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We have a large warehouse with an asbestos and glass sawtooth roof. Like all old roofs it leaks and requires people to work on it from time to time. The current method of work is not acceptable and I've stopped it.
If you picture a sawtooth roof, the contractors were walking along the cast iron guttering in between the vertical glass to one side and pitched asbestos sheeting to the other with no fall arrest and no edge protection. As seems to be the case with all decisions of this nature the contractor has thrown the ball back in my court and asked 'how do you want us to do it?'. Now, my immedaite response is 'I'll find someone else who knows how to do it properly' but unfortuantely this isnt going to be an option in this case. So, I'm asking for views based on the experience of others of the safest way of working on such roofs?
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Rank: Super forum user
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Rank: Super forum user
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FlashingBlade - you could find that there isn't one !
We had a site with a very similar roof makeup to that you're describing, and I had to give it up as a bad job in the end, as nobody could come up with a suitable work method (and some even refused to quote because they wouldn't put their people up to survey the roof !). We looked at the Valleywalker option, but it wasn't viable (the gap between the glass lights and the asbestos roof - ie the gulley itself - wasn't wide enough, so work couldn't be carried out from inside the protective "cage" of the intended solution).
On the other hand, if you DO find someone who knows how to do it (safely), can you let me know ? :-)
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Rank: Forum user
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Originally Posted by: chas You could try a variation of the mobile valley frame - see link below
https://keesafety.co.uk/products/roof-access-systems
Unfortunately that wouldnt work because of the glass pains. They're near vertical to the right hand side of the narrow gulley so one side of the valley frame would be in contact with the glass and potentially break it. I might drop them an email though and see if there are any other solutionss they've implemented. The obvious suggestion would be to fix the leaks from inside but I'm told that this cannot be done effectively as its not possible to fully patch the leak, only fill the hole so-to-speak. I do accept that this may be nonsense but there is a degree of logic.
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Rank: Forum user
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Originally Posted by: Elfin Davy 09 FlashingBlade - you could find that there isn't one !
We had a site with a very similar roof makeup to that you're describing, and I had to give it up as a bad job in the end, as nobody could come up with a suitable work method (and some even refused to quote because they wouldn't put their people up to survey the roof !). We looked at the Valleywalker option, but it wasn't viable (the gap between the glass lights and the asbestos roof - ie the gulley itself - wasn't wide enough, so work couldn't be carried out from inside the protective "cage" of the intended solution).
On the other hand, if you DO find someone who knows how to do it (safely), can you let me know ? :-)
Thats my concern. It sounds like your roof is very similar to ours. The problem is exacerbated in that the building is leased and that its the landlord who sends the contractors to clean the gutters and patch any leaks. So although they're not directly engaged by us, they are working on a site that we control, but do not own. I dont want to try and use the conditions of the lease to argue liability if someone had an incident and sooner prevent it from becoming an issue.
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Rank: Super forum user
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I don't envy you, it gave me a headache for months !
The contractors who DID quote for the work came up with a myriad of "Heath Robinson" solutions, none of which appealed to me as none were safe (in my opinion). As I said in my last post, we also got some roofing specialists in too as I (mistakenly as it happens) thought that they would be able to provide a solution. One was so confident they could do it, they came down from Scotland to quote - took one look at the roof and went back to Scotland !
Another company said they could fit a system to the roof which would allow us to clean the valleys in future - the quote for this "system" was in the region of £400k give or take a few pennies either way !
If you have the same sort of "issues" as us, the layout of the roof also makes an ideal breeding ground for the local bird population (particularly seagulls). This poses additional problems because - as you say - the work can't be done from underneath, and all the detritus from the birds tends to block the drains. This is not to mention that work can't be carried out in breeding season because the blighters attack !
That said, the gulleys have been cleaned in the past (before my time) without mishap. However, it's the one time it all goes wrong that you need to worry about, and do you really want your RAMS to state the control measures as "crossed my fingers and hoped for the best" ? I know I didn't...
Good luck...
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