September 30, 2009

Letter to the editor

Radio-Frequency Identification tags could benefit industry

Thank you for Korky Koroluk’s column on Radio-Frequency Identification tags. (A living lab for radio tag efficiency JOC, July 22)

RFID’s applications have only just begun to be realized.

I believe architects and engineers could benefit from this technology if it could allow inspections of critical components or systems to be made off-site. The ability to inspect work for quality control from the specifier’s office would be extremely worthwhile.

Quality control can be a tricky subject.

Finding ways to confirm the presence of steel reinforcing in concrete work, for example, requires a field inspection by the supervising professional.

Dimension checks can be critical. Utilizing RFIDs that could monitor these and other activities would enable inspections to be done without the site visit.

A jobsite cannot always be accessed affordably by the architects and engineers. Although monitoring quality control can benefit owners, these same owners are often not willing to pay for that service.

As a result, a competitive quote cannot include field supervision in some cases.

RFIDs with the above capabilities could allow inspection from a remote location affordably.

Other benefits would soon follow.

Since inspections could be done without detection, even if the work is not monitored, the quality would improve once the presence of RFIDs was known. There are legal issues when an architect or engineer goes to a jobsite. Laws protect injured workers by sometimes issuing lawsuits against professionals, who happen to be at a jobsite where an accident occurred, even if the professional’s visit does not relate in any way to the accident.

RFIDs could limit inspections to only those areas that are needed without this unnecessary risk.

When a professional is responsible for many projects that are separated by considerable distance, inspection may be inconvenient, impossible, a waste of energy, time or money. RFIDs would allow the professional to be in many places at once.

There is no such thing as the ultimate solution in the construction business, but RFIDs designed to conform to inspection requirements could improve the quality of future construction work.

Daniel Roig, S.E., P.E, partner
KRW Consulting Group,
Elk Grove Village, Illinois

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