An interior terracotta louver and an exterior facade louver may share a visual language, but they do not share one automatic specification. Exposure, people’s reach, fire strategy, cleaning access, supports, interfaces and evidence must be defined separately for every use zone.
Create a zone-by-zone use schedule
Map each louver location: fully exterior, sheltered exterior, open transitional space, conditioned interior, atrium, entrance, soffit or another defined zone. Record orientation, height, access, adjacent construction and expected interaction. Broad labels such as indoor or outdoor are not enough.
Assign a product and support-system revision to every zone and state exclusions. Where a design appears continuous across an envelope line, draw the transition explicitly. Visual continuity should not hide changes in exposure, fire compartmentation, water management or support responsibility.
Name the architect, facade, structural, fire, interior and maintenance reviewers responsible for applicable zone decisions. Use an interface register where scopes meet so a continuous louver field does not leave one transition without an owner.
Define exterior exposure and drainage
Weather
Record rain, condensation, temperature and local exposure at the actual elevation location.
Contaminants
Consider salts, pollutants, cleaners, construction residue and runoff from adjacent materials.
Water path
Coordinate ends, supports, joints, flashings, drainage and drying within the exterior design.
Inspection access
Identify representative and special zones that remain reviewable through the service plan.
Confirm current material, finish and contact compatibility for the exact environment. An exterior label does not establish weather, corrosion, freeze-thaw, wind or durability performance. Request evidence matched to the proposed profile and complete support assembly.
Include construction-phase storage, wet trades, cutting residue and temporary exposure. A component intended for an interior zone may still face moisture or contamination before enclosure. Record how affected pieces are identified, protected and reviewed.
Address reach, contact and safety indoors
Identify locations within people’s reach, circulation paths, seating areas, stairs, cleaning routes and movable-equipment zones. Coordinate the project’s impact, edge, guarding or other safety requirements with the architect and responsible specialists. “Decorative” does not remove these obligations.
Review corners, ends, cavities, joints and supports from the occupied viewpoint and under touch. Define cleaning access and protection during fit-out. Interior conditions may reduce weather exposure but introduce frequent contact, accidental impact or stricter appearance expectations.
Coordinate the louver with doors, circulation clearances, services, lighting, sprinklers and acoustic treatments without assigning the clay profile unsupported performance. A representative interior mock-up can expose conflicts and establish observable finish criteria.
Keep fire scope specific to each construction
Map the louver relative to facade cavities, insulation, membranes, compartment lines, exits and interior finish zones. Request current fire information that names the exact material, product or assembly tested or classified, along with its configuration, date and limits.
Do not transfer a panel value or a result from exterior to interior automatically. The responsible fire professional should review applicability to the complete proposed construction, including supports, connections, cavities and adjacent materials. Archived certification wording is not current evidence.
If interior and exterior zones use the same visible profile but different backing or supports, keep their fire submissions distinct and cross-referenced. A shared product name should not obscure construction-specific classifications, limitations or change reviews.
Engineer distinct support and interface conditions
Provide the responsible engineers with profile, length, orientation, zone, substrate, applicable project actions, movement and access inputs. Trace the load path through supports, fasteners and anchors to the verified substrate for each construction. Similar appearance does not imply identical boundary conditions.
Coordinate transitions, ends, corners, openings and changes in support direction. Assign responsibility for every connection and anchor. Current calculations and tests must match the exact louver configuration; no common span or fixing layout can be inferred from the archive.
Plan cleaning and replacement by zone
Request product-specific cleaning restrictions and trial proposed methods on production-intent samples. Exterior access, runoff and weathering differ from interior dust, touch marks and cleaning frequency. Record accepted methods and protect surfaces from construction contamination.
Define how damaged louvers are assessed and how an approved replacement concept protects adjacent work. Preserve labelled spares for the relevant profile, finish range, hardware revision and zone. A replacement accepted indoors is not automatically approved outdoors.
Keep evidence and handover records separated
Create a submittal matrix by zone for drawings, materials, supports, calculations, tests, fire scope, environmental compatibility, mock-ups, inspections and maintenance. Flag documents that apply to only one configuration and require review when a louver crosses or changes zones.
Use the current terracotta louver range and project references only as context. Handover should retain zone schedules, as-built locations, orientations, evidence, batches, inspections, cleaning guidance, replacement logic and spares.