»
Everything is drawn on the joints: where to foam, where to seal, what to seal with, what to attach with, which dowel, which anchor. In the installation diagram — where which product is, at what height, how to set it. In the materials request — what goes where.
This is what proper design is called.
Path to the Perfect Documentation Package
We didn’t arrive at this immediately. There were a large number of changes, iterations, experience. Screwups, problems, redos — I went through all of this.
Didn’t consider something, something was missing, something didn’t work out. Installers standing at the site, waiting for materials. Production redoing. Client dissatisfied with timelines. More money spent, time too.
I learned from mistakes. Analyzed what went wrong. Corrected processes, added detail to documentation, tightened control.
Now I understand: what I have now is the perfect documentation package for serious projects. I’m not talking about small houses with standard windows — there you can work from measurements. I’m talking about large projects that require competent design solutions.
Result of Proper Design
When I have such a project documentation package, production has minimum questions, installers have minimum questions. Sometimes there are no questions at all.
I have projects that go like this: ordered material, designed, manufactured, installed. Done. I only organized these processes, controlled them — and not even any force majeure occurred. Not in production, not in installation. Everything just went smoothly.
This is amazing. This is a great rarity for the aluminum market. There’s always something you didn’t consider somewhere, something missing there, something didn’t work out there. But I strive for all projects to be like this.
I understand that it’s construction, there can be some minor questions. But my task is to minimize the number of screwups. So that these screwups are so tiny that they’re solved in one day. Went to the store, bought material. Or delivered by courier. Or quickly sent to the workshop, recut and returned.
When force majeure situations are minor, they don’t interfere with work. You calmly solve them, do everything on time, the client is satisfied.
What Will Happen If Working Without Detailed Development
If your approach is different, if you work from measurement sheets without KM and KMD — you’ll have many screwups and problems.
You’ll spend time and money on:
- Correcting production errors — made something wrong, in the wrong place
- Purchasing extra installation materials — bought the wrong thing, in the wrong quantity
- Installer downtime — standing, waiting while something is delivered or corrected
- Redos on site — something doesn’t fit, doesn’t suit
- Client dissatisfaction — deadlines missed, quality limping
I went through all this. Seriously, went through it personally. And I’m just trying to develop and learn from mistakes.
That’s why I’m sharing this experience. I hope this video will help you change something in your work model, in business processes. Understand that without detailed development you won’t be able to do it properly.
I Can Share Documentation Examples
If you’re interested, I don’t mind sharing document examples:
- Example of KM project
- Example of KMD
- Example of installation diagram
- Example of shipping statement
- Example of installation materials request
- Standard joints album
Write to me — I’ll send examples. This is all developed through experience, a large number of projects and mistakes.
If you already have such an approach — great, congratulations. I’m happy that there are competent companies and contractors who understand the importance of detailed design.
If the approach is different — use this material as a guideline. Implement gradually, adjust to your processes. The result is worth it.
