AEC definitions
A mockup is a full-size sample of a portion of the work, built so the owner and the design team can review appearance and fit before that work is repeated. Some mockups are also tested for performance, such as water penetration at a wall.
Definition
Specifications name the mockup, where it is built, what it includes, and whether it may remain in the finished work. A sample is a small piece of a product. A mockup is an assembly: cladding, window, sealant, and flashing together, or a finished room with the real outlets and the real paint. Approving the mockup sets the standard for the rest of that work. Changing the design after the mockup is approved is a revision, not a punch item.
In depth
A visual mockup is judged for appearance and alignment. A field mockup or first-work-in-place uses an early portion of the permanent work as the sample, which saves a freestanding panel and makes rejection expensive. A performance mockup is tested, often off site, for air and water at the wall assembly.
The spec should say which one. Calling every sample a mockup, or requiring a tested wall when only a finish board was intended, changes the price.
A cladding mockup that omits the window, the corner, and the joint will be approved for a condition that does not exist. Include the transitions the field will actually build.
Interior room mockups should include the outlet locations, the floor transition, and the ceiling device, not only the paint color.
Approval should state the date, the location, and any notes. 'Approved with a narrower joint' is a change to the documents if the documents showed a wider joint. Record it.
The crew that builds the tenth panel may not be the crew that built the mockup. Photos and a marked-up detail are how the standard travels.
A mockup after the panels are fabricated cannot change the extrusion. Lead times belong in the submittal schedule. Division 01 should say the work may not proceed until the mockup is approved.
If the mockup fails a test, the fix is a resubmittal of the assembly, not a field patch presented as the standard.
Freestanding mockups, off-site tests, and multiple rebuilds are scope. If they are in the spec, they belong in the bid. If the owner adds a mockup later, it is a change.
First-work-in-place is cheaper only until it is rejected and demolished. Choose it when the assembly is well known, not when it is the riskiest wall on the job.
Examples
A curtain-wall performance mockup is tested for water penetration before production extrusions are released.
A hotel room mockup includes the real headboard, the real lighting, and the floor base. The owner approves it in writing. The remaining rooms match it.
A brick sample board is submitted separately from the wall mockup that includes the window sill.
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