Which access equipment is used for regular maintenance of glass facades? How are they performed? 

In case of taller buildings, it is recommended to use motorised facade cleaning equipment like twin track mounted BMU either on RCC Parapet or Roof Slab with Slewing Jib or a Telescopic Jib mechanism as per project requirement, the motorised system will allow efficient façade cleaning with minimal manpower. 

There has to be close co-ordination during design stage of the project with the architects and other consultants involved in the project like façade consultants, MEP consultants, structural consultants etc., so that provisions required for façade access system can be incorporated at the preliminary stage. Else it becomes very challenging if the building is constructed and the provision for façade maintenance system is not considered in terms of adequate clear spacerequired for the functioning of the system or the building structure is not designed to undertake the loads of the BMU system.

Many contractors still use conventional means of bamboo and scaffolding for maintenance works on tall buildings and structures which is dangerous to life. What is your view on this and what are your suggestions? 

That’s the sad part that people are still not aware about the safety concerns associated with the use of bamboo scaffolding and put manpower’s life at risk. 

It’s largely because of lack of awareness about the availability of the right equipment in the market and secondly a mental block that the equipment would be costly but one should understand that the life is precious. 

If you compare the cost of replacing a glass in a high rise building by means of the scaffolding will be more since it’s a labour intrinsic job, the time taken to erect the scaffolding will be significantly high and risk factor is even higher due to the impact of high wind loads as compared to the replacement of glass with the help of permanent or temporary access equipment. 

What are the key safety features needed in access equipment? 

Safety is the top most consideration which needs to be factored in while designing because it’s a man carrying equipment, where we work on 0 percent tolerance. 

There are various safety features required in the access equipment some of them are the load limiter so that more than safe working load cannot be carried, safety tilt lock will won’t let the cradle tilt while suspended through wires, Safety wires, Ultimate top limit switch protects the cradle going above the striker plate, Bottom trip bar prevents the cradle downward movement in case of any obstruction below, Emergency Mushroom Button to immediately turn off the operation, various limits switches and sensors which are all integrated through PLC, there are many more safety features which are incorporated in the access equipment’s for the safe working of the system which are dispatched at site after factory testing as per EN 1808-2015 standards. 

Most of the industry players are importing these BMU’s and face challenges during installation as well as giving after sales service due unavailability of spare parts, more lead time and cost is significantly high. While we feel proud that we are doing.