--- title: Every layer matters. A holistic approach to quality control can be useful. description: Who’s fault? A question asked when an exterior wall leaks, rots, or falls. During a failure investigation, contractors often highlight defects of other trades image: https://www.ccaco.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/Every-Layer-Matters.jpg --- [![CCA an Aperture Company](https://www.ccaco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/cca.png?width=230&height=95&name=cca.png "CCA an Aperture Company")](http://ccaco.com) [** ](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/every-layer-matters#) CCA Blog ![inner-background.jpg](https://www.ccaco.com/hs-fs/file-2302026155-jpg/2014_Images/banners/inner-background.jpg?width=1300&name=inner-background.jpg "inner-background.jpg") # Every layer matters. A holistic approach to quality control can be useful. [fa icon="calendar"] Dec 7, 2017 10:00:00 AM / by [Mark McGivern, CSI, Aff. M. ASCE](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/author/mark-mcgivern-csi-aff-m-asce) ![Every-Layer-Matters.jpg](https://www.ccaco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Images/Every-Layer-Matters.jpg?width=320&name=Every-Layer-Matters.jpg "Every-Layer-Matters.jpg") Whose fault was it? This is a frequently asked question when an exterior wall leaks, rots, or falls down. During a construction failure investigation, contractors often highlight the defects of other trades that affected their work. Defects include those that were documented during construction but not corrected. This may be due to timing and scheduling constraints. Often the findings from building failures are then used going forward as best practices for new construction. However, those learned best practices should not be the only guideline. Critical areas that need to be addressed include the points of intersection, as many times there are multiple layers of building materials which are put in place by various subcontractors. This step is known as a pre-covering inspection. *A pre-covering inspection of each layer at each wall area would be ideal, so problems at each layer do not accumulate, influence other layers, or get concealed.* The following article looks at examples of pre-covering inspection criteria to illustrate the influence each layer may have. [Continue reading….](https://www.constructionspecifier.com/every-layer-matters/)     Topics: [Structural Integrity](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/structural-integrity), [Engineering](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/engineering), [Owner's Representative](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/owners-representative), [News](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/news), [Trouble Project Turnaround](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/trouble-project-turnaround), [Construction](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/construction), [Project Management](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/project-management), [Architecture](https://www.ccaco.com/blog/topic/architecture) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ![Mark McGivern, CSI, Aff. M. ASCE](https://www.ccaco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/MarkMcGivern_Jan2018.1.jpg?width=100&name=MarkMcGivern_Jan2018.1.jpg) #### Written by [Mark McGivern, CSI, Aff. M. 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