Architectural Flashing Supply
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Tier 8 · Master Specialist and Technical Leadership

Research, testing and product development

What it takes for a flashing detail to be called tested: the four ways to prove a requirement, the ES-1 wind test standard, a development path from requirement to documented detail, and how to read test evidence, substitutions and honest research.

4 lessons · about 45 min · 12 diagrams · 1 video

Version 1.0.0

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Lessons

0 of 4 complete

  1. Lesson 1 · 12 min · 12 slides · 8 questions

    Research testing and product development: tested, calculated or claimed

    The four ways to prove a requirement, verification versus validation, what ES-1 is for, how to read a reported test number, and why AFS refuses to estimate a capacity without a lab report.

    You will be able to: Tell a claim from a calculation from a test, separate verification from validation, and say what one test result does and does not prove.

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  2. Lesson 2 · 11 min · 12 slides · 7 questions

    Research testing and product development: the edge-metal test standard

    What ANSI/SPRI/FM 4435/ES-1-2022 governs, which of RE-1, RE-2 and RE-3 applies, how specimens are loaded and recorded, how edges fail, and what Drexel publishes from its tests.

    You will be able to: Pick the ES-1 test that fits an edge detail, describe how a specimen is built and loaded, name what counts as failure, and read a published rating as one manufacturer figure for one tested configuration.

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  3. Lesson 3 · 12 min · 12 slides · 8 questions

    Research testing and product development: from idea to a tested, documented detail

    A seven-step development path, worked wind demand at a roof corner, the routes to a tested edge, the five conditions for equal resistance, and how AFS fabricates under a manufacturer's tests.

    You will be able to: Lay out the path a new or changed edge detail takes from requirement to tested, documented product, work a demand example, and test a size or gauge change against the five equivalence conditions.

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  4. Lesson 4 · 10 min · 11 slides · 6 questions

    Research testing and product development: defects, bad evidence and case studies

    Ways to verify a tested edge, a lifted coping cover, a heavier cleat with a lower published figure, a data sheet that is not a lab report, and how AFS declines to overstate.

    You will be able to: Work a failed edge, a size or cleat substitution and a data sheet versus a test report to a go or no-go, with the evidence to request, and recognise honest research.

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Practical task

Work a go or no-go for a coping or fascia on a roof of your own invention. Compute the wind demand with the method in lesson 3, check a fictional data-sheet row and a fictional lab summary against the five equivalence conditions, and write down which documents you would ask for before approving it.

Hand in

  • A decision rationale: the ES-1 test that applies to your detail (RE-1, RE-2 or RE-3) and why, naming the 12 in. and 4 in. rules you used
  • An assumptions sheet with units: wind speed, exposure, mean roof height, face and wall sizes, material and gauge, cleat type and gauge, each labelled as given, chosen or assumed; all inputs are fictional
  • A demand calculation: the pressures from the wind method on your inputs, with every step and unit shown and the safety factor named as a choice, not a requirement
  • A conditions table: your fictional tested configuration against the job, one row for each of SPRI's five conditions, marked met or not met with the reason
  • A document request list and a go or no-go sentence: what you would ask for (report, drawing, installation instruction) and what you would not approve without it

Rubric

CriterionMeets the standard when
MethodThe right RE test is chosen from the roof termination and the 4 in. rule, and the reasoning cites the standard.
DemandEach wind pressure is calculated with units, the inputs are marked as chosen, and the safety factor is shown as a choice of the engineer of record.
EquivalenceAll five conditions are tested one by one, and a changed size, gauge or cleat is not treated as covered by a different configuration.
EvidenceThe request list names a report that identifies this exact assembly, its method, pressures, lab, date and edition, and does not accept a flyer or a bare psf.
HonestyNo value is invented: Drexel figures are labelled as the manufacturer's, and nothing is presented as an AFS test result.
SafetyThe packet mentions fall protection for any roof-edge inspection and proposes no load test outside a laboratory.

Module quiz

10 questions drawn from a bank of 29; a new set each attempt. Pass mark 85%.

1. SPRI's draft paper on ES-1 testing says to check a claim of ES-1 compliance how?
2. In ES-1 RE-2 and RE-3, which load is recorded as the maximum?
3. In the development path, who tests the full-size specimens?
4. How many runs must match for a test drawing to pass AFS's takeoff golden gate?
5. IIBEC's advisory says failures of tested assemblies can occur where what did not conform to the laboratory conditions?
6. ES-1's commentary says any roof edge system may be used provided it is tested by whom?
7. Drexel publishes 240 psf and 175 psf for its Drip Edge with a 24 ga steel cover. Which cleat goes with 175 psf?
8. In an RE-3 test, what ratio of top load to face load does ES-1 set?
9. What is the minimum specimen length for ES-1 RE-2 and RE-3 tests?
10. What does SPRI's FAQ say about fascia and coping systems?