Aug/091
Window Cleaning For Your High Rises
If you’ve ever glanced up to watch workers wash the windows of a tall high rise building, you’ll realize that the act of window cleaning is an art unto itself! There are a lot of windows to some office buildings, and yet the cleaners avoid having a veritable waterfall cascading down the sides of the building as they clean. Also, not all office buildings have four square sides, meaning window cleaners need creative techniques to reaching awkward angles!
APM - Window Cleaning
Thus, when hiring contractors to clean the windows of your high rise property, it is important to check that the company meets the highest standards of safety for their employees. Your window cleaning should be done only by trained professionals. Ask the company for their safety record.
A reputable window cleaning company will meet the standards of the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA). The IRATA was formed in the late 1980s, in close association with the Health and Safety Executive (UK) to form standard guidelines for those occupations that use industrial rope access activities, including window cleaning. Another thing to look for is if the company is a member of the Federation for Window Cleaners, which employs a Code of Good Practice. Both groups also provide regular training courses in window cleaning techniques and advancements.
Federation Of Window Cleaners
Window cleaning companies should have modern cleaning equipment, including cranes and cradle hoist systems or hydraulic “cherry pickers” to lift and suspend cleaners. Since most modern access methods for hard-to-reach windows involves demanding and difficult maneuvers, technicians should be up-to-date on the latest cleaning methods. Ask if technicians are trained in harness methods and if they are certified to work at all heights. For buildings up to 65 feet (6 floors), machine-free methods may be employed, such as lightweight telescopic poles that allow cleaners to work from the ground to “reach and wash.”
Speak with the contractor first to decide the best and least disruptive method to clean the windows of your building. If your building has awkward, hard to reach windows, check to make sure your contractor is certified with trained technicians and proper equipment to perform your window cleaning. These tips will ensure you waste less time dealing with unscrupulous companies and instead hire the best company to perform the highest quality job.
For more information, please visit www.apm-uk.com. We are UK based only.
Aug/091
Routine Property Maintenance Keeps Your Building Looking New
Property maintenance on your home or office building is one of the things most of us take for granted. But when a problem develops, we wish we’d done something about it sooner. That is why you should know that keeping a routine of scheduled maintenance tasks is the best preventative measure to take in keeping your building looking new.
UK Property Maitenance
Your home or office building takes a beating from the weather elements, smoke or soot, or unwanted animals or pests. Plus, as the building ages, so do the parts. Routine property maintenance helps ensure the paint remains fresh-looking, the walls remain straight and well-insulated, and the roof tiles stay intact. Preventative measures keep us from waking one day to find nightmares such as the roof leaking.
For residential services in the UK, routine property maintenance of your flat includes painting, central heating systems, bathroom and plumbing, and roofing. Sometimes your flat needs an entirely new refurbishment in which case you should seek professional help in planning and estimating the costs. From sizing the fixtures to choosing the finishes, be sure you work with a professional who provides you with a clearly itemized cost sheet. Discuss and decide on timelines of when you expect stages of the refurbishment to be completed. Make sure the project manager sticks with that timeline; even a complicated project should not be dragging on and on for months. You should also check what sort of refund policy the company you choose offers since you should not have to pay for a job with which you are not happy.
For commercial services in the UK, contractors can help with routine property maintenance from the basement to the very top of your high rise office building. Duct cleaning, boiler cleaning, plumbing, electrical wiring inspections or interior painting, flooring and lighting are just a few of the typical routine tasks. Don’t forget the outside “face” of the building, though. Some typical outdoors maintenance tasks can include window washing, painting, roofing repairs, installation of bird deterrents, woodwork and joinery, pointing (or refilling mortar) of brickwork, cladding installation or repair, rendering and plastering, and structural testing and surveying.
Don’t wait for problems to develop. Take care of your residential and commercial buildings with routine property maintenance. Sign a good service contract with a reputable maintenance company to have peace of mind 365 days of the year. They can help keep up with the routine maintenance and also be on-call to fix your sudden building mishaps.
For more information, please visit www.apm-uk.com. We are UK based only.
Aug/091
Rope Access Helps Window Cleaners Reach Hard-to-Access Spots on Buildings
The same set of rope access skills and techniques used for adventure sports such as caving and rock climbing can also be used for window cleaning, cleaning of high gutters, and even as a way to remove the errant piece of trash or debris that has blown up and stuck to the roof or side of your building. Does this fact make you think twice and give you more of an appreciation for those who perform high rise building maintenance on a routinely basis? Read on about the many useful application of rope access positioning in a variety of jobs.
APM - Window Cleaning
Rope access is also called abseiling. In terms of building maintenance, it is a practical method of cleaning and reaching hard-to-reach parts. It eliminates the need for expensive machinery or other actions that may disrupt the sidewalks or traffic below. But with all potentially life-threatening maneuvers, this technique requires special training.
Rock climbers and cavers first perfected the usage of ropes to help scale or descend rock walls. The technique of rope access was rapidly acquired by workers on scaffolding, such as those who worked on oil rigs and gas platforms. Now it has become a mainstay technique used by window cleaners, painters, welders, or any worker with the need to access awkward angles of tall buildings.
All users or rope access should be trained to meet the standards set by the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA). In summary, the IRATA guidelines request the following:
- When working with ropes, each rope should have at least two attachments with independent points of anchor;
- A rope-bound technician should have a fail-safe descent mechanism;
- Any tools to be used by the technician should be bound to his body harness by lanyards to avoid falling and causing damage to below;
- At least two trained technicians should work on a job together, with one being the spotter;
- All technicians should be independently certified and trained also in rescue techniques;
- All equipment is up-to-date and maintained;
- All companies using rope access technique meet the codes set by IRATA and current safe working practices.
Ask your building maintenance contractor for their company safety report. If they claim to use rope access technique for window cleaning, you should make sure their employees are IRATA trained. A reputable company will show you all employees’ safety records and training.
For more information, please visit www.apm-uk.com. We are UK based only.
Aug/091
Concrete Testing Is Part of Routine Structural Testing
It’s hard to imagine the need for concrete testing; after all, people think of concrete as being solid and never showing signs of wear. However, any concrete structure is exposed daily to solar radiation, acid rain, wind, car exhaust and smoke.
Concrete Testing
Eventually, concrete is going to crack and show some wear and tear. In fact, concrete has poor tension properties and is prone to cracking. One tiny hairline crack can develop into a larger crack. An enormous crack might even threaten the stability of your building. That is why you should regularly test the thickness and durability of the concrete of your building.
Why does concrete crack? To put it simply, concrete can crack due to changes in temperature, chemical reactions, or any sort of mechanical force. Concrete is a composite of cement (lime, alumina, silica and iron oxides), water, and rock. When the components are mixed, they heat up. As cement dries, it cools and expands. If there’s no room to expand, then- crack! Mechanical forces such as earthquakes, explosions, or just natural settling may also crack concrete. But the cracks you cannot see with the naked eye are the slow-forming cracks caused by corrosion from the salts that are sprayed on roads to keep them from freezing. These are dangerous since they penetrate concrete over time and corrode concrete from the inside. Thus when you get concrete testing, there should be a chloride ion analysis included.
Concrete testing utilizes tools with electronic sensors to give you a picture of what’s happening within the concrete. A concrete test hammer is held perpendicular to concrete face and the force of impact of a plunger is measured. The amount of rebound energy can be expostulated to give an idea of the concrete composition. Even thick walls can be measured with these tools.
Other concrete testing includes carbonization. This is the natural corrosion that occurs when concrete is exposed to carbon dioxide in the air. Carbonized concrete must eventually be replaced.
Talk to your building contractor on what sorts of concrete testing services they provide. With regular testing, any catastrophic damage can be avoided early on. A good inspector will make a visual assessment as well as the above mentioned tests. They may even take samples for laboratory analysis.
For more information, please visit - http://www.apm-uk.com. We are UK based only.