Look Up for the Safer Alternative to Traditional Building Repair Access Methods

Rope access is quantifiably proven to be a safe form of access for building repair and maintenance. It will stand up to comparison with any other means of access and prove as safe or safer.

Safety is such a key feature of our work at Extreme Access, working at height naturally dictates a high degree of safety awareness. Our teams are able to swiftly evaluate any project to recommend the safest access and working points for both our team members and the general public.

For rope access technicians, working effectively as part of a team is vital. Communication is ultimately what keeps people safe at height and alongside the ability to follow instructions, open-mindedness and on-the-spot problem-solving are crucial qualities to have.

At Extreme Access we take every precaution, prepare the site appropriately and train our team members to the highest level. A major aspect of the evaluation and preparation of a site is to keep a keen eye on the weather conditions, both during erection and use. This is where rope access has an advantage over scaffolding and cherry pickers, we are much more flexible both pre and post the actual maintenance/repair work. In essence we can extract our equipment within minutes as opposed to leaving it in the open for adverse weather to effect it. Our equipment is removed daily for this exact reason.

Rope access has proven to be an exceptionally safe access method with intense training a prerequisite part of the role. Scaffolding falls into the Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWP) category, rope access technicians must be trained to IRATA (The Industrial Rope Access Trade Association) standards to ensure all industry regulations are in place. Rope access operatives, through the intensity of their training programme, have a greater awareness of all working at height issues thus adding to overall working at height safety on a building. 

Rope access is known for its general great safety record as a work at height solution. The industry boasts low numbers of global casualties and fatalities per year, and it is continually improving on the basis of new safety concerns. This is due to strict rules and regulations outlined in both legislation and the standardised procedures set and updated by IRATA. 

One of the biggest advantages of using rope access methods mainly lies in the safety and speed with which workers can get to or from difficult locations in order to carry out their work, often with minimal impact on other operations, surrounding areas and the environment. Another huge benefit is the reduction of the combination of the total man-hours and noticeable level of risk for a particular task, when compared with other means of access and their associated risks and costs.

Refurbishment of residential flats

Extreme Access Ltd were the main contractor for the refurbishment of this Residential building which has not been refurbished since completion. This was a huge task as the glass external balconies over each floor were mounted in a U channel and this was corroded and in need of replacing. the works consisted of the following which ill go into more detail of how we resolved it:

• Removal of over 600lm of balcony glazing and rusted mounted trim.

• Replacing with galvanised new trim and re mounted and sealed.

• Full over haul of decking, removed and all metalwork prepped and painted.

• Full repairs of STO render, and painting with self clean Masonry Paint

• All metalwork throughout prepped and painted.

  A great project all completed with our abseil personnel with minimal disruption to residents and ground level movement..

The Building at tender stage within one of the court yards

The court yard area was a perfect location for the welfare /meetings and storage.. Keeping the guys happy with a kitchen for lunch times.

Removed decking exposing the metalwork.

Following a jet wash clean of the building and decking, we started the long task of removing the decking to expose the metal work beneath. This involved a lot of planning and programming as this was the corridors for the flats and access throughout the building. So the painting side of this was testing but resolved by the team on site

The new and the old

This stage of the job was the most concerning to us. Removing the glass from the U channels which was VERY secure was very challenging,, We had to use a multi tool to cut out as much of the old Arbosil / Arbokil 682 product as possible, which after time made it just possible to release the glass.. a lot harder than we anticipated but as always once into the job we found our way.

Removing the U channel again was very tricky and sections had to be cut out to get to the welds, and timing and planning on coating the undersides were paramount to make sure all was sealed when complete

New U channels and glass re mounted with newly coated hand rail

The guys working on the render painting

Panting the render was a big task STO render repairs were completed to prep the elevations before coating but with great results when done, this really helped to transform the building finish.

The best part of the job the finish and completion and sign off

Overall a lot learnt on this project, the untold amount of prep work and cleaning being the main learning curve for us. But the end result for us and the residents was a building being bought back to the original state and maybe even better..

We love getting involved in the difficult or awkward projects as that's where we strive to be better than the next company.. please let us know if we can help you or at least give an alternative to way a project can be completed.. info@extremeaccess.co.uk or 0800 4320380 to discuss.