Maintaining the façade of a busy hospital like Royal Bournemouth requires innovative solutions that prioritize safety, efficiency, and minimal disruption to operations. KaydeeSayfa worked closely with the principle contractor, TA Coulbourne, to deliver a bespoke façade access system which meets all the access for the hospital.
KaydeeSayfa provided a lifelong solution for both our customer and end user of the building by utilising our experienced technical design team to develop the system design, our innovative suppliers to provided state-of-the-art and compliant abseil systems, and lifetime inspection and maintenance from our Compliance Services team for the duration of the building's life.
The Challenge
Royal Bournemouth Hospital required a comprehensive solution to enable safe and efficient access to its building façade, for window cleaning without needing to access through the wards. Minimising disturbance to hospital patients and staff during cleaning and maintenance. The project demanded:
A unique façade access solution to overcome complex building geometries & multiple roof tiers.
Full compliance with safety standards, including BS7883 & The Work at Height Regulations 2005.
KaydeeSayfa was tasked with designing and installing a system that could handle these challenges, while ensuring long-term reliability and minimised cleaning and maintenance costs.
Our Solution
The KaydeeSayfa team designed a multi-system façade access strategy that combined innovative equipment, strategic design, and skilled personnel to carry out the necessary work this specifically included:
Davit Systems to access Abseil Rail
The davit system combines a 1.5m outreach davit arm with parapet-mounted abseil bases. The abseil bases are strategically laid out and installed along the parapet which provides, safe and reliable coverage of the hospital's windows for specialist abseilers to carry out cleaning work. Parapet mounted bases, which in this case are fixed to the concrete substrate, remove the need for roof penetration. This allows for a more flexible installation schedule without any dependency on roofing weathering, whilst still providing a safe mounting point for the davit arm. The solution also includes a removable ladder and platform attachment, that fits to the davit arm to enable safe access to the abseil point, without force being applied to the parapet.
Abseil Rail System
To further increase coverage an abseil rail system is installed to allow abseilers to efficiently move along the façade using one continuous system, removing the need to transition to different systems. The continuous length of track grants users access even around corners for uninterrupted access. The abseil rail has been positioned to be easily accessed via the davit arm, ensuring full cohesion between the abseil systems and complete coverage of the building façade.
Accessing the systems
As well as requiring access to the building's façade, general roof safety was required in order for cleaning and general maintenance teams to navigate the roof in order to reach the abseil systems and carrying out maintenance on the roof itself. Our team provided a comprehensive solution which included a network of safety line and ladder systems to provide fall restraint solutions and safe access to areas at height for workers.
Compliance Services
Upon installation of the new abseil systems, an initial LOLER inspection is performed on each system, to finalise the system and demonstrate that it is suitable for use. Our in-house compliance team coordinated and executed the initial LOLER by one of our trained engineers.
Following the commissioning of the system and final building handover to the Trust, our Compliance Services department continue to work closely with the facility management team to provide the 6 monthly LOLER inspection of the abseil systems and annual inspection of the safety line and ladders. This is a follow on service provided by KaydeeSayfa for the building owner, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. Regular maintenance of the systems is required under BS7883 and ensures that the systems are suitable for use. Our Compliance Services Team manage the scheduling, attendance, and certification of all the system on the site and also provide training on the system.
The Results
The façade access solutions delivered by KaydeeSayfa provide a lot of benefits to the project for both initial construction and the lifetime of the building:
Hassle Free Installation: Our experienced project delivery team were able to deliver an effective access solution for the customer with a variety of systems supplied and installed to meet the building's needs.
Improved Accessibility: The Trust's maintenance teams now have a reliable and safe means of accessing every part of the hospital’s exterior. The uses of time and labour efficient systems will also provide a reduction in the building's overall upkeep costs.
Lifetime Product Solution: Regular inspections and robust state-of-the-art equipment ensure maximum safety compliance with British standards on working at height. Additionally, with our strong supplier relationship KaydeeSayfa are able to quickly source and install any systems component, ensuring minimal down time due to non-compliant systems.
To learn more about how KaydeeSayfa can support with your project's Façade Access and Height Safety packages, as well as ongoing maintenance and inspection. Speak to our team.
