FABRICATION

We're the BEST at what we do!

Here at Ferguson Fire and Fabrication, we strive to provide you - our customer - with the highest level of quality and service possible when you purchase fabricated pipe and/or material for your installation needs.

Following is a set of procedures used in our fabrication operation which we follow in order to put pipe on your job in an accurate and timely manner. These guidelines will point out what you can expect from Ferguson Fire and Fabrication when we fabricate for you, from quote to delivery.

• These are standard procedures, however, we can meet any special needs you may have for specific jobs.

LISTING

There are several ways that we are able to receive your list so that we can provide you with a quote on your fabrication needs.

• Email us a list at sales@ferguson.com. If you use Hydratech Design Software, we simply upload your list into our system for pricing. However, we can accept any list generated by your design software, and we will convert it to Hydratech.
• Fax us your computer generated list, or a handwritten list to (626) 581-7875
• Send a hard copy of your list to us at:
Ferguson Fire and Fabrication • 17788 Rowland Street • City of Industry, CA 91748
• Send us a blueprint, and for an additional fee, we will pull the list from your print.

Our goal is to provide a quote within 24 hours of receiving your list, and within 2-3 days of receiving a print.

Once a list is entered, our software generates a complete set of paperwork for our shop to use to cut, thread, groove, make-on fittings, cut nipples, cut hangers and label pipe.

Our listing department will compare this paperwork to your list in order to verify the accuracy of our input into our system and our purchasing department will verify that we have all the material available to assemble your job.

A job folder is sent to our shop foreman, who distributes paperwork to the appropriate departments, where the following procedures take place:

THREADING DEPARTMENT

• A roll of labels is used to cut a job for the threading department. This label is attached to each piece of threaded pipe and it tells what pipe size, schedule, and fitting is to be used on that piece. The label also indicates the job name and the line number. Also indicated is if the pipe is to be thread-by-thread, thread-by-groove, or thread by plain end.

• The threading department then threads the pipe according to the label instructions.

• Threaders perform a visual check on each piece of pipe to insure the threads are free of shavings, excess oil, and have been properly reamed. Once every 10 pieces of pipe, we use a calibrated ring gauge to verify that our threads are within accepted tolerance.

• A Teflon® based pipe dope is applied, and the appropriate fitting is made-on by hand, then sent to our pneumatically operated make-on machine, where each fitting is torqued on to insure a tight shop-side make-on. By using a Teflon® based thread sealant, we allow flexibility in the field, because you can still turn the pipe in the shop-side fitting without breaking the seal and causing a leak.

• Pipe is then sorted by line number, and all lengths greater than 3 feet are bundled together by line. Pieces less than 3 feet are tagged and boxed for shipping.

• All drop nipples are made-on if over 6” long, and are also boxed separately for shipment. Nipples less than 6” are shipped thread-by-thread, and the fittings are boxed separately.

WELDING DEPARTMENT
• The welding department cutter uses a list to cut mains and welded lines to size and grooves the pipe before sending it on to the welders. Grooves are checked with both a coupling housing and a groove depth tape, then ground to a smooth finish.
• The cutter marks the pipe with a paint stick, indicating main or line number, outlet size, location and flow arrow.
• The welder then blows the hole and welds on an outlet in the correct position and checks to verify a complete level outlet.
• Constant quality checks are performed to verify all pipe is free of slag and coupons, all outlets are level, all grooves are rolled properly, all outlets are in proper position and square to each other (90°, 180°) and all back-to-back outlets are square.
• All spool pieces are checked to insure the quality of the welds and that the flanges are properly aligned, as well as level.
• Welded mains and lines are marked by line number and each bundle is tagged with a bundle number. A master bundle list is provided which indicates each piece of pipe and what bundle number each piece is in. While it is not possible to sort welded lines like we sort threaded lines, we feel this master bundle list is a good tool to help you sort bundled pipe when laying out your job in the field.

HANGER DEPARTMENT
• Hanger material can be sent to a job in a number of ways. We can provide bundled rod and boxes of hangers, nuts, and washers, and beam clamps or drop-in anchors for you to cut and assemble in the field.

• We can also cut your rod to length, and assemble the hanger assembly in our shop for shipment to your job.
• If we cut the hangers, each piece is marked with a line number and length, and bundled by line for shipment. Bundles are either boxed, or shrink-wrapped to protect the threads in shipment and from the weather.

WAREHOUSE AND SHIPPING DEPARTMENT
• We provide loose material as well as fabrication. Our warehouse department will assemble the order and stage the material with the job boxes and piping to be loaded onto our delivery truck at the appropriate time.

• Loose material is picked by one person, then double-checked by a different person to verify correct items and quantities.
• You will be contacted by a customer service representative and notified of any backorders before we ship your job. We will also indicate when the material is due in and find out where you want it shipped (job site or your shop). This prior notification allows you to make an informed decision about whether you can wait for our backordered item to arrive or find another source for that item.

DELIVERY
• Material can be delivered to your job site at any time you require, as long as we can schedule delivery 3 days in advance.
• We will be on your job site as early as you require us and we can meet crane appointments on high-rise jobs with proper advanced notice. We prefer to off-load at the job site with your rental lift truck or a job site lull, but under special circumstances, we can provide a lift truck on our flat bed.

We hope you find this information valuable and that you get some understanding of the effort we put into each job to insure the highest level of confidence from all of our customers.

Strict adherence to the standards and procedures outlined above will assure that your job will be delivered on time and free of defects. If, however, you experience any problem in the field on one of our jobs, we ask that you notify us immediately so that a representative of Ferguson Fire and Fabrication can visit your job site, assess the problem, and determine the steps needed to remedy the issue. We can only consider backcharge claims if we were notified in advance and involved in the solution.

We are proud of the work we produce and we pledge to continue to strive for excellence. We recognize that the contractor/fabricator relationship is critical to the success of each of us, and together we can achieve all of our goals.