The first review of the steel roof assembly for the chemical plant in Kuching came back with a list of adjustments. Most were small, but a few changed the way we sequence the work on site. This post covers what actually shifted after that review, not the full report, just the parts that affect the next two weeks of installation.

The biggest change was the connection detail at the column-to-truss junction. The original drawing called for a bolted splice with eight M24 bolts. After the review, the engineer asked for a stiffener plate on the gusset, which means the crew now fits the plate before the truss is lifted. That adds about forty minutes per bay, but it removes the need to work at height with a grinder. For a roof that spans 36 meters, that tradeoff is worth it.

We also revised the lifting plan. The first version had the crane positioned on the north side of the building for all twelve trusses. The review flagged that the ground on that side was compacted fill, not load-bearing soil. We moved the crane to the east apron, where the slab is 200 mm thick. The swing radius is tighter now, so the rigging team uses a tag line on the far end of the truss to keep it clear of the standing columns. It slows the lift slightly, but it keeps the load within the crane's rated chart.

One thing that did not change was the coating spec. The review confirmed the same two-coat system: a zinc-rich primer and a polyurethane topcoat in safety orange for the edge members. The metallic grey panels stay as specified. The client asked about switching to a lighter grey for heat reflection, but the review kept the original color because the roof already has a 50 mm insulation layer under the deck.

For the crew, the practical effect is a revised daily schedule. The morning shift now handles the stiffener plate fitting and bolt torque checks on the ground. The afternoon shift does the lifts. That split keeps the crane busy without making the fitters wait on the rigging crew. The first two bays went up this way, and the cycle time is close to the original estimate, so we are keeping this sequence for the remaining ten bays.

The next checkpoint is the mid-span deflection test on bay four. That will tell us whether the stiffener change affects the camber as much as the engineer expects. If it does, we adjust the shim pack before the roof deck goes on. That is the kind of detail that only shows up after a review, and it is why the extra day of planning paid for itself.