What Is in the Contract?
STEP BY STEP: MANUFACTURING AND INSTALLING AN AUTOMATIC PARKING SYSTEM (APS)
Finishing Touches on Entry/Exit Terminals
As the facade is completed, it is time to put the finishing touches on the entry/exit terminals. The entry/exit terminals for the APS, as well as the lobby used by customers retrieving their cars, can be custom designed by the architect or interior designer to blend with any project’s specific design theme. Functionally, the well-lit terminals and close-by lobby increase security and reduce the risk of personal injury for the users.
The interior walls of the terminals are finished, and roll-up safety doors are installed. These safety doors block the entrance to the interior of the garage, both prohibiting and protecting users from entering the inside of the APS.
Customers enter the secure ground-floor lobby and touchless swipe their access cards at one of multiple kiosks to retrieve their cars. A touchless system is available using a smartphone application. Screens display the nearby exit terminal where the car can be retrieved. It is not necessary to wander around inside a parking garage.
Numerous electronic and automation components such as wireless radios, a variety of sensors, cameras, display screens, card readers, card dispensers, and much more are installed throughout the parking system to facilitate the automatic functions and ensure the safe and smooth operation of the APS garage.
The entry/exit terminals are the only part of the system that the user encounters. A luxurious setting provides for an upscale user experience.
Electronics, Sensors, and Cameras
Multiple high-end laser curtains are used throughout the terminal in order to ensure that the vehicle is parked correctly inside the predetermined boundaries. Additional motion and positioning sensors round out the checks within the terminal area before the display screen provides further instructions to the user.
Hundreds of sensors are utilized, from safety sensors that monitor the opening and closing of roll-up doors in the entry/exit terminals to highly accurate proximity, distance, and positioning sensors that ensure cars and machinery are properly positioned, as well as precision scanners that tell a machine its current location.
Outside the terminal, a green signal light indicates when it is safe to enter the parking bay. A red signal light indicates that a car is entering or exiting a terminal. Information received from the sensors is forwarded to the automation software. Resulting instructions in local languages are then displayed on the screens in the terminals to provide guidance to users of the APS. Multiple cameras take high-resolution images of a vehicle upon entry and exit for the protection of both the owner of the garage as well as the vehicle owner.
Computer Hardware and Software
Duplicate electronics and mechanical components and systems ensure that if one machine requires maintenance or repair, a backup is already operating to keep cars moving into and out of the garage. The same philosophy applies to computer hardware and software systems.
This system uses redundant, ultra-high-end, fault-tolerant servers for guaranteeing continuous availability. This ensures that a worst-case scenario—cars cannot be retrieved for users because of a system failure—does not happen.
Automation software powers this system. This software controls the machinery, lifts, motors, sensors, and other automation components used to transport the vehicles in the parking garage. The software is used worldwide in processes where thousands of movements are performed on a 24/7 basis, such as in automobile assembly lines as well as in seaports around the world for container handling.
Sophisticated Diagnostics and Remote Access
This parking system includes a patented full-diagnostic suite and high-level warning system. The software records every rotation of any wheel, bearing, gearbox, and motor. All moving parts are monitored, and operators can see every machine movement and car location on display screens in real time. Supervisors can be alerted for system tasks, and any needed maintenance is immediately reported online to the service department.
The diagnostic system provides up to five different alarm messaging classifications. These early warning indicators and alarms recognize and report conditions before a problem occurs. Messages are sent to the computer system on-site and can also be automatically forwarded to technicians’ cell phones. Up to three locations can be notified simultaneously. These early warnings ensure proactive maintenance and a high level of uptime. Real-time remote access allows off-site troubleshooting by operators or the manufacturer, if needed.
This is a touchless kiosk.
Start Up and Testing the Completed Garage
The machines are now installed, and the facade is completed. Electrical, firefighting, automation components, and software are all in place. The next step is a comprehensive battery of synchronization, tests, and adjustments to ensure that all of the elements of the APS are functioning at peak performance and all components are communicating properly with each other. Each design specification is tested and verified, including the throughput of cars and speed of retrieval, etc.
Pre-opening performance tests for this particular facility demonstrated that the garage handles 425 cars per hour. This peak traffic is faster than typical conventional ramp style garages. Additional tests showed that parking or retrieval of a vehicle can be completed within an average of 177 seconds. During various stages of the installation and start-up operation of the automatic parking garage, maintenance and operations staff have been fully trained on the APS.
The 2,314-space APS for Al Jahra Court in Kuwait is completed, turned over to the owner, and officially opened.
Start up and testing is done before the garage is turned over to the owner.
Flexible Operations Programs
For owners who want to use their own staff for operations and weekly maintenance functions, this manufacturer provides two sets of complete operation and maintenance manuals and will provide on-site training for these personnel.
The owner may elect to have the manufacturer provide operation services and will be presented a proposal for a full management contract for the automatic parking facility that includes a full system warranty for the life of the contract—a feature that was considered vital to the owner.
The Result
With guidance and clear communications from the model contract illustrated in this course, an innovative parking solution has been created with these advantages:
- Better parking experience; premium valet without the tip
- Better safety and security for individuals and their cars
- Better environment with more green space and less pollution
- Less congestion
- Better use of land and development space
- Better revenues and profits
When the Owner Takes Over
Tests on Completion
Following installation, the supplier will conduct testing of the APS. The mechanical peak-traffic capacity should be demonstrated by testing 10 percent of the peak traffic successfully. If the testing cannot be completed due to delays in other parts of the building project that are not completed, the supplier will need extra time to do the testing. This testing is typically a prerequisite of the owner taking possession and should be verified by a trusted and technically accredited third party.
However, if the testing of car parking is delayed more than 30 days due to no fault of supplier, the “taking-over certificate” may be issued, and the supplier may demobilize form the site. When the conditions are right, the owner may request and compensate the supplier to remobilize to conduct the testing.
Owner or Consultant Taking-Over Certificate
When installation has been substantially completed and has satisfactorily passed the required tests on completion, the supplier may give a notice to that effect to the owner or consultant, accompanied by a written undertaking to finish with due expedition any outstanding work during the defects liability period. The owner then issues the supplier a “taking-over certificate” stating the date on which, in his/her opinion, the work was substantially completed in accordance with the contract, or provide a punch list of items based on contract requirements that must be completed during defects liability period. Or, if the owner uses the system for parking, the owner is deemed to have issued a taking over.
Completion of Outstanding Work and Remedying Defects
For an APS, the defects liability period is typically one year from the date of the taking-over certificate, excepting normal wear and tear. If a defect appears or damage occurs, the supplier should be notified accordingly, by (or on behalf of) the owner.
The supplier should be responsible to remedy defects or damage only if defects are attributable to items for which the supplier is directly responsible for under the contract. Of course, the supplier should not be responsible for any defects as a result of improper operation and maintenance of the parking system.
The owner or consultant should issue a performance certificate or defects liability certificate within 28 days after the expiration date of the defects liability period, or as soon thereafter as supplier has completed the system, including remedying any defects.
Guarantees and Warrantees
Guarantees and warranties need to be spelled out clearly. For the case study presented here, the supplier warranted to the owner that materials and equipment furnished under the contract were of good quality and new, that the system and installation was in accordance with the norms of industry standard, and that the APS conformed to the contract and was fit for the intended purpose. The latter included that the system is fit for the intended purpose of parking 425 cars per hour.
However, this warranty excluded remedy for damage or defect caused by abuse, fire, or water originating outside of the APS, modifications not executed by the supplier, improper operation, force majeure, and wear and tear under normal use. Also, the supplier assigned to the owner all warranties and guaranties received from the original manufacturers and distributors of equipment components and programs incorporated into the APS.
The main electrical supplier provided an extended warranty of two years from the delivery date of parts. A 10-year warranty applied to all steel structural elements as well as all machine frames with welded elements. For any project, if a maintenance and service contract is executed, complete system warranty is covered for the life of the agreement. This is a very vital point for the owner.
Conclusion
APSs are the future. They offer up to three-and-a-half times as many parking spots as conventional parking garages in the same volume. This saved space can be used for more profitable uses or even green space. Automatic parking is safer for users and is a more pleasant experience. These systems offer a “wow factor” for buildings to attract tenants. While these innovative and proven systems bring multitudes of benefits and are increasingly specified, there is not yet a standard contract to guide a successful project from inception to completion, and which protects both the owner and the supplier. This course demonstrates how the largest automatic parking garage in the world came into being, plus elements of the contract that made it happen.
Kathy Price-Robinson writes about building and design. Her remodeling series “Pardon Our Dust” ran 12 years in the Los Angeles Times. She specializes in buildings that are durable and resilient to climate disruptions, as well as products and designs that provide shade in hot climates. www.kathyprice.com
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Founded in 1994, U.S.-based Robotic Parking Systems, Inc. pioneered the development of the high-capacity, scalable automated parking garage. A robotic parking system reduces the space needed for cars by 50 percent or more. This creates more space for design and development. The speed and efficiency of the patented technology creates, for the first time, opportunities for projects requiring from hundreds to thousands of parking spaces to profit from the space-saving, environmental, and safety benefits of automated parking. |
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