What Information Is Required for OEM Aluminum Formwork?

1. Start with a Project Information Sheet

Project conditions outside the drawings directly affect formwork design and packing. Use a one-page sheet to state:

• Project name, country or city, building use, number of buildings, and planned start date.
• Floors to be covered by aluminum formwork, number of typical floors, number of unit types, and repetition count for each unit type.
• Supply boundary: whether walls, columns, beams, slabs, stairs, balconies, bay windows, upstands, and external-wall kicker panels are all included.
• Target floor cycle, construction-zone arrangement, crew size, and whether panels will be transferred by tower crane or manually.
• Whether the system uses flat ties or tie rods, and whether local mandatory codes or special project requirements apply.

The main contractor's technical and procurement teams should approve this sheet together. If the supply scope has not yet been decided, mark it as “to be confirmed” rather than leaving the supplier to make assumptions. The same information helps buyers choose the right aluminum formwork system.

2. How Detailed Should the Architectural Drawings Be?

Architectural drawings define spaces, openings, and formed boundaries. Provide editable DWG files together with stamped or approved PDFs, and make sure both formats carry the same revision. The mandatory package includes:

• Architectural plans for each floor, elevations, sections, and detailed stair drawings.
• Door and window schedules, opening locations, and sill and lintel levels.
• Details for balconies, bay windows, air-conditioning ledges, canopies, architectural bands, upstands, and slab depressions.
• Elevator shafts, stairwells, service shafts, equipment platforms, and special roof structures.
• Formed-finish requirements such as plaster-free construction, fair-faced concrete, drip grooves, rebates, and recessed grooves.

If the architectural design is still changing frequently, select one typical unit for a trial layout and expand the design to the whole building only after openings and details are frozen. Otherwise, every change to a door, window, or wall pier can trigger linked revisions to several panels and their numbers. This is one reason shop drawings matter in aluminum formwork projects.

3. Structural Dimensions Are the Core Input for OEM Customization

Structural drawings define the concrete dimensions that come into direct contact with the formwork, so they must be more complete than the architectural set. The project team should submit:

• Structural plans, wall and column setting-out drawings, beam reinforcement plans, and structural slab drawings.
• Shear-wall thicknesses, column sections, beam widths and depths, slab thicknesses, floor-to-floor heights, and all control levels.
• Concealed columns, boundary elements, coupling beams, pour strips, construction joints, and locations where structural sections change.
• Dimensions for stair flights, steps, landing beams, intermediate landings, and elevator-shaft details.
• Detailed drawings of complex junctions, including wall-to-beam and wall-to-slab connections, large external corners, corner windows, split levels, and slab depressions.

Architectural and structural dimensions must be cross-checked before detailing begins. If wall thicknesses, openings, beam positions, or levels conflict, the supplier should issue a query list for written response by the project designer or main contractor's technical team. Unconfirmed dimensions must not be released into production drawings.

4. MEP and Embedded-Item Information Cannot Be Added Too Late

Once panel holes and waler positions are fixed, adding electrical boxes, sleeves, or openings later will require panel modification. At a minimum, the MEP package should cover:

• Locations and levels of power and low-voltage boxes, distribution boards, fire-service cabinets, and equipotential bonding boxes.
• Water and drainage sleeves, air-conditioning penetrations, gas openings, smoke-exhaust openings, and equipment openings.
• Embedded items for railings, curtain walls, door and window subframes, climbing scaffolds, protection systems, and other works.
• Clearance requirements between MEP openings and reinforcement, ties, walers, and formwork joints.

The MEP contractor should sign directly on the aluminum formwork shop drawings rather than issue a separate coordinate schedule. For openings that have not been frozen, establish one post-installation treatment rule and define which holes may be made on site and which must be prefabricated at the factory.

5. Submit Inventory Data When Used Panels Are Available

OEM supply does not always mean manufacturing every panel from new material. If the project plans to reuse old aluminum formwork through secondary design, provide a verifiable inventory schedule rather than only a total area. The inventory data should include:

• Panel number, width, height, quantity, hole spacing, frame type, and original system model.
• Categorized quantities of wall panels, beam panels, slab panels, corner forms, kicker panels, and special-shaped panels.
• Panel-face flatness, frame deformation, hole wear, weld damage, and repair status.
• Inventory of pins and wedges, ties, walers, push-pull props, drop heads, and steel props.
• Photographs of the used panels, storage-yard location, and whether cutting, redrilling, or rewelding is permitted.

When CIEZN TECH carries out secondary formwork design, serviceable stock panels can be imported into the new project layout first, with new panels concentrated around openings, wall ends, and special details. This is how new-panel purchasing is genuinely reduced without making site assembly harder merely to consume old stock. A prior system compatibility check is essential when components come from different systems.

6. How to Plan the Standard Panel System

The purpose of a standard panel system is not to make every panel the same size. It is to use a common module across repeated areas and concentrate non-standard panels at a small number of closure locations. Follow this sequence:

• Compile all wall heights and lengths, beam depths, slab spans, and opening dimensions, then identify the most frequently repeated sizes.
• Set the main standard-panel widths and heights first, then absorb dimensional differences with a limited number of infill panels.
• Standardize similar wall thicknesses, door piers, window piers, upstands, and beam-side depths to reduce dedicated panels.
• Use fixed details for internal and external corners, wall ends, beam-to-wall junctions, and opening edges.
• Place non-standard panels at wall ends, opening edges, or other easy-to-identify locations rather than scattering them across large faces.
• Standardize hole positions and the specifications of pins and wedges, ties, walers, and props at the same time so that accessories remain interchangeable.

The standard-panel ratio should not be pursued as a number in isolation. If raising the ratio creates too many small panels, joints, or site adjustments, installation efficiency will fall. A sound proposal considers standard-panel reuse, non-standard panel count, individual panel weight, panel-transfer routes, and how easily the crew can identify components.

7. Review Gates from Inquiry to Production

Divide OEM customization into five approval gates:

• Information receipt: the supplier checks the package against the list and issues an RFI schedule for missing or unclear items.
• Preliminary layout: confirm the supply scope, standard panel system, bracing system, and principles for using old panels.
• Detailing review: check walls, columns, beams, slabs, openings, MEP items, stairs, and special details.
• Production freeze: the project team approves the drawing revision, BOM, numbering rules, and change cut-off date.
• Pre-assembly and shipment: inspect selected dimensions and system compatibility, then pack by building, unit type, and structural component.

If a design change occurs after the production freeze, issue a separate change order listing the affected panels, additional cost, and lead-time impact. Verbal instructions or chat screenshots are not a substitute for formal revision control. Where specified, aluminum formwork pre-assembly provides a final opportunity to identify dimensional and compatibility issues before shipment.

8. The Most Common Reasons Information Is Returned

The following conditions usually prevent accurate quotation or production detailing: only PDF drawings are supplied and dimensions are incomplete; architectural and structural revisions do not match; wall-thickness and floor-height schedules are missing; door and window openings remain unconfirmed; MEP openings are added later; stair, bay-window, and external-wall details are missing; used panels are reported only by area without specifications; or the project has not appointed a drawing approver. When these issues are found, complete the inputs first rather than asking the factory to “proceed based on experience.” They should also be checked when conducting an aluminum formwork supplier audit.

Conclusion

The quality of OEM aluminum formwork customization depends first on the completeness of the input information and only then on fabrication. Basic project information defines the supply boundary; architectural and structural drawings define panel dimensions; MEP data defines openings and embedded items; used-panel inventory determines the combination of new and reused panels; and standard-panel planning determines installation efficiency and reuse across projects. When sending an inquiry to CIEZN TECH, submitting the information in this checklist and establishing a drawing-freeze gate allows quotation, detailing, production, and first-floor installation to proceed from one controlled data set, reducing rework and last-minute panel modification.